Page 27 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
“You’ve met these guys briefly yesterday.” We’d talked about all of them the week before school started. I didn’t want him ambushed. “But as a refresher, that’s Bubba,” I said, motioning across the table, then patted Jake. “This is Jake and this is Archie. Guys, this is Mathieu Domienier.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Mathieu said, wiping off his hands with a napkin before offering it to Bubba first. I held my breath, because I could practically feel the tension vibrating off of Jake and Archie. Bubba finished chewing his bite of food, and wiped a hand off on his shorts before he took Mathieu’s in a brief shake.
“Nice to meet you too.” Bubba almost sounded like he meant it. When Mathieu half-rose to reach across the table, Jake stood. Bubba shot Jake a warning look but Jake ignored everyone except Mathieu.
I would have reached up for Jake’s arm but Archie dropped his hand onto my thigh and just above my knee and squeezed. It yanked my attention to him. “Wait,” he mouthed the word more than said it aloud.
“Jake Benton,” Jake said finally, and he took Mathieu’s hand. Jake’s knuckles went white, but Mathieu’s expression never changed. “How long have you known Frankie?”
There was nothing friendly in that question.
“Almost three months,” Mathieu said. “Ten weeks?” He sent me a smile before meeting Jake’s stare. At six feet, he was roughly Archie’s height, so a little shorter than Jake. But if Jake’s broader build bothered him, Mathieu didn’t act like it.
He had a leaner, more slender build. But he also moved with such confidence. His features were sharper than any of the guys. His cheekbones were high, his jawline was strong and defined but his hazel eyes were so damn expressive.
“She’s known you since primary school,” Mathieu continued even as Jake kept his grip on Mathieu’s hand. “You are important to her and clearly she is important to you.”
“Let him go,” Bubba said quietly. But neither Jake nor Mathieu moved. “Jake.”
At the sharpness in Bubba’s tone, Jake switched his attention to Bubba then he huffed out a sigh and released Mathieu’s hand. There was no missing the red marks Jake’s grip had left.
Still, Mathieu glanced at Archie as though debating whether to offer him his hand or not. Rather than rise, Archie waved him off after he took his hand off my thigh. Without saying a word, Archie stuffed the rest of my sandwich into his mouth.
Nodding once, Mathieu sat once more and gave me a smile. The air around us crackled with all the things the guys weren’t saying and that just made the sweat trickle down my spine. A foot bumped mine and I tried to smile at Mathieu.
The discomfort thickened and I sighed. “Bubba…”
He turned those blue eyes on me and gave me an encouraging look. “Frankie?”
“Did you get those calculus questions done?” It was a stretch to come up with something to fill in the quiet, but we needed something.
“Most of them,” he admitted. “I think the last one had an error in it.”
I frowned. “A typo?”
“Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know. Maybe we can go over it later?”
“You still want tutoring?”
“Yes,” he said firmly. “I can come to you. Or we can meet somewhere. Whatever works for you.” He slid a look at Mathieu then me. “I was hoping for today, but I don’t want to assume.”
Mathieu and I didn’t have plans for any day after school this week, mostly because he was trying to get a feel for his schedule and balancing everything. He also didn’t offer that information, letting me decide.
Another reason I adored him.
“I’ll check to see what I’ve got during study hall and text you, okay?” It was me avoiding making a decision now, but I didn’t want to do it here with Jake half-seething next to me and Archie’s icy silence.
“Whenever,” Bubba told me. “Really.”
He meant it.
That helped.
When the first bell sounded warning us lunch was almost over, I’d never been so glad for a chance to escape.
Chapter
Twelve
