Page 6 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
Well, that was too damn bad.
“Ready?” I asked Mathieu and his smile grew as he glanced down at me. He gave me a subtle wink.
“Oui, mon chou. You?”
“Oui.” His confidence bolstered mine and I let it filter into my walk as I raised my chin. Coop shifted as he reached the table where the guys were waiting
Jake Benton, Archie Standish, and Bubba—well his real name was Ian—Rhys all stared. Their gazes were on Coop, but I damn near felt the physical force of their attention when they shifted their gazes to me.
The last time I’d seen all four of them had been at Bubba’s birthday party. They’d been partying hard, drinking, and hanging out with their girlfriends. It was a good reminder that life went on, whether we liked it or not.
“Here we go…” I said under my breath. “Hey guys…”
Chapter
Four
FRANKIE
The sudden crash of their attention hit me like a hammer striking a gong. The vibrations of it rattled through to my bones. Mathieu gave my hand a squeeze. Or maybe that was me digging my fingers into him.
Over the years, plenty of their girlfriends had joined us at the table in the morning. They’d come and they’d gone. In all that time, not once had I brought someone to the table. All the irritation fueling my courage seemed to fall away as Jake’s brow tightened and Archie sat forward.
I let my gaze skip from one to the other. Finally, I settled on Bubba, because he didn’t seem as intense as the others. Sucking in a deep breath and determined to fake it until I made it, I summoned up a smile and pressed onward.
“Wanted to introduce you guys to my boyfriend, this is Mathieu?—”
“Yourwhatnow?” Jake interrupted.
“Boyfriend,” Coop answered. “He’s a dude. And her friend. Ergo, boyfriend.”
I didn’t roll my eyes because that was almost helpful. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Coop dragged out a chair. “Archie got coffee. Didn’t get anything for the boyfriend we didn’t know you had.”
Okay, so much for being helpful.
Jake stood and circled the table and I had to fight the urge to step right between. Jake and Bubba were both football players, tall, broad-shouldered, and over the past couple of years, they’d both put on a lot of muscle.
“Jake Benton,” he said in a tone that didn’t remotely offer friendship. “When did you meet Frankie and where?”
“Over the summer,” Mathieu answered easily. “And actually, we met in San Antonio briefly then I found out she lived here. We ended up talking and I am very glad for it. She’s wonderful.”
Mathieu gave my hand another squeeze then he offered his hand to Jake. All the air backed up in my lungs. Hostility rolled off Jake in waves and his ice blue eyes were chilly. He finally took Mathieu’s hand, but the greeting was brief.
Bubba rose and shouldered Jake gently. If nothing else, it made Jake let go of Mathieu.
“Ian Rhys,” Bubba said. “Friends call me Bubba though.”
“Frankie told me,” Mathieu said easily as he shook Bubba’s hand. “Would you prefer I not? As we do not know each other yet?”
Surprise flickered over Coop’s face before he caught me looking and then his whole expression shut down. Jake snagged my backpack and tugged it down my arm.
“You should sit,” he said, half pulling me away from Mathieu before I’d even realized what he was doing.
“Nah,” Bubba said. “Bubba is fine. Probably wouldn’t answer anything else.”
I was on the other side of the table and Bubba had Mathieu cut off as Coop pushed out a chair on their side. “Matty can sit with me.”
