“Engineering next then History for seventh.”
“You’re with Jake next period then,” Frankie said, grinning. “Who do you have for History?”
I had another class with Jake. He met my gaze with the same amount of enthusiasm I experienced. That was going to be fun.
“Um… Rogers, I think.” I had to pull out my phone and look at the schedule.
“Sweet, you’re with me and Bubba.”
Three classes with Frankie, but one of the other guys was in it? I could live.
“Well, at least now I have a reason to survive my first three classes of the day.”
She laughed and Bubba snorted. He and Coop shared a look. Yeah, I was definitely treading on unwelcome territory, but she invited me so I wasn’t going anywhere. The next couple of minutes, she quizzed me about my last school and I didn’t mind answering the questions but I kept it vague.
She’d finished her pizza and was down to half her fries when she said, “I see Tiff and Sharon. I gotta go talk to them about the spirit squad.” As she wiggled out of the chair, her hip bumped my arm before I could move out of her way. “Sorry.” Then she pointed a fry at Jake and Bubba. “You two owe me for this.”
Jake grinned at her, it was his first real smile since sitting down. “You’re the best.”
“You really are,” Bubba told her. “Also if I could put in a cookie order for my spirit box...”
“Yeah yeah,” she said with a flick of her fingers before walking away. “Don’t touch my fries, Coop,” she called back without looking behind her as she hustled across the cafeteria. Coop yanked his hand back with a laugh, but I tracked her progress until Jake leaned into my line of sight.
Snapping my gaze to him I raised my eyebrows. “Problem?”
“Keep looking at her that way and there might be.”
“Dating?” I asked because sure, if she was taken taken, I could bide my time.
“Nope,” Coop answered before Jake could say anything. “Frankie isn’t dating anyone.”
The other guy glared daggers at him but I grinned. “No one, huh?”
Jake scowled, then drained his water bottle. Bubba shrugged. “Frankie doesn’t date.”
Maybe she just hadn’t met the right guy. “So, I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes if I ask her out?”
Across the room, she was talking to a table full of girls. Girls who alternated between chatting with her and glancing over here at us. But I wasn’t interested in them. Frankie’s grin was so damn open.
Finally, Jake sighed as I realized the dead silence meeting my question also involved the three guys exchanging looks. “No,” he said after a beat. “But let’s be clear, if she says no you take her no and if you hurt her, I’ll beat your ass.”
“And I’ll help,” Coop said. “You know, like bring the first aid and stuff.”
Bubba just shrugged. “What he said but Jake usually does the hitting first and warning later. So take the warning for what it is.”
“Duly noted,” I said with a nod. She was on her way back and when she grinned at me, I didn’t bother to hide my own smile. “Definitely need to do lunch again.”
“We do lunch everyday, genius,” Coop said.
“Great, you’re just going to open the door?” Jake grumbled.
“I didn’t have to,” Coop retorted.
“Y’all behaving?” Frankie asked as she dropped back into the chair, a little flushed and breathless. “Also, apparently I have to do this spirit thing every day after school for the next couple of weeks. I officially hate you both.”
“Aww,” Bubba said. “We’ll meet you after football practice.”
“Pfft,” she said but Jake offered her the pudding cup from Coop’s tray and she laughed.
“Hey,” Coop complained. “I was going to give it to her.”
“You snooze, you lose,” Jake said with a grin and I shook my head.
They were nuts.
But they were my kind of nuts.
Frankie popped open the pudding cup and looked at me. “We’re probably going to walk down to the diner after practice and spirit meeting stuff. You’re welcome to come with.”
Oh yeah. “Sure, just let me know when. I’ll have to text my ride.”
Yeah. School was definitely looking up.
ABOUT HEATHER LONG
USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.
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