Allie held her hand up to her ear as if she was holding a phone. "Bring.
Bring. Yes. This is Mrs. Vos. Sweet ole Josie came down with a cold last night, and she won’t be at school today."
I laughed and tucked my pen back into my apron. "You’d do that for me?"
"Bitch, I would do much more than that."
I knew she was being honest, and after last night, I knew she was right. I did need to relax. We both did.
"Okay. Yeah. Let’s do it."
"Sweet." She held up her hand, and I high-fived her. "Only an hour more of this bullshit then it’s girls’ night."
The next hour passed by quickly, and I was eager to leave by the time Allie and I clocked out and headed toward the door. We were almost there when I spotted a head of dark brown hair in the hallway, and I quickly pulled Allie in that direction without a second thought.
"Hey." I held Allie’s hand in mine, and I tried not to second-guess what I was doing.
"Oh, hi." Frankie put her hand over her chest as if we had scared her.
"What are you doing here so late?" It was only eight-thirty, but I didn’t know what teen spent their Sunday evening in an old country club unless they had to.
"I had to drop off a few things for my dad.” She held up her keys. "I was just leaving."
There was an awkward silence between us, but Allie quickly filled it. She held her hand out toward Frankie. "I’m Allie. I know we’ve met but not officially."
"It’s nice to officially meet you, Allie. I’m Frankie." They both smiled at each other, and I couldn’t help asking what I did next.
"We’re having a girls’ night and playing hooky tomorrow." I blurted, and Allie’s hand tightened in mine. "Do you want to join us?"
Frankie looked hesitantly between the two of us. "What are you going to do?"
"Eat some greasy food, maybe park by the beach for a while, play truth or dare. Who knows!" Allie’s answer was far too excited, but it brought a quick smile to Frankie’s face.
"I’m in. Can you all pick me up at my house so I can change?"
"Of course," Allie answered before I could. "We need to change too."
"We’ll meet you there in an hour?" I asked, and Frankie nodded.
We parted ways, and I tried not to obsess over the fact that I had invited Beck’s sister to hang out with us while Allie and I changed clothes at her house. I didn’t even bother going home. I sent a quick text to my dad letting him know I was going to stay the night with Allie and go to school from there.
He didn’t bother responding, and I didn’t really care.
Allie didn’t even attempt to lie to her parents. She simply told them that we were in desperate need of a girls’ night and would be skipping school tomorrow.
Her dad gave us each twenty bucks as we walked out the door, and her mom hollered for her to find a boyfriend while we were out.
"Your parents really are the coolest." We had just pulled up to Frankie’s house, and I couldn’t stop my foot from bouncing as we waited for her.
"I know. They are a little too into PDA, but otherwise, I can’t complain."
I laughed because she wasn’t wrong. When we walked into her house tonight, the two of them had been making out on the couch like a couple of teenagers.
"There she is." Allie pointed to the side door near the garage where Frankie was hurrying out of the house with a small bag over her shoulder.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she walked toward us alone, but it was only a moment later when light shot out from behind her and Beck stormed toward the car.
I stared straight ahead and tried to avoid looking at him entirely.
Frankie smiled at us before opening the back door and throwing her bag into the back seat.
"Beck, I’ll be fine. Go." She sounded so frustrated as she climbed in the back seat, but Beck wasn’t having any of it. He was still storming our way, and he looked pissed.
"Can I have a word with you?" He was looking straight at me, but I still looked behind me to Frankie and Allie as if he was talking to one of them.
"Me?" I pointed to my chest.
"Yes. You." He leaned into my window and rested his arms on the window seal. "Frankie’s not going with you all unless I talk to you first."
Frankie groaned, and I knew he was embarrassing her. "You are not my dad, Beck."
"It doesn’t matter, Frank." He didn’t look at her as he spoke. He was still staring down at me.
I unbuckled my seat belt, and he took a step back once I opened the door.
I followed him a few steps away from the car and crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at him. "What?"
He ran his fingers through his hair, and for a moment, I was actually really concerned about what he was going to say. "I know you’re mad at me,
but please don’t hurt her."
"What?" He was out of his mind.
"Frankie."
"I know who you are talking about. What I don’t understand is why the hell you would think that I would hurt her."
He searched my face for a moment, and I knew then that it was because he had chosen to hurt me. "I’m not you, Beck. I would never do that to her."
"I know you wouldn’t." He shook his head, but he didn’t mean what he had just said. "But Frankie is important to me, and she’s already been hurt so much. If you’re mad at me, take it out on me. Not her."
"I’m not mad at you."
"Aren’t you?" He stepped closer to me, and the smell of his cologne wrapped around me. "You acted mad at the charity event."
I bit down on my bottom lip because I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. Of course, I was mad at him, but I was madder at myself. I was mad because I couldn’t fucking remember that I wasn’t supposed to like him. That he wasn’t good for me in any way.
"I came to my senses at the event. What did you want me to do? Spend the night dancing in a garden with the guy who fucked me then showed the whole world?"
He flinched at my words, just slightly, but it was plenty enough for me to notice. "That is not what happened."
"According to you." I poked my finger into his chest and moved closer to him. "But from this side of the fence, that’s exactly what happened. It doesn’t matter how well you can spin the story otherwise. The only truth that matters right now is mine, and in my truth, you are toxic, Beck."
I shouldn’t have watched his eyes as I said the words. I shouldn’t have allowed the slight hurt that filled them to affect me the way it did, but I couldn’t help it.
Everything about him affected me. It was part of the reason he was so bad for me.
I should have been able to walk away from him without a second thought, but even now, so much of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and pretend like nothing bad had happened between us.
"You’re right." He backed away from me, and I wanted to reach out and stop him. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. I wanted to do anything other than what we were doing. "Please be
careful with whatever the hell the three of you are getting into tonight.
Frankie hasn’t been out with friends in a long time."
Not since Lucas. I knew what he was saying without him ever actually saying it.
"I won’t let anything happen to her." I looked back toward the car, and Frankie and Allie were both staring out the windows at us while talking.
"Okay." Beck nodded, then walked past me without another word, and I hated it. I didn’t know what I wanted or expected. I had just told him that he was toxic, yet I still wanted him to push me, I wanted him to demand more from me than I was easily willing to give.
And that was so fucked up.
"You all have fun." Beck was standing by Frankie’s window as I climbed back in the car. "Call me if you need me. If you all get arrested, call me, not Dad."