Licking my lips, I leaned into him. "You'll protect me and I'll protect you?" I couldn't help tweaking him, just a little. All of them really, it was kind of cute.
"Something like that." Ian gave my ass a gentle squeeze. "Your call, Angel. What do you want?"
Head tilted back, I thought about it even as I listened to the soft snores from the bed. Jake and Coop really liked Hank or they'd never have gone right back to sleep. Still... "Archie? Do you want to come with us?"
"Thought you'd never ask," he answered and rolled out of his bundle of blankets. "Five minutes."
It took us ten, which was fifteen minutes after I asked Hank for five, but he wasn't complaining. I put a Post-it note on Coop's forehead in case they woke up while we were gone. We took my car, and the guys insisted Hank ride up front with me. We also swung by and got lattes and mochas before hitting the grocery store.
Somewhere between the eggs and the Pop-Tarts it hit me that I was out shopping for breakfast food with my dad and my boyfriends on the same day we were scheduled to graduate from high school. Holy crap.
Mad world.
Insanely mad, awesome world.
"You're kidding?" Rachel spun away from the mirror and stared at me. The bathroom door started to open, and I slammed my butt back against it. "Out," she ordered whoever it was. Granted, we probably shouldn't be hogging an entire bathroom to ourselves, but at the moment fuck the rest of them. I needed to talk to Rachel.
"Why would I make that up?" I demanded, staring at her. "Look at me! I'm dressed up and I'm wearing heels."
"I had noticed that," Rachel said, a sly smile on her face. Like me, she was also dressed up but then Rachel always looked nice. I swore she'd been born poised. The deep purple dress she wore would blend in perfectly with our robes. Mine were still hanging open to show off the red dress I'd put on. My jewelry and makeup were both simple.
We'd lingered over breakfast for so long and laughed so much, I hadn't really had time to do anything with my hair so I'd flat ironed it and pulled it into a sleek ponytail. I almost looked like I knew what I was doing.
Hank insisted on taking photos and then Carly insisted he ride with her and Trina to the graduation, since we were going to the high school to ride over as a class. After, we'd get a ride back to the school to grab the car and probably dinner or lunch or something.
After.
After we were officially graduates.
Oh, my stomach did a little flip flop. "This is so stupid," I whined.
"Don't cry," Rachel ordered before crossing the bathroom to grab my hand. She dragged me over to the mirrors. "Deep breaths. No panting. I don't want you to hyperventilate and pass out either." Instead of facing the mirror, she studied me and then flipped open her bag of cosmetics.
"I did my makeup," I complained.
"I know you did, but I'm just going to do a little touch up here and there. So, what did he say when he saw your tattoo?”
I groaned. "He made this little choking sound and I swore he was trying not to say anything at all, but I don't know that he liked it that much."
"Uh huh," she said, using a soft brush to flick blush on my cheeks. I didn't argue, Rachel was gonna Rachel. "But this is after you told him you had four boyfriends and even introduced him five minutes after meeting him."
"Well... true."
"And he not only hung out with you for the evening and spent the night, but then insisted on making breakfast this morning." She switched from the blush to something a little glittery for my eyes.
"And he made coffee first thing and he said he came because I didn’t believe he would. I mean, come on, Maddy wouldn't do that crap."
"We'll put a pin in Maddy," Rachel commented. "In fact, I say we put a whole axe in her, but right now, I want to talk about Big Daddy Hank."
I grimaced. "Please do not call him that."
A laugh escaped her. "Fine, Hank."
"Better."
"He flew here all the way from Boston because you called and left him a message. He came all this way because he wanted to meet you face to face and be here for your graduation. He didn't flip his shit at your four boyfriends or the fact you guys are practically living together. He's funny, sweet, and he can cook. Do I have all this straight?"
"More or less," I admitted. "He's worried about making it weird, like he couldn't stop staring at me at first and I couldn't really stop staring at him. I was trying to figure out where we were alike, and you should see him talk about his kids. Rach, he's so proud of them and he just… beams."
"Good. He should beam about you today too." After dusting my eyes, she gave me a look and I closed them so she could touch up the eyelids. "I'm glad he did. You deserve the best. What do the boys think of him?"
The guarded note had me opening my eyes. At her glare, I made a face and closed them again. "They like him. Coop and Jake really like him, and Ian thinks he's nice."
"And Archie?"
"He's going to take a while to like anyone new." The fact he had his reservations wasn't lost on me and I had zero intentions of pushing him on it. Everything about Hank had been great. That would make it hurt that much worse if it all turned out to be another lie.
My heart twisted painfully.
"He's suspicious of everything. It's one of the things I do like about him." The comment made me smile.
"Are you admitting you like Archie?"
Her scoff of disgust had me laughing. "Fine," she admitted. "At the risk
