Page 46 of Whispers and Wishes (Untouchable 4)

All the air seemed to back up into my chest.

“Hey, Cheryl,” Coop said as he caught her arm. “Let’s chat. Rach, you busy?”

“Nope,” she said, then tossed me another look. Any other time, it would have been funny. She wore the same look the guys had all week—worry for me, and at the same time, looking for reassurance that I was okay.

I gave her a tight smile, even as Cheryl complained—loudly—all the way back across the cafeteria. She was upset that I didn’t want to talk to her, and at the same time, the words had all died before I could even utter one.

Aware of scrutiny from the nearby tables, I turned back to my breakfast burrito and coffee. The fact that I had zero appetite, however, made the prospect of eating unpleasant.

“Hey,” Jake said, as he shifted again, but his arm stayed along the back of my chair. The heat of it was a physical presence, even though he wasn’t quite touching me. “Cheryl’s a little high strung about all of this.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement. I don’t think she’s a total idiot but…”

“But what?”

Ian sighed. “It was a long week for her last week. She got hit with a lot of questions, and I’m pretty sure it was overwhelming.” But he didn’t sound sympathetic, if anything, he sounded more irritated.

“And she’s milking it,” Jake muttered. “But that’snotyour problem.”

Honestly, I had no idea what to say to Cheryl at the moment.

Nothing.

“Actually, I think I just want to head to class before the bell.”

“You sure?” Archie asked, and at my nod, he started cleaning up. “Okay. Let’s go. I’ve got your bag, and we’re all going to take care of making sure you get from class to class, okay?”

Yeah, we’d had this discussion. I didn’t need to have it again. Maybe I was imagining it, but there were so many people looking at me right now, I was ready to take Archie up on his offer to ditch.

I might not even make it through our first class.

“We’ll see you soon, Baby Girl,” Jake said, pitching his voice lower. “Your phone is on, right?”

I nodded and patted my back pocket. “I’ve got it set to vibrate.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, and I could almost read the dirty thoughts dancing across his mind.

“Hush,” I murmured before he could vocalize even one, and he grinned.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’m lots of fun,” I countered.

“Yeah,” he said grinning wider. “You are.” That smile didn’t quite make it all the way to his eyes. The worry kept darkening his pale blue eyes. “Like I said, see you soon.”

Coop was already on his way back as Archie grabbed my bag, and I lifted my chin toward him.

“We’ll tell him,” Ian promised. “And I’ll see you in an hour.”

Not even leaving the cafeteria behind could help me shake the itchy feeling between my shoulder blades. Archie stopped about a dozen feet from our classroom door. The hall was mostly quiet, and there was one kid all the way down at the opposite end.

“Tell me right now,” Archie said when I glanced at him. “You sure you’re good?”

“Nope,” I admitted. “I think I started to freak out a little.”

“You want to go?” He shot a glance to the watch on his wrist. “We have time to get out before the bell rings.”

“I can do this, just stay close?”

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