by Heather Long
“How early is it?” I managed after a couple of swallows. A stretch caught me on the last word, and I let out another satisfied groan, all deliciously achy and sore in the right places.
“Early enough,” he teased, running his hand up and down my thigh. “Jeremy won’t have your Thanksgiving Day breakfast ready for at least another hour.”
I glanced at him from beneath my lashes. “Oh really?”
“Hmm-hmm,” he said, setting the water next to the bed before gripping my hips and tugging me back down before settling himself between my thighs. Heat swept up through me. “But this is my time, and I know just what I want to be thankful for.”
My laughter ended on a gasp as he buried his face against my pussy again, and coherent thought shredded a few minutes later. The overstimulation was almost too much, but I came at least twice more before he slid into me again.
I was going to feel him all day. When I told him as much, he’d grinned unrepentantly.
“Totally my plan, babe. I want you to know how thankful I am for you.”
That almost made me tear up. Especially when he helped me into the shower. I loved him. No two ways about it, and he made me feel loved, too.
On our way down the stairs to eat—my breakfast, he teased, since he’d just had a few courses of his—I squeezed his hand. “I’m thankful for you, too.”
“I know,” he said with a wink. “‘Cause I’m amazing.”
That just made me laugh all over again.
Trina answered the door when I knocked, and she grinned at me. “Coop,” she called over shoulder, eyes dancing. “Your girlfriend is here.”
I bit my lip at the description, and she grinned wider as she beckoned me inside before giving me a hug. I was careful in how I returned it because of the cast.
“You have to save me,” she said, even as Coop yelled from his room.
“From what?”
“Trina,” Carly said from the kitchen, exasperation written all over her face. “You need to finish in here. Leave Frankie alone. Good morning, sweetie.” She blew me a kiss. “I’ll give you a hug in a second.”
“Why can’t Coop help you?” Trina argued, one arm still around me. “I want to talk to Frankie.”
Carly rolled her eyes. “You can talk to her after you finish setting the table. And Coop did his part, now get in here.”
“Ugh, she’s such a tyrant,” Trina muttered, and I gave her a squeeze.
“I won’t leave before you talk to me,” I promised. “How is that?”
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“Sis, help Mom and stop holding my girlfriend hostage,” Coop mimicked her tone perfectly as he wandered in from the hall. I grinned because his hair was damp and his cheeks freshly shaved. If I were to bet, he probably finished whatever his mom needed, then went to shower when I texted that Archie was driving me back. Archie was currently ensconced at my place with the cats and the video games.
I hated the idea of him being there by himself, but he assured me Coop would be over later, probably when I was at Jake’s and Ian’s, and he’d gotten me all night so he was pretty damn content.
Coop swept in to give me a kiss and not just a peck, but a full on tongue infused dance with my libido.
“Gross,” Trina said with a cackle. “Get a room.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Coop told her wickedly as he wrapped an arm around me. Carly laughed, and my face caught on fire. Crap, for just a second, I’d forgotten his mother was right there. But she just waved us away.
“Go get the canoodling out of the way. We’re eating in thirty minutes. I hope you’re hungry.” The last bit was to me. Coop smirked, since he damn well knew I’d had a big breakfast at Archie’s. Even pacing myself, I’d had a fantastic helping of French toast and strawberry crepes.
“Starving,” I promised. “What are we having?”
“You’ll see,” she said with a grin, then waved us away, and Coop didn’t need telling twice. He tugged me through their living room, which was always so colorful right down to the Barbie dolls with their crocheted dresses over things like boxes of tissue.
I swore Carly knitted and crocheted for therapy. Newsflash, Erin mentioned that during my last session, but my broken wrist put a pin in that for now. Not that I was thinking about knitting. Though if I did decide to do it, I could ask Carly.
“And keep the clothes on,” Carly called after us as we got to Coop’s room, and Trina made dramatic gagging noises before both of them laughed.
Yep, my face was on fire. Coop rolled his eyes as he pushed his door closed and then tugged me over to his bed. He had a twin still, but I didn’t care. At one time, there had been bunk beds in this room. Then when we were thirteen or so, one of the bunks vanished, so when I spent the night, I usually got the bed and Coop took the floor. Though spending the night also waned in there, too.
“Coop,” I warned him. “It took me and Archie an hour to do my hair.” Mostly ‘cause Archie kept messing it up when he kissed me. “Do not make me look like I rolled out of bed to go and have dinner with your mom.”
A wicked grin curved his lips, and he settled on the bed and leaned back against the wall, then patted his lap. Since I was wearing a dress, it was easy enough to straddle his lap with one knee on either side of his thighs.
“Do not mess up the hair,” he murmured right before he kissed me. “Got it.”
Ten minutes later, I was already regretting his mother’s orders about clothes. Five minutes after that, he nudged my panties aside, and I slid right down on his cock. Awareness that we could be called at any minute only heightened the need. These guys were going to make me crazy as it was, but I couldn’t stop kissing him, and he kept shushing my moans until he had to put a hand over my mouth. We were both laughing as we came.
Breathless, I bit his palm, and he grinned up at me. “You are so fucking beautiful, you know that?”
“You’re just saying that ‘cause I rocked your world,” I teased, and he snorted.
“You always rock my world. Doesn’t change the fact that you’re beautiful and I love to watch you come.” Heat and pleasure rushed through me. He eased me off of him slowly and then got up to take care of the condom. We didn’t risk going out in the hall and made do with tissues to clean up.
“I wish I had more time,” he told me as he teased a finger along my panties. I was so sensitive at this point, my hips bucked of their own accord.
Before I could respond, Trina thrust the door open and Coop turned easily, blocking her view as I smoothed my skirt down. She eyed both of us with a smirk. “Mom said food’s ready.”
“Don’t you remember how to knock?” Coop went after her with hooked fingers, and she squealed more like she was seven rather than fourteen and raced away from him. I paused in the bathroom for a sec to wash my hands—well, hand—and check my appearance.
My hair was a little tousled, but not a lot I could do about that. The first sign of a hickey was showing up just below my collar, so I fixed the pullover sweater I’d worn. That with the flowy skirt weren’t really dressy, but still nicer than usual. I had on my charm necklace underneath. Archie had slipped it into place before I pulled the sweater on.
Instead of turkey, Carly had made lasagna, and I goggled at it, garlic bread, and salad. The apartment had smelled great when I got there, but this wasn’t what I was expecting.
“It’s turkey lasagna,” Trina told me, grinning at me. “So it kind of counts, but we wanted to do comfort food.”
I could eat my weight in Carly’s lasagna. “I love it,” I told them, then smiled at Carly. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” she said with a careless laugh. “To be honest, this is easier than fixing up everything else, and I know for a fact the two of you will probably kill a pan on your own, so I made a couple more. Plenty for you to take home leftovers.”
Right on cue, my stomach growled, and Coop held out a huge slab of garlic toast, then crossed it with another. “Hurry, we need to f
eed the beast.”
I didn’t even think about it. I just flipped him off, and a split-second later, I sent Carly an apologetic look, but her shoulders were shaking with laughter. “Sometimes, he just deserves it,” she said as she poured herself a glass of wine. It wasn’t quite eleven in the morning, but no way I was going to judge.
There were sodas for us, and we passed the dishes around, well, they passed them, and I helped brace my plate. “You know the fun part about this?” Coop said. “You don’t have to worry about cutting your food.” His gray-green eyes danced teasingly, and I wrinkled my nose at him, then scratched my ear with my middle finger.
Trina burst out laughing. “Dork, this is why you didn’t have a girlfriend forever. You have to be nice to her.”
“I am nice to her,” Coop argued, winking at me. “I am always very nice to her.”
Nope. Uh uh. I took a drink of my soda and gave him my best bland look. “I don’t know, Trina. He’s had plenty of girlfriends before. He’s had lots of practice being nice. Look how that worked out.”
It was my turn to get a glare. “Really?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, smirking back at him.
“True,” Carly piled on. “But he never had the right girlfriend.”
Coop pointed at his mom. “What she said.”
Carly patted his arm. “It’s all right, dear. You’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“Hey.” He stared at her. “I think I figured it out in kindergarten. I wasn’t the slow one in this relationship.”
“Ooo, did you just call your girlfriend dumb?” Trina asked, and it took everything I had not to burst out laughing.
“Yes, Cooper, did you just call your girlfriend dumb?” Carly eyed him almost sorrowfully. “I did think I’d raised you better than that.”
“He’s a work in progress,” I assured his mom. “And I think I’m up to the challenge.”
“What the hell is going on?” Coop goggled at all of us. “No ganging up on me at this table. Frankie is on my side.” He eyed me. “My girlfriend, my side.”
“A good girlfriend doesn’t let you get away with putting your foot in your mouth. Especially if you’re going to pull something.”
That set Trina off laughing again, and even Coop snickered as he shook his head. “Eat your food, Curtis, or I’m going to steal your garlic bread.”
“Don’t make me stab you.” It was hilarious, and I laughed almost as much as I ate. There was even cheesecake for dessert, and my stomach was groaning, but Coop and I split a piece before he helped with dishes.
Coop walked me back to my place, after I checked with what Trina had needed—she wanted to borrow a dress from me, and as soon as Coop heard the words ‘date’ and ‘dress,’ I had to drag him out of there and promised she could come over that weekend and pick from the four I had.
“She doesn’t need to be dating,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, and you keep growling at her and she’ll start sneaking around, and then what will you do?”
“Figure out who it is and ask Jake to beat the hell out of him,” Coop told me firmly as he opened the door.
Jake glanced up from where he was playing a game with Archie. “Whose ass am I kicking?”
Thirty minutes later and still stuffed, I got ready to leave again. Jake surrendered the game controller to Coop while Archie dug into the extra lasagna we’d brought back. I got two thorough kisses that left me tingling before Jake and I headed out.
“Hope you’re hungry. Mom and the girls were making the whole thing, including pumpkin pie,” he teased me, and I groaned.
“I will find a way to survive. Though you might have to wheel me out of your house when it’s over.”
He snorted. “Good thing I lift weights, right?”
I pinched him, and he laughed. “Ass.”
“Well then, don’t call yourself fat,” he retorted and delivered a smack to my ass as I got into his SUV, then he leaned in to kiss me. “Or pick on yourself in any way, shape, or form. You’re perfect.”
It was my turn to snort, and I shook my head. “Not sure about that. Have you met my boyfriends?”
“Yep,” he told me, his eyes heating. “One of them is tall, strong, determined, and more than willing to deliver beat downs when appropriate.”
I grinned. “Also sweet, funny, and adorably nerdy when it comes to history.”
“That, too,” he agreed with a wink. Then he kissed me again, one large hand cupping my face as he tangled his tongue with mine. With a long sigh, he rested our foreheads together. “I wish we had time to just get naked and celebrate that way.”
A shiver went through me, and seriously, you’d think I’d be more than fine after my day, but this was Jake and I bit my lip as I studied him. “How much time do we have?”
He raised his brows, then glanced at his watch. “We’ll be late in about twenty-eight minutes.”
“Know a quiet place to park?” Then I dipped my gaze to his groin and back up. His eyes flared.
“Fuck yeah, I do.”
It took us exactly eight minutes to find a spot and less than one minute after that did I have his jeans open and his cock in my mouth. “Don’t grab my hair,” I warned him. “I can’t fix it.”
“I can,” he growled, then fisted my hair. It was a lot faster and more frenzied than I’d imagined, and Jake didn’t give me a lot of control this time as he thrust up against my mouth. Honestly, I didn’t care. I kept swallowing around him, sucking against the tip and then stroking my tongue along the underside.
When I stole a look up, he had his gaze fixed on me, and my heart clenched at the heat and affection in his gaze. It sent a thrill of pleasure through me even more than his groan as he fisted my hair tighter and bounced against the back of my throat before he came.
And look at that, I didn’t even gag.
Jake was shaking when he tugged me upward and kissed me. Panting, he glanced at his watch and then me. “I don’t have time right now, but I am definitely paying you back later. Maybe tonight?” The last was more a question than a promise, and I grinned as he tucked himself back into his boxers and zipped up his jeans.
“Maybe,” I told him. “Honestly, I really enjoyed the hell out of watching you get off.” His face was still flushed, and he raked a hand through his hair before he dragged me back for another more thorough kiss, and my whole system hummed.
“Thank you, Baby Girl,” he murmured before he helped me with my hair. My heart did another of those little flip-flop things. I was still buzzing on that when we got to his place.
The girls were thrilled to see me, and I got dragged into the dining room to help with the table setting—well, more I was there to get peppered with a dozen questions about Jake and me dating.
“He never brings girls home,” Louisa told me almost primly.
“He’s been bringing Frankie home for years,” Blake countered. “She doesn’t count.”
Rolling her eyes, Becca snorted. “Of course she counts.”
“Girls,” Alicia said as she carried in a large casserole dish to set on the table. It was so formal and fancy. We never ate in here, at least not on any of the trips when I’d come over before. We usually ate in the kitchen. The dining room table usually had homework and crafts all over it. “That’s enough, we discussed this. You’re not to give Frankie a hard time, and you will behave.”
Even I straightened up at the formal tone. Alicia glanced at me and winked where her daughters couldn’t see.
“That’s my job.”
I stared at her as she gave me a hug.
“We’ll discuss your intentions about Jake later…”
“Mom!” Jake said from the doorway, his eyes wide. “Leave Frankie alone.”
Alicia laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “No, dear. A mother’s privilege is to interrogate the girls after her one and only son.”
Jake glared at her, and I laughed. One, I didn’t want them to actually fight. And two, I didn’t think Al
icia was planning to interrogate me—I hoped anyway—but she was winding Jake up.
“I can handle it,” I told them both with a grin. “Hit me with your best shot.”
“Oh, see, this is why I like you.” Alicia gave me another squeeze. “Girls, go wash up. Jake, put that turkey on the table.”
After she headed back to the kitchen, Jake said, “Sorry, I didn’t think she was gonna do that.”
“I don’t mind,” I told him, giving his hip a bump. “After all, maybe I have nefarious intentions where you are concerned.”
“God, I hope so,” he said, then stole a kiss just as his mother walked back in.
“Jacob Elijah Benton,” she said in a cool tone that had Jake jerking to attention, and I had to smother a smile. “Mind your manners.”
“I was definitely minding them, Mom,” he said, grinning slowly. “Frankie said something delightful and deserved a kiss for it.”
I rolled my eyes, and she snorted. “Food,” she ordered him. “Go.”
No one would let me help, so I ended in a chair that was to the right of his mom, with Jake seated next to me. Louisa was on his other side, followed by Blake and Becca to complete all of us at the round table.
The sheer volume of food they’d set out had my eyes widening. Turkey and trimmings. Stuffing. Green beans. Sweet potatoes—with the marshmallows. Cranberry sauce. Hot fresh bread rolls—yes, those made my mouth water.
I was going to die.
Like at Coop’s house, the food made rounds, and Jake helped me pass things to his mom. He also handled carving the turkey, stealing a whole leg for himself and leaving the girls to bicker over the other one. It was loud and noisy, and just about perfect.
Contrary to her earlier announcement, the only thing Alicia interrogated me about was colleges, and I was okay to talk about that. Becca jumped in to discuss the ones she wanted to go to—eventually—in between discussing the upcoming winter dance recital, and did I want to go?
The best part? Jake kept his thigh pressed to mine for the whole meal.
I managed to not only make a dent in the food, I ate some pumpkin pie. When it was all done though, I didn’t think I’d be able to get up from the table to save my life. Eventually, and groaning, I tried to help with the clean-up, and even though they all told me to sit still, I could ferry dishes even one handed.