Graduation and Gifts (Untouchable Book 8)

by Heather Long

  Jake grinned as he curled it around his finger. “Me too. It’s sexy.”

  “Very,” Ian murmured, but his eyes sparked with humor. I was in a little bit of trouble, and I was definitely here for it.

  Coop just gave an exaggerated yawn before he grinned. “It’s definitely hot. Like, rock star hot. I’ll be your groupie any day!”

  They teased, but they weren’t kidding about liking it, and that satisfied me. Granted, even if they’d hated it, I wouldn’t have regretted it ’cause I liked it. But the guys encouraged me to be me, and right now, a blue streak in my hair was definitely me.

  I climbed onto the sofa between Ian and Jake as they battled it out on the screen and curled up happily as they trash talked each other through another couple of hours of games.

  Not that they were fooling me. The apartment was superclean, and there were boxes neatly stacked in the corners. I bet if I checked our closet, there would be suitcases packed for our “trip.” Unless they’d already had those picked up. The cats were still here because Tiddles settled in my lap and Tory was curled up on Coop’s back where he lay on the floor. Tabby just watched us all with disdain.

  Yep, my boys were up to something and Rachel was in on it, and I was fine with that. I’d find out soon enough, I had no doubt.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Splat! You Were Saying?

  Frankie

  When Archie woke me just before dawn to go running with them, I regretted my decision from the night before. Last night’s Frankie was a bitch. He chuckled at my groan, and when I wrapped my arms around him for a morning kiss, the thickness of his erection suggested I might be able to persuade him otherwise.

  Then Ian pushed the door open and flipped on the light. “Let’s go, Angel. You said you wanted to run with us.”

  Have I mentioned how much I hated them sometimes?

  I stared at Ian past Archie’s head, and even if the light had me squinting, it was hard to stay mad at his indulgent smile. I was so fucking lucky.

  “It’s a good thing I love all of you,” I settled on as Archie rolled off me and then tugged me out of bed. I wasn’t wearing anything, but lately, going to bed in clothes meant they got stripped off me anyway, so why make more laundry?

  The scent of coffee teased my nostrils as I dug out some shorts, underwear and a tank top. It wasn’t likely to be hot yet, but running would definitely work up a sweat. Aware of the eyes tracking my every movement, I was so tempted to make it a show. As tempting as teasing them was, the coffee called to me. I was dressed in under five, socks and shoes on.

  As I turned, I caught Archie pulling the sheets up and making the bed. He caught me watching and smirked.

  “I do pay attention, and this makes you feel better.”

  “I know, and I adore you.”

  His smirk turned into a pleased grin, and he sat on the bed to pull on his own shoes. I ignored the stack of boxes in the corner. All of my artwork and posters were off the walls. The memory board with all the photos of us I treasured had been carefully put away and the photos organized. To be honest, the room had been nearly stripped, save for the huge bed that could sleep all of us if we got cozy, but still usually only ended up being two of the guys with me at any given time.

  If I didn’t look at the stacks of boxes, I could avoid the butterflies that would take flight in my stomach over the thought that I’d be leaving here soon. Ian blocked my path at the door and grinned.

  “Pay the toll,” he murmured, and I chuckled. Like that was a hardship. I twined my arms around his neck and nipped his lower lip.

  “Sorry about the morning breath,” I whispered a split second before he fisted my hair and claimed my mouth in a furious kiss that set my whole body on fire. If this was his way of encouraging the run, I was gonna be superfast so we could get back here and finish that off.

  As it was, my fresh panties were damp and my nipples strained against my sports bra. When Archie pushed right up against my back and tugged my hair to the side to kiss my neck, I about died.

  Images from my birthday flew through my mind, and I whimpered. God, I was such a mess. A hungry masculine groan answered me, and Ian’s fist in my hair tightened. The tug lit up my scalp and sent another electric pulse through my body.

  A whistle cut through the air, and Ian lifted his head slowly. Heart pounding, I fought to remember how to breathe. “Coffee’s ready, Frankie,” Jake called like a siren promising me everything, and sandwiched between Ian and Archie, the twin temptations threatened to undo me completely.

  “Later,” Archie promised before nipping my ear. He’d slid his hand under the edge of my shirt and spread his fingers against my abdomen. Considering the fact I was still plastered against Ian, he had to be aware of what Archie did. Goosebumps raced over my skin, and Ian chuckled.

  “Later,” he agreed and then released my hair before cupping my face, and I was up on my tiptoes to strain into the sweet kiss he gave me. They both steadied my swaying form as they let me go.

  “Y’all are mean,” I complained in a breathy tone, and Archie just laughed, but Ian gave my ass a swat that had my pussy clenching as I passed him.

  “You love it,” Jake taunted, his eyes practically dancing as I approached. He had a cup of coffee in hand, but he held it out of reach. “Miniboss.”

  “Nothing about you is mini,” I teased and earned a wonderfully warm smile for it, but I slid right up against him, lips parted in invitation. Like Ian before him, he nipped at my lower lip, then teased my tongue before deepening the kiss with a sigh. He had one arm braced around me, and when I jumped, hitching my thighs to his hips so I could bring my face up level with his, that arm braced my ass and kept me in place.

  “You know, you assholes dragged me out of bed for this,” Coop complained, “when clearly we all want to be naked in bed. Orgy? Anyone?”

  Laughter bubbled up between Jake and I, the hum of it delighting me. When I lifted my head, he grinned up at me. “Player three is getting antsy.”

  “Player three can always enter the game.”

  “Good to know,” Coop chortled before he tugged me right out of Jake’s arms and into his. He tilted me backwards, like he dipped me in some seductive dance, but his waggling eyebrows and faint twitch to his nostrils killed the drama. “Player three entering the game,” he whispered, and then claimed my mouth for a very slow and thorough kiss that finished the decimation of my panties and sent me up in flames.

  With great care, he straightened us both and then settled me on my feet. Jake passed me the coffee, and I fanned myself with one hand. “Good morning, boys.”

  Almost in unison, they said, “Good morning, Frankie.”

  I was still tingling from their kisses as I wandered into the kitchen. The cats were hanging out around the table, and no wonder. The bag of cat treats—usually kept above the fridge—was sitting on the table. Tiddles sat in a chair, tail swishing as I approached, and Tory let out a little yowl from under the table.

  Poor tortured felines. No one had given them something to eat in the last five minutes. I took a deep drink of my coffee and just savored the hum of the guys razzing each other as they filtered into the kitchen. Someone had already fed the cats. Coop delved out some treats and scattered them among the cats.

  “He just loves spoiling your pussies,” Archie said without an ounce of irony. I snorted, and Coop slugged him in the arm.

  “Like you don’t.”

  “Oh, I definitely like spoiling her pussy,” Archie confirmed with a wink.

  “Huh,” Jake said. “Then which of you is gonna get pierced first?”

  My face flamed. “Jake…”

  “What, Baby Girl? You said the idea turned you on.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong about that, but with his avid audience, I could wish to be somewhere else.

  “Piercing?” Ian prompted with a doubtful look.

  “Frankie’s latest book obsession,” Jake mused aloud. “It had a dude in it that got this thing called a
Jacob’s Ladder on his dick.”

  Archie snorted, arms folded as he leaned back against the fridge. The tank top he wore was that moisture wicked material, but the red looked so good on him and so did those gray sweatpants.

  Everyone else was in shorts, but Archie’s gray sweatpants kept his dick on prominent display for me. Yeah. I looked.

  Sue me.

  He caught my gaze and winked.

  “Not piercing my dick, don’t care if it has my name,” Jake said. “But Frankie’s curious, so since you two are all about pleasing her pussy, you might consider it.”

  Coop had his phone in hand, and he let out a grunt. “Um…”

  “Right?” Jake said with a grin, and I gave him a gentle kick. Ass. He laughed at me. “Notice which one of them looked it up. My money is still on Coop.”

  “Hey,” Archie argued. “I didn’t say no yet.” At the same time, he glanced at me. “Do you really want one of us to do that?”

  “No,” I said firmly. “I said it sounded good and it did.” Yes, my face was still on fire, but I didn’t shy away from any of their gazes. No, I didn’t want to have this conversation in front of all of them. Yet considering the intimacies we’d shared, discussing their dicks should be pretty simple. “Particularly how the author wrote it. The guy also had a pierced tongue, and I dunno…it was sexy as fuck.”

  “Good to know,” Archie mused, and Jake laughed wickedly.

  “Don’t say I never did anything for you, Baby Girl,” Jake said with a chuckle, and I laughed.

  “Don’t be an ass,” I scolded, but I couldn’t stop grinning. Neither Archie nor Coop said no immediately, however… “Guys, I’m not asking anyone to do it. I can’t imagine that doing it would be comfortable in the first place.” And I wasn’t going to ask anyone to hurt themselves.

  “If I wanted you to pierce your navel,” Archie said, “would you consider it?”

  I stared at him a beat. “Yes.”

  He grinned. “Good to know.”

  Ian raised his brows. He’d been quiet until now, but at my glance, he gave a gentle shrug. “You’ve already agreed to everything I want.”

  A shiver went through me. “Ditto,” I told him.

  “All right,” Coop said as he shut off his phone’s screen. “We need to do this run thing before I stage a revolt and drag Frankie back to bed.”

  That spurred a fresh round of laughter. I finished my coffee and rinsed out the cup. We only had a handful of dishes still out. The guys had packed up everything in the kitchen, including the pots and pans, save for the ones they decided were not worth taking. Those boxes were stacked in the corner.

  Yep, not looking at boxes.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Ian held out his hand to me, and I crossed to take it. It was still dark outside, that was how early we were up, but I didn’t comment on it. We piled into Jake’s SUV, and he took us out toward the lake. We’d been running farther each time, and I’d gotten pretty good. The guys liked to do ten miles, and I could almost do half of that without hating them. The last half sucked, but I didn’t want to slow them down either and they would take breaks to walk for me.

  So, win-win.

  As it was, I looked forward to the running. It was more than spending time together. Not that I didn’t adore the time. It was about endurance and building strength. Jake still worked on my punching. I was getting pretty good at boxing, and Rachel and I planned to take some self-defense classes together in New York.

  Jake loved the idea and promised to go with us.

  “So when are you guys telling me where we’re going?” I asked as we reached the halfway point of our circuit of the lake. The sun was edging up on the horizon, and the breeze off the lake helped to dry the sweat soaking through my shirt.

  “Who says we’re going anywhere?” Archie challenged. “We have a lot to do before we move to New York.”

  I snorted. No takers here. We were walking. The half-mile break let me catch my breath. The burn in my legs wasn’t as bad as it had been. Months of running with them was definitely increasing my endurance, even if I did miss lounging in bed and waking up slowly as Coop pressed into me.

  Shaking that distracting thought off, I focused on Archie. “Well if we don’t have plans, would you guys mind if I tagged along with Rachel for a couple of weeks…”

  “Yes,” three voices answered in unison, and I grinned. Archie just gave them a bland stare before he tapped my nose gently.

  “Trust me?”

  “Always.”

  Without any hesitation or reservation.

  “Then be patient, babe. I promise it will be worth it.”

  Head tilted back, I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, but I will let you know that the anticipation is killing me.”

  Because with Archie, literally anything was possible.

  Four hours later, he proved my point when we arrived at Fort Splat, the paintball place with indoor and outdoor courses. We hadn’t been here in two years. Well, I hadn’t been here in two years. My last trip had been the summer between sophomore and junior years. If they came the previous summer, I had no idea.

  “How are we picking teams?” ’Cause I wasn’t sure about the rules anymore. We wouldn’t be even if we split up. And I didn’t want to have to pick sides. I refused.

  “We’re not,” Ian told me as we headed toward the front doors. “We signed up as a team of five.”

  “Yes,” Coop said with a fist pump. “Hashtag Team Frankie.”

  “I was thinking Team Standish, myself,” Archie said with a wicked grin.

  Jake snorted. “Team Jake and Coop for the win.”

  Ian locked his gaze with mine as I laughed. “I’m all Team Us,” I said ducking under his arm as he held the door open. “You can’t change my mind.”

  “Did you hear a challenge?” Archie straightened.

  “Oh, I heard a challenge.” Jake fist-bumped Coop, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Let them play, Angel,” Ian said as he looped an arm over my shoulders while Archie headed for the counter. The air conditioning washed over us. It was kind of a perfect day outside so far. Warm without being sweltering, sunny but low humidity, and a breeze to chase away the heat. Still, I welcomed the air conditioning.

  “You’re not playing?” I was more curious than anything else.

  “Didn’t say that, but I know you’re on my team,” he said with a grin, then pressed a kiss to my temple. “And I’m always team you.”

  Warmth bloomed in my chest and then settled in my belly. I was team them every day of the week.

  “Okay,” Archie said as he turned around. “There will be two other teams out there with us. It’s open wargames. So, we’re gonna gear up.” He handed me a ticket. “You get to go to the ladies dressing room. Someone will help you, and we’ll meet you on the other side.”

  Excitement threaded through me. Paintball could hurt, but the last few times we’d done it, I always had fun. I had to wonder if the guys were trying to rebuild some of our more fun memories.

  I paused mid step and turned back. “Was paintball a date?”

  Coop’s whole expression softened. “A friend date, yes. A romantic date, no. Though if we’d had a brain between us, we’d have all pursued you together from the beginning.”

  Grinning, I pivoted and headed for the changing room. I wasn’t the only girl in there, but there were only four of us. The other three were on the other two teams. We had a couple of workers running us through the use of the paintball guns and the gear.

  No face shots.

  No groin shots.

  Anyone who violated those rules would be booted immediately. All shots needed to be in the chest region, where the armor we’d be wearing was thicker. Also, legs were fair below the groin.

  I remembered most of it from our last few times doing this. Junior summer, we’d gone paintballing more than once. It was fun as fuck. Kind of like laser tag, but with more of a kick. It also amused me that the guys were impressed
that I was such a good shot.

  Jake and Ian were machines at this, Coop—like me—tended to hang back and just have fun with it. We’d gotten snarked at more than once for joking. But Archie? Archie was next level. I swore these games amped his competitive side to the max. By the time I left the changing room and met them outside the course, they were all there and ready. Archie had a map open on his phone, and they were studying it.

  I didn’t have to ask. My money was that it was a map of the outdoor course, and when I leaned against Jake’s heavier armored frame, I wasn’t disappointed. He flashed me a swift grin and swept his pale blue eyed gaze over me. “Hot, Baby Girl.”

  A snort escaped me before I could stop it. “You’re looking pretty good yourself.”

  “Right?” Coop quipped. “He looks even better with the full face mask.”

  Jake elbowed him, but we all laughed. Archie scowled. “Focus, children.”

  “I’m older than you,” Coop pointed out.

  “By days,” Archie said with a sniff. “And Jake isn’t.”

  The flash of Jake’s middle finger settled that particular line of thought. There was a horn sounding, and a voice came over the speaker to tell us to get ready. We’d have ten minutes to get into place in the course before the war games started.

  We had two options to win the game—defend our flag and eliminate the opposition, or take their flags while not losing ours.

  Fortunately, our teams were about even. Two teams of five and one team of six. Jake said we would need to trim that team first. He and Archie debated a plan as we moved to where our flag—blue—was placed.

  Coop bumped my shoulder. “As much history as you and Jake watch, it always kills me that you don’t want to plot strategy on these.”

  “You know strategy as well as I do, and you don’t leap into these debates either,” I pointed out, and he shrugged.

  “Archie lives for this shit. Jake and Bubba work together well because of all the years of football. So why mess with a good thing?”