Graduation and Gifts (Untouchable Book 8)

by Heather Long

  Later that night, breathless and spent, Frankie stared up at me with shining eyes. We’d welcomed her home with just Archie and I, since Coop and Jake got her on the plane, and the surprise and delight in her expression had made the concession more than worth it.

  Besides, Archie wasn’t so bad, as long as we discussed it ahead of time. He even had a few inventive ideas of his own.

  “I swear,” Frankie admitted, panting, “you two are determined to break my vagina.”

  Not true, but it was still funny.

  “You know, babe,” Archie mused from where he’d dropped next to us. “You make that sound like a challenge.”

  “She does,” I agreed, and we both grinned at her groan. “Would you like us to take it as a challenge, Angel?”

  Because we could do that again. It wouldn’t take that long to recover, but only if she wasn’t too sore.

  We had all the time in the world to get it right.

  Jake

  Even after seeing the pictures and the virtual tour and all the discussions with the guys, the brownstone was a hell of a lot more than I expected. Even better, we had all the space in the world. Yes, we had our own bedrooms, but the likelihood that we’d use them that often was slim. The space was more so we could retreat on our own if we needed it or with her if we wanted it.

  Her room, even on date nights, had the biggest bed, and if everyone wanted to crash there, it was fine. Yes, we’d still have to rotate who got to sleep with her right next to them, but we’d figure it out.

  The garden in the back wasn’t that great, but there was a table and chairs and sunshine. Jeremy had already replanted the flower boxes, and while we had neighbors, we had privacy walls too. There was a place up on the roof if we wanted to go up there with more garden boxes, and Bubba and I decided we’d add a grill if there were no laws against it.

  Honestly, the first week in New York, they barely let her out of bed and I didn’t blame them. I didn’t even complain that my rotation on date night got delayed by a week, because I had her to myself for a whole month. Beyond that, I joined the guys for their daily run and so did Frankie. She also spent a lot of time with her cats, and I couldn’t blame her.

  We mapped some routes to school and went to pick up textbooks. Even having read all about NYU, it was like when we got to Harvard. It was huge. And I wasn’t gonna lie, there was some excitement over the idea of diving into my first engineering classes.

  Dad even asked me about them the next time we sat down to play. The game console had been a good idea. Call of Duty let us bond and take our frustrations out on each other. Coop said it was healthy, I just said it was fun.

  What cracked me up was when Bubba got his dad playing too and the four of us went after each other.

  We made appointments to get Frankie’s navel pierced, a job that required all four of us to be present, and I kept an eye on the guy who was going to do it. He tried to talk her into a hood piercing, and that conversation lasted all of five minutes before he shut the fuck up and laughed at me glaring at him.

  Pretty sure his laughter died about the time the other guys joined me in glaring, and then it was Frankie who laughed at our possessive asses. While we were there, I settled on the dragon pattern with one of the artists and set up my first appointment to come back. It would take a few, and Frankie planned to come with me for all of them.

  Classes started mid-August, so we didn’t have that much time left before we had to dive into a new schedule. Frankie had promised to visit her grandparents in the Hamptons, so she and Archie left early on a Friday morning. They were going to be up there for the weekend, or at least until Sunday midday.

  “Hey, Coop and I are going to check out a gym a couple of blocks over,” Bubba said from the doorway. “You have time before you and your dad play?”

  I checked my watch. A gym was a good idea. Even with running in the park, when the winter weather hit, we needed a place to train for more than just cardio. I also needed to find a place to work on Frankie’s boxing. I’d promised her that I wouldn’t let that slide.

  “Yeah, I’m down. Are we supposed to be getting Rachel at the airport this weekend? Or is it next?”

  She’d extended her trip an extra couple of weeks, then flew home to Texas before finishing her move to the Big Apple. She had space in a residence hall in Greenwich Village.

  “Next week,” Coop said. “Frankie verified it before she made plans to see her grandparents because she promised Rachel we would help her move in.”

  “No,” Bubba corrected. “She promised her that she would help her move in.”

  “Same thing,” I said at the same time as Coop and grabbed my wallet and keys before putting my shoes.

  Bubba laughed. “Yeah, I know. Besides, the residences are furnished, I’m pretty sure.”

  “If they aren’t,” Coop muttered. “It will be when Frankie is finished.” We all grinned and then headed out. It didn’t take us long to get to the gym. The only problem I saw was getting there when it was winter. But then, we’d figure it out. Germany had been cold as fuck in winter, and I could handle the snow.

  Even as we discussed it and then got to tour the place, we debated how often we’d use it. We didn’t leave without a cost sheet and some free passes to come check out the facilities. They had locker rooms for the girls, the guys, and then a unisex one. If we used that one, it meant we’d always have her back if she was there.

  “NYU is gonna have gym facilities too,” Coop pointed out as we left.

  “But that’s an even longer trip on days we don’t have classes. Then again, we could just make sure our workouts coincided with our schedules.”

  We debated the merits on the way back and diverted more than once to check out the local shops and bakeries. Some habits were hard to break. Like how close was the closest Starbucks and what bakeries had the best apple fritters. Since it was New York, we had to check out the pizza.

  It was serious business, and we knew our girl.

  The Natural History Museum was only four blocks away, but we hadn’t taken Frankie there yet, so we carried slices of pizza into the park and settled down near the kiddie fields where pee-wee baseball was in full swing.

  That pretty much set the tone for the whole weekend, though I had to field calls from all of my sisters, who each decided I was disowned because they hadn’t gotten their souvenirs from me. I could handle it. I’d just keep them until Christmas if they wanted to be brats. Frankie texted after they got to her grandparents, but we didn’t expect to hear much, though she and Archie responded if we asked them something directly.

  At one point, she’d sent us pictures of the beach at Montauk. Next time, we were all going to go up there. It looked gorgeous.

  Not as gorgeous as the island near Fiji. Speaking of that, I thumbed through the photos on my phone and grinned at the topless one of her striding down the sand in just her bikini bottoms.

  Needed to get this one printed so I could keep it in my room. I loved the expression on her face, the freedom and the sensuality and just the openness in her smile.

  “Jake!” Coop’s voice carried from downstairs, and I shoved off my bed, leaving the engineering book I’d started reading behind.

  “Yo?”

  “Down here,” Coop called and there was something in his voice, a tension that pulled taut. They were all in the kitchen. Bubba was already down there, and Coop looked tense as hell.

  “What’s up?” I asked, but Bubba held up a hand and nodded to Jeremy, who had the house phone to his ear. He hadn’t said anything since I’d gotten down there.

  “Are you certain?” Jeremy asked. “I see. Tell me what hospital.”

  What hospital?

  Ice slithered down my spine.

  I didn’t have long to wait. As soon as he hung up, Jeremy looked at us. “Mr. Archie has been in an accident. Emergency services connected to the Ferrari called it in, and I was notified as his emergency contact.”

  Frankie was with him.
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  “Where?” Bubba asked. I wanted more details than that, but where would do.

  “I’m calling for a car now,” Jeremy informed us. “Get dressed.”

  He gave me a look, and I glanced down at my bare feet. Our own vehicles were stored in a garage a few blocks away. Coop was right behind me as I jogged back up the stairs.

  She was fine.

  He was fine.

  Accidents happened all the time.

  Except that was emergency services calling from the car and not Frankie or Archie.

  “I texted already,” Coop said.

  “And?” I glanced at him.

  “No answer.”

  Fuck.

  Me.

  Frankie and the boys will return in Defiance and Dedication

  Defiance and Dedication

  Autumn in New York promises a turn in the seasons as we kick off the next stage of our lives. Colorful leaves falling, dropping temperatures, and the first days of classes loom even as the lingering summer heat and humidity make the city stifling.

  Summer was a time to get away, to just be us, and what a magical time it was, but we can only run away from our lives for so long. We have family, careers, friends—new and old—as well as commitments waiting for us. With a new place to call our own in a new city I’m already half-in-love with, we’re not afraid of the challenges ahead.

  Of course, not everyone is rooting for us, not everyone wants us to succeed, and some choices may come back to haunt us. But don’t come for those I love and expect me to do nothing. They might want to surround me in a layer of protection, but they’re mine and I’m more than willing to fight to keep them.

  Feel free to test me, I’ve never failed one yet.

  *Please note this is a reverse harem and the author suggests you always read the forward in her books. Contains some bullying elements, mature situations, and is recommended for 17+. This is the ninth in a series and the story will continue through future books.

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  Afterword

  Whew. Don’t throw your phone or your kindle. If you did, um, go grab it. I’ll wait.

  Yeah, so—they did it! They graduated! Yay!

  Right? That’s the important part.

  Okay, I can hear you now. You’re still mad. Take a minute. Deep breaths. We have four more books. The next, Defiance and Dedication is right around the corner.

  Still mad?

  Right.

  Can you breathe yet?

  No?

  How about a re-read? I’ll be here when you’re done. Promise.

  xoxo

  Heather

  P.S. No, the ending won’t change but you still get to have fun with them all over again.

  About Heather Long

  USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

  Follow Heather & Sign up for her newsletter:

  www.heatherlong.net

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