I didn’t mean to laugh, but I couldn’t help it. While I hadn’t necessarily intended to tell him to shove it, that had occurred previously.
“The point is—the post on Instagram, the thing with your car—those are big things that we see. The note on the essay in class? If you don’t tell us, if you don’t tell me, I can’t help you and, Frankie, the very last thing I want is for you to be in pain or to be hurting in some way and I am not helping you. That’s already happened once. You cut us all off because we were hurting you, and you didn’t tell us we were. While, yes, we deserve some of that blame, I don’t want to wake up one day and find out I could have done something but you didn’t let me.”
With that, he exhaled.
“Friend or boyfriend, I’m on your side,” he said, twisting in the seat. “I need to know you know that.”
We were almost to the apartment turn. “Is it okay for me to answer now?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thank you for letting me say that.”
A reluctant smile tugged at my lips. Coop was so sweet when he wanted to be. “I do know you’re on my side. I know I was stubborn this summer, and my choices hurt all of us.”
“Our choices hurt all of us,” he corrected. “You might have made the call, but we definitely pushed you.”
“Okay, so our choices weren’t great.”
“Accepted,” he murmured, and slid a hand to my thigh.
“The thing with the note today…” I really didn’t want to think about the note or what it said. It had stung. “There was another one.”
“On the essay?”
“In my locker.”
He tightened his grip, his hand flexing before it relaxed again as I turned into the complex and followed the parking lot down to where I usually parked.
“It was just a piece of notebook paper with the question, did I know who all you did this summer.”
“Son of a bitch,” Coop swore.
“So I crumpled it up, grabbed my books, and just went on to Mr. G’s class.”
“Crumpled it up—did you throw it away?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him yes, I did. But we had all had enough half-truths and lies between us. “No, I just tossed it back into the locker under some of the books.”
“Can I see it tomorrow?”
Parked, I stared at him. “Why?”
“Well one, I want to know if I recognize the writing. Two, I want to know exactly what it says. Three, someone keeps coming after you, they’re going to find all of us in the way. I don’t like you being hurt.”
“Anonymous notes and vague threats aren’t hurting me.”
“What they did to your car did hurt you.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “We don’t know it was the same person.” Or if there had been a note on my car that they’d taken. I could only hope Mr. Thorns was at least vaguely aware, because I did not want him getting caught in the blowback.
The reality of that thought settled in my bones. I didn’t know who he was, but I cared about Mr. Thorns because he’d been nothing but kind to me in those notes and even in not meeting on Saturday night. The evening had already been a shitshow, and in a way, I was kind of glad he kept his distance.
“Do you really think it matters if it was the same person or not?” Coop made no attempt to leave the car.
Covering his hand on my thigh with mine, I shook my head. “I just want it to go away.”
“Me, too,” he promised. “But I need you to tell us, to trust us to help and to protect you.”
“You make it sound like we’re in some grand drama. What do you think they’re going to do, Coop? Dump a bucket of blood on me at Homecoming?”
“God, I hope not,” he muttered.
“I was kidding.” And being dramatic.
“Well, I’m not, that’s the thing. What they did to your car is an escalation. What Sharon did on Instagram was an escalation. Those notes? Putting them on your work—did you even tell Ms. Fajardo?”
I hung my head. “You know I didn’t.”
“Will you tell her?”
“It’s not like she won’t see it.” She had the sheets, we had to turn them back in.
“Frankie.”
That was it. Just my name. Leaning my head back against the headrest, I said, “I’ll think about it, okay? I’m tired. I want to go inside and shower…”
A knock on my window had me jerk and spin. Jake stood just outside the car with a concerned look on his face.
I unlocked the car and opened the door, heart racing. The adrenaline dump was not fun.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, leaning down. The scent of barbecue wings flooded the car, and my stomach growled. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” Coop said. “We were talking about the note thing.”
“You told them?” I shifted my stare to him.
“Yes,” Jake answered instead of Coop. “He did. We needed to know, Frankie.”
Another groan slipped out of me. Once we were both out of the car, I locked it and faced the pair of them. “I told Coop I’d think about talking to Ms. Fajardo tomorrow. I don’t want to make a big deal out of any of this.” No doubt, my car had made its stunning and wretched debut on social media, and probably with lots of humorous comments to entertain the masses.
“Okay, but it is a big deal,” Jake said almost echoing Coop. “You’re important to us. Pretending it didn’t happen won’t make it go away. The stupid idea of ignoring a bully will just make him bored is so damn dumb, it makes me hurt to even say it.”
“Can we talk about anything else tonight? Please?”
His expression softened and so did Coop’s. “C’mere,” Coop said, and he wound his arms around me. I leaned into the hug, and he ran his hands up and down my back. “You matter, Frankie. Talk to us, and I’ll try not to be a pain in the ass about this.”
A little laugh escaped me.
“I’m not making that promise,” Jake said. “But you do matter. I totally plan to be a pain in someone’s ass as soon as I figure out what asshole did it.”
“But he’s going to give it a rest tonight,” Coop said, a warning in his tone. “So he doesn’t worry you.”
That would be nice.
“Yeah, okay,” Jake relented. “C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s go up, and you can shower and then eat. I’ll help with any homework, too.”
“Homework,” Coop snorted, and I glanced up in time to see Jake give Coop a look. He smirked and raised his hands. Then turned to me and dipped his head. The first brush of his lips was almost tentative, but it lasted all of three seconds before his mouth firmed against mine. The sweep of his tongue requesting entrance had me almost sighing. A part of me recognized Jake was right there, a quick kiss was one thing, but this… this was something else altogether.
This wasn’t like the kiss where Coop had stormed through all my defenses while trapping me against the fridge, or the hungry kiss he’d devoured me with on the sofa. This was all sweet heat and gentle promise. Tingles raced over my skin and left a trail of goosebumps in their wake, and when he sucked on my tongue, my toes curled and I had to fist his shirt to keep from falling.
When he lifted his head, he smiled and I shivered. “Goodnight, Frankie.”
“Night, Coop.” My whole system hummed from that kiss, and a lot of my tired evaporated.
“You know, I’d punch you except that was hot,” Jake commented drily, and I jumped. Oh crap, I’d almost forgotten Jake was there for a second. I’d known he was there, and his watching had actually turned me on even more. Guilt pierced me, but then his words registered in the same moment as his slow smile.
“Yeah well, just remember Frankie needs to sleep,” Coop said. “Don’t stay too late.”
“I’ve got her,” Jake retorted, wrapping an arm around me. “C’mon, we’re going inside. Night, Coop.”
I stole one look back, and Coop grinned then blew me a kiss. Some of my guilt evaporated, and I glanced up at Jak
e. “That really didn’t bother you?”
“You kissing Coop? Or should I say, Coop melting your panties with that kiss?” The droll comment made me laugh because he wasn’t wrong with that assessment.
“Yeah.”
At my door, he let me go so I could unlock it and then he followed me inside. He locked the door before he set the bag on the table, and I found myself swept up into another embrace. Only this time, it was Jake’s hard chest I impacted against as he fisted my hair, and then his mouth closed over mine. The embers Coop ignited flared to life, and heat swept through me as Jake massaged my lips apart.
With one stroke of his tongue, I was shuddering. The keys fell with a jingle and a thud. Then I had my hands on his shoulders before sliding them up to his hair. It was so soft against my fingers. He made a low sound in his throat as he delved deeper, and there was no mistaking the erection pressing against me where his hips ground against mine. The angle was a little off, and then Jake picked me up and I was sitting on the table. He nudged my legs apart as he lifted his head for a moment. His pale blue eyes were like icy fire, and my nipples tightened at that single look.
“That kiss didn’t bother me in the slightest,” he said in a thick voice. “It was hot, like I said. Kissing you myself is hotter, but watching you melt into him? Yeah, I liked that.”
He skimmed his fingers down my sides, and my breath caught as he nudged my shirt up to tease against my skin.
“Did you like kissing Coop while I watched, Frankie?”
The more I thought about it, yeah, I kind of did. I licked my lips. “Is it crazy to say yes?”
“Not at all.” He traced his thumb across my abdomen. “I like knowing what turns you on.” When he nuzzled a kiss behind my ear and then down along my throat, I groaned. “I also know you wanted a shower,” he whispered at my ear. “You said something about homework.”
Yeah. I had.
When Jake started to pull away, I gripped his shirt and dragged myself forward, even as I yanked him back. “You know what else I like?”
He raised his brows.
“You.”
Then I reeled him down for a kiss, his mouth was open, hot, and wet when I teased his tongue with mine. Everything in me ached and it had been a shitty day, but all of that fell away. The guys being there had helped. Coop had chased some of it away with his talk and his goodnight kiss. But Jake turned the rest of it to ash.
When his fingers tugged at my shirt, I pulled back long enough to shed the uniform top and meet his gaze.
The confident sexy smirk had turned into something of a wondering expression. “Yes?”
I knew exactly what he was asking.
“Do you have condoms?” Because—yes, I recognized the irony after today—I really needed to get some.
“Hell yes,” he said, his breath coming in the same heated pants as my own.
“Then yes.” And I didn’t have to say another word because his arm was a steel band around me, and he lifted me up as I wrapped my arms around his neck again. He kissed me again with one hand on my ass, and suddenly I was burning up. We had on way too many clothes, and I was really going to do this.
Need consumed trepidation, but when I tugged Jake’s hair, he broke the kiss to meet my gaze.
“I have a bed.”
“You have a bed,” he said with a hint of delight. “Yes, you do.” Then he was striding through the apartment to my room. I was only half aware of the cats scattering. I’d make it up to them later, and I still had homework to do.
But Jake was here right now.
When I landed on the bed, I got a front row seat to him pulling out his wallet before he stripped off his shirt and then the rest of his clothes followed.
It didn’t matter that I’d seen him naked before.
Nothing mattered except right here and right now.
Chapter Seventeen
When did you sleep last night?
If I’d thought I was burning up before, it had nothing on the heat sweeping through me as I stared at a naked Jake. I’d seen him naked the week before. We’d showered together. We’d done a lot of things together, and it had been mind-blowing. At the same time, this was different. I had a much better idea of what I had to look forward to and a far more precise idea of what I wanted to do.
My nipples were hard as marble beneath the cups of my bra. My mouth watered, and the shivers racing over my skin reminded me of the way he trailed his fingers along my arm. Clamping my thighs together against the need surging through me, I lifted my gaze to meet his. The harsh sound of our breathing rippled through the silence of the room.
“Can I…” I licked my lips, and Jake raised his brows.
“Can you what, baby girl?”
That was a whole new affection, and it settled over me like a lazy caress and sank into my bones. The roughness of his voice added to the strokes teasing me, and we weren’t even touching each other. Why weren’t we touching each other?
I pushed to the end of the bed, reaching behind me to undo my bra. “Can I put my mouth on you?” The awkwardness in the question echoed against me and my face was on fire, but I didn’t look away as Jake grinned.
The bra slipped down, and Jake trailed his gaze over me, before stepping forward and sliding his hands to my hips. “You want to suck me off?”
The response sent another shudder through me. This close, it was hard to ignore the thick, swollen length of his erection. It was a ruddy color, redder than the rest of him. The tan on his chest and legs was from spending so much time outside, but his hips and buttocks weren’t pale. His skin tone was deeper than mine. But his cock was red, the tip swollen and shiny, the mushroom shaped head engorging the more I stared at him.
I nodded slowly, aware of the flush spreading from my face to my chest. “I do, never done it before…”
He chuckled, and the low, baritone quality went straight to my pussy, and I clenched as everything went low and hot. “Baby girl, just watch your teeth, and I will happily let you learn whatever you want to on me, but it’s killing me not touching you at the moment.”
I stood up as he hooked his fingers into my pants, the button flicked open, and the zipper descended. Not once did he look away from me. The warmth of his hands on my skin before he began shoving them down—panties and all—had me sighing.
“Should I pinch myself?” The question slipped out as he crouched, and I had to brace a hand on his shoulder as he tugged off my shoes, and then I was stepping out of the pants.
With a light scrape of his teeth, he kissed my thigh and then nuzzled his nose right between them, and another bolt of lust shot through me.
“I’ll take care of the pinching,” he said lazily, before sucking a kiss to the inside of my thigh almost exactly where Archie had, and I slid my fingers into his hair a second before he swiped his tongue from my entrance to my clit.
On wobbling legs, I almost fell, but Jake kept me steady as I sank onto the bed. He never lost contact as he wedged his shoulders between my legs and deepened that carnal kiss. The rasp of stubble stung, even as he sucked tightly against my clit. The coiled tension ratcheted higher. A whining note escaped my throat as he spread his hot hands against my legs and pushed them higher and wider.
I was embarrassingly wet, but the discomfort faded under the sucking kisses and deep, tongue thrusting probes. The low moaning sounds he made vibrated against me, and all of a sudden, it hit me. Jake enjoyed what he was doing, this wasn’t just about how wonderful it felt to me. Gratitude swelled in me, curving alongside delight. Tonguing me was giving Jake pleasure, and I wanted to give him more.
“Fuck…” I groaned as I fell back against the bed and arched my pelvis. I couldn’t get any purchase with my feet, and still, I strained toward the orgasm rapidly unraveling. One minute I was on the edge, and the next, I swore I squirted a little as I fisted my comforter. Every muscle in my body seemed to go rigid, and I couldn’t catch my breath.
Jake laughed against my pussy as he slowed his
nuzzling caresses, and I glanced down the length of me to find him watching me with hot eyes. The moment our gazes met, he stroked my clit again and an aftershock rolled through me, and I think I might have screamed a little.
“I love that sound.” Every word vibrated to my core, and then he was crawling up me, pausing to kiss and lick a path to my breasts. He sucked on one nipple, hard, fierce, and biting. Clasping my hands to his shoulders, I let out another cry. He ground his hips against mine, the length of his cock snug against my still fluttering pussy, and then Jake kissed me.
Cupping his face, I slid my fingers into his hair as I licked the taste of myself from his lips, and he teased my tongue with his. The hot weight of him blanketing me helped to quiet the jolts still rocketing through my system. Bit by bit, I tried to pull myself back together.
When I flattened my hands to his shoulders, he dragged his head up and stared down at me with lazy, heated eyes. “I love how you taste.”
I went up in flames all over again. Need and want were so closely twinned, I didn’t think I would survive if I wasn’t touching him at the moment. He slid his fingers into my hair and tilted my head. Then he kissed me again, slow, nibbling bites, long strokes of his tongue, and then sucking nips as he pulled at my lower lip.
“Jake,” I whispered in a raw voice, like I’d been shouting for hours. “My turn.” The smile on his lips sent another wave of longing through me as he rolled his hips and his cock nestled even tighter against me. If he moved just a quarter of inch lower, he’d have thrust into me.
“If you put your mouth on me,” he whispered. “I’m not going to last.”
“That’s okay,” I promised. I’d never done this, hell, I’d heard horror stories of what it would taste like, but I didn’t care. This was Jake. “We have time.”
The crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened at the mention of “time.”
When he dipped his head and kissed my throat, then trailed those kisses down to my breast, I knew it was coming before he sucked the skin up and left a bruising mark. They loved leaving those damn things on me. A laugh bubbled up as I gripped his hair and tugged.
Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two Page 23