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Schooling my expression, I nodded. “Cool?”
“It’s very cool, but…”
I waited her out.
“But I haven’t listened to it yet.”
“Do you want to listen to it?” I already knew the answer. She wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise.
“I do, and I don’t.” She made a face. “I thought we settled this, and now…”
“There’s no rush,” I reminded her. “But Bubba cares about you. So when you’re ready, you listen to his song.” Then I stroked my finger down her nose.
“Rachel wants to hang out tomorrow.”
“Okay. What do you want to do?”
Frankie groaned. “I want to just…be normal. Go to work, get homework done. Hang out with you guys.”
“Well, you’re doing all of that—except the go to work part. And Marsha said for you to take all the time you need. Your job isn’t going anywhere.”
I could almost see the “but money” argument flashing in her eyes.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reminded her. “If you want to go hang with Rachel or have Rachel come over. We’ll make it happen.”
And one of us would keep an eye on them.
When Frankie leaned into me, I wrapped her up in a hug and held her close. “It really is going to be okay,” I said. Jake re-emerged and caught my eye. Then he surprised me. Or maybe not.
He slid right up behind her, and we sandwiched her into the hug between us. It lasted for all of about thirty seconds before she said in a muffled voice, “I can’t breathe.”
Chuckling, we loosened our grip on her, but that thirty seconds had been pretty perfect.
When we finally grabbed drinks and settled in with the popcorn, she curled right between us. And that was pretty perfect, too.
Chapter Twelve
Stolen Kisses
Jake
Frankie shifting against me woke me up. The night had actually been nightmare-free so far, but that didn’t stop me from waking at her every little twitch. I curved around her with her back firm against my chest, and one of my legs had tucked right between hers. With care, I lifted my head to make sure she still had her wrist on a pillow—and she did.
Only the pillow was propped up by Coop. They were both breathing steadily, soft, slow sighs that said they were still asleep. Satisfied, I dropped my head back to the pillow and feathered my hand over her hip. Ilikedsleeping with Frankie. The two nights previously crashing back at my place sucked.
This was much better.
She shifted again, and this time, her ass ground against my morning wood and my chances of going back to sleep winked out like a light being turned off. Fuck that felt good and like torture all at once. Every other time, I’d been tempted to tease her awake.
Today, I hesitated.
She was still recovering. The bruises were better. The visible ones on her back were still green and yellow, fading fast. The one on her cheek had taken longer, but it was also just a shadow now. Not the swollen lump of bruise it had been before. The one that made me want to find Mitch and beat the shit out of him all over again.
I shoved thoughts of him right out of my head. He didn’t get to be in this bed with her. He didn’t get to be anywhere near her ever again. Brushing her hair out of the way, I bared her neck and pressed a kiss there, then another to her ear. She shifted again, and I stroked my hand along her hip.
I loved everything about Frankie—from her sharp mind, to her competitive spirit, to her far too generous heart. The fact that she had legs to die for and sweet curves that fit me like a glove were just a perk. I mouthed another kiss right over her pulse point, even though I knew I should just go back to sleep. The hardest part of this last week hadn’t been keeping my hands to myself.
That I could handle.
