giving her another damn drugged drink. Not on our watch.
But all of that faded when the music started and Frankie lit up. I had to admit, Torched gave a hell of a performance and the music was great. But Frankie dancing and singing along with them elevated it to a whole new level. Damn, she could move, and I knew for damn certain she had no idea how good she looked rocking her hips, hands up, as her body went loose and fluid.
The guy behind us checking her out irked the shit out of me. But when he caught me looking, he shot me an apologetic wave and dragged his eyes off her. Good decision, since I wasn’t opposed to siccing Jake on him or punching him myself.
The girl group gave a badass concert, though ‘girl group’ seemed almost too patronizing a description. They were a band—all three of them played instruments, and they swapped them out. They had backup players, too. Bubba kept pointing things out to Frankie about the guitars. I’d have to get him to fill me in later.
Their first album, Party Girl, was one of Frankie’s top five favorites. That much I knew. When they segued from their new stuff to that album, she’d kissed me right in the middle of the second song, and fuck if I didn’t want to find a way to fuck her right then and there. I could wait.
Her excitement was worth a little pain and suffering.
The concert only lasted about three hours from start to finish, but we were all hot and sweaty by the time we, along with the masses, began to make our way out. Frankie’s eyes glittered, and she needed to hit the bathroom. We found one without a hideous line and parked ourselves to wait for her. As soon as she was inside, I let them know that when we got back, Frankie was sleeping with me. No one argued. Look at us, being all mature. Only when she was back with us—ha, and changed into one of her concert shirts and looking sassy about it—did we take turns hitting the restrooms ourselves.
Yep, some things we were just gonna be paranoid about.
Burgers, fries, and shakes waited for us in the car. I’d asked the driver to grab dinner for us when he picked us up and to grab something for himself to eat while he waited. I’d wanted to score backstage passes for us, but they weren’t doing them for this part of the tour.
That was fine. They were gonna be in Dallas right after graduation.
And I already had tickets and passes.
Was I smug as fuck about that? Yes, I was. But I’d save that reveal for later.
Hoarse from singing and flushed from dancing, Frankie’s joy flooded the interior of the car. Of course, we had the music on and she half-danced to it while eating her burger. It hit me as she darted her attention between Coop and Bubba that it had been a long time since I’d seen her really happy.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen her this happy. It made stark the shadow she’d been living under for so long and me more determined than ever to cut that cunt of a mother out of her life for good. It wasn’t my call, yeah yeah. But Frankie flourished without her. I sprawled back in the seat, head tilted back with my eyes only half-open, but I didn’t miss a move she made.
Four months.
In four months, she’d be eighteen. Even if we only ever had the temporary order, we just had to make it last.
Then goodbye, Mrs. Curtis. May she and Edward rot in hell together.
She nudged me with her elbow as she shifted over to sit closer to me. “You okay?”
I smiled down at her and then pressed my lips close to her ear. “Just thinking about all the ways I want to make you come later.”
Her shiver and flush made me smile, and her swift inhale told me more about her interest than anything else.
It took no convincing to steal her away as soon as we got back.
Waking to Frankie was nearly as good as taking Frankie to bed. Who was I kidding? It was mostly equal and sometimes better. Like the fact that she woke me this morning with the hot suction of her mouth, and fuck if I wasn’t coming in nothing flat. It was almost embarrassing.
It was only fair I repaid that favor after my brain