as we left the trail for the walk back to the apartments. “I get it, you are trying to distract me and it’s working and you’re teasing each other and I think it’s great.”
“Us?” Coop sounded almost offended. Almost. Hard to sound too offended when you’re cracking a grin. “Nah. This is foreplay. Remember what Bubba said about when we get back?”
“You have sex on the brain,” I told him, not missing a beat.
“When it comes to Frankie?” He grinned slowly. “Not all of us need to control our urges.”
Oh. That little shit.
Frankie, on the other hand, laughed. “Well, I tell you what, boys…” She skipped ahead and then turned to walk backwards as she looked from me to Coop and then back. “The first one of you back to the apartment gets to shower with me.”
Then she pivoted and took off.
I cut a look at Coop and he stared at me, then we both surged forward. For all his bluster about not wanting to run, Coop was no slouch. He cut ahead of me and turned sharply instead of racing directly up the walk after Frankie. I debated it for all of about a split second and raced after him.
He knew the apartments better than we did. He knew the area better than we did. When he cut through a narrow passageway between the wall around the complex and the street, we bounced off each other. When he threw an elbow and I bounced into the wall, I laughed.
“Oh, it’s on,” I warned him, but he streaked away. I was just steps behind him, and I still conserved my oxygen for a final push as we weaved through the complex, and it didn’t take long to spot Frankie as she circled down the drive. We were a hell of a lot closer to the apartment than she was, and since I knew where I was, I called, “Hey, Coop, don’t forget…I’m still thinking about it.”
He stumbled a step, and I shot past him and hit the backdoor with enough time to get it open before Frankie and Coop made it to the stairs. She was panting, flushed, with the wisps of her hair that escaped her ponytail clinging to her face, and she slid right up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. Coop tried to slide around me to get inside, but I slammed a hand against the doorjamb and cut him off at the chest.
“Aww, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Sure I can,” I told him as I ran a hand down Frankie’s back. She’d sweated enough that the shirt was damp. “You go shower in the other bedroom, and we’ll talk after.”
He laughed at me, but when I didn’t grin or make a joke, he sobered. Better. With a nod, I tugged Frankie inside and flipped on the coffee maker on the way past.
“Oh, I love you,” she enthused, still holding my hand, and I grinned.
“I know.”
In the bathroom, I turned the shower on and then helped her strip out of the clothes. The flush on her cheeks added to the light in her eyes. Instead of climbing under the hot water, she turned into me. The hug at the door earlier had been one thing, but this was needing more, so I locked her up close and squeezed as she rubbed her cheek to my shirt.
“It’s too soon for them to be there yet.”
“Yeah,” I told her. “We weren’t even gone an hour.”
She sighed.
“It’s going to be okay, Angel,” I whispered and pressed a kiss to her damp hair. “Come on, let’s get you in the shower, and then you can have coffee and we’ll find food.”
“Ian.” The soft demand in her voice had me hesitating, and I pulled back to meet her gaze. The skin of her arms was chilly beneath my fingers, so I rubbed my hands up and down her biceps. Her nipples were tight too, but the steam from the shower and the heat of the water had already begun to warm up the bathroom.
“What, Angel?”
“The thing with Coop…”
“Shh. I’m not making any promises, but I’m also not wildly opposed either.”
Surprise skittered across her expression, and yeah, I probably deserved that.
“I’m a possessive bastard, we’ve established that.”
The corners of her mouth tilted upward. “I kind of like that about you.”
“Good. But Coop is very much what you need right now.”
“I need all of you,” she argued.
One finger against her lips, and I pressed my forehead to hers. “Listen