Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,112

in the nuts, and he dropped with a soundless wheeze. “That’s what it feels like when someone is made powerless.” Bending down, I murmured, “That’s also from a friend. I could give you a couple of more, but I’ll save them for if there’s a next time. Clear?”

Still cupping his nuts, Reed bobbed his head. “Done…man. Fuck, I won’t even think her name again.”

“Excellent. Glad we had this chat.” I dragged him back up to his feet and helped him to his corner. “Take a deep breath, then get dressed. We gotta lock up.”

Turning away from him, I found Jake dragging his shirt over his head and smirking as he shook his head.

“What?” I asked when I reached him. “You think you get to be the one to have all the fun?”

He chuckled.

It took Reed another ten minutes, but then he could walk out the door under his own power. Granted, he walked awkwardly and you could see the pain, but he was moving. Instead of leaving right away, Jake leaned against the SUV, head tilted back and eyes closed.

I could wait him out…

“Need to run?”

He shook his head. “No, it helped. But he didn’t offer much of a fight back, you know?”

“You pretty much played with him instead of just putting him down.”

“He needed to learn a lesson,” Jake answered with a shrug. “Lesson delivered.”

I nodded. “And you’re still wound tight.”

“Because a part of me wishes I could drag Frankie’s mother into a ring like that and school her on how she treats our girl.”

I grinned, it wasn’t funny and yet… “If only it were that easy.”

“Yeah.” Finally, Jake turned and looked at me. “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m actually…probably in the best place I’ve been in a while. I just wish I could make it easier for everyone else.”

“You kept your head today. I seethed. Archie plotted. Coop’s…nursing a hangover and trying to sort out how do you react to finding out your dad is a bigger bag of dicks than you already thought.” He shook his head. “Frankie was…”

“Amazing,” I summed it up. “She was definitely hurting, but you saw her in between, right? When they went to his office. There was fire in her eyes.”

“Yeah, and I saw her after when she looked so damn tired.”

“She’s going to be fine,” I promised him, and pulled my phone out to check the messages. There were three. Two from Archie and one from Coop. “And she knows where we are.”

“Fuck,” Jake swore and tilted his head back.

“Nah, it’s good.” I held out his phone so he could read the message himself.

Archie’s messages were short and to the point. They were home, she and Coop were currently battling it out in Mario Kart. He was still in a mood, but he had a plan in place. That probably helped.

“Hey, Jake…before we go back, we should talk about something.”

He glanced up from the phone. “This isn’t another problem, right?”

“Nope,” I told him easily. “But Coop had a point, and I want you aware before you walk in, since no one knows how to knock on a closed door.”

With a snort, he shook his head. “It’s not about knocking, it’s Coop wanting to watch. You know he likes watching, right?”

No. I mean, I guess I had known that but… “Huh.”

Jake chuckled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind watching when it’s her, but I’d much rather play. Coop likes both. Closed doors are a temptation to see, and yeah, unless you don’t want him wandering in and out, lock the door.”

“Noted,” I said slowly, then let out a little snort of disbelief. Coop had been damn curious about all of it and a good sport, too. But maybe that was why. He wanted to watch. I still had a lot to learn, but it wouldn’t hurt to have backup…though I imagine it would suck for him if I told him all he could do was watch.

Then again…

“Whatever evil idea you just had,” Jake said with a laugh, “count me in. But now I’m fucking cold and our girl is at home and waiting for us, so let’s take this show on the road.”

Once in the SUV, I told him about the ropes. The club. The training. And what I liked to do. Oddly, the more I talked about it, the easier it got.

Jake took the news well.

Better than well.

He just grinned. “I’ve been reading her books,” he admitted. “And I’m down for