Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,120

murmured and started pushing the cart myself, but he caught it to hold it still, then began to load everyone’s favorite Pop-Tarts—a ridiculous amount.

Now he was just making a point.

“I’m glad you like my reasoning before I’ve even said it.”

“Yeah, we’re not all the way there yet, so get on with it, Standish.”

His grin grew, if that were at all possible. “Finances don’t make people equal. Never have. Never will. All money does is pay for comfort. It doesn’t keep you warm at night or hold your hand when you need it. It doesn’t push you to be a better person or challenge your patience.”

He snagged the cart and tugged it forward, and I moved with it until we were face to face again.

“It definitely doesn’t teach you how to do your own laundry or make you realize just what you’ve been missing. My equals? They fill in the other parts of me. They balance me out. That, Miss Curtis, is spelled F-R-A-N-K-I-E.”

“Wow.”

“Good, right?”

I laughed. “You kind of ruin it when you pat yourself on the back.”

“No,” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss me. “I don’t.”

No, he really didn’t.

Still… “This doesn’t mean the budget is off. “

“I’d never presume,” he murmured. “So should we skip the ice cream, since we’re spending so much on this?”

“Now you really want me to hurt you.”

“I’m just trying to keep us on budget.”

Yep.

I admit it.

I hit him.

He still laughed and pinched my ass in retaliation.

Ugh. The budget died long before we reached the register, but he killed me when he picked out the chocolate ice cream cake and it was really hard to argue with it.

Jake was there when we got home and helped us offload everything. I carried a pint of my ice cream off to eat in the living room while the engineers debated on how to fit everything in the fridge. It was damn amusing.

My phone buzzed.

Rachel: I’m alive. No need to threaten mayhem or bodily harm. The boys not fulfilling you? You read the new books yet? If not, then go do that. Should cure your boredom. Give you all kinds of ideas for them. Talk to you tomorrow.

My mouth dropped open. But before I could fire off a response, another image filled the screen.

Oh, she was adorable. Rachel held a baby cuddled up to her chest and the message said, Meet my niece. She made an unexpected appearance, and I forgot my phone. My bad. You know you’re my favorite bitch. Xoxo

My squeal pulled Jake and Archie’s attention.

The fact that they blanched at the picture cracked me up. Well to be fair, Archie blanched, Jake just looked amused.

“Huh, there’s another Rachel running around in the world,” he said. “That’s…either really really cool or kind of terrifying.”

Archie snorted. “I’m going with terrifying. Mostly because Frankie looks way too excited.”

“She gets to be an aunt and play with a baby,” I said and rolled my eyes. “Of course, I’m excited. I kind of want to do that someday.”

There was a distinct pause, and I caught them both staring at me.

“Some. Day.” I enunciated the words clearly. “As in, sometime in the future, distant. Not any time in the next five years.”

“So, five-year plan?” Jake asked.

“Five-year plan,” Archie agreed, and I groaned. Archie couldn’t live on a grocery budget, but a five-year plan?

Still…

That baby was cute.

I sent Rachel back heart eyes emojis. That definitely helped lift the mood of the day.

Then I remembered I still had homework.

Fuck.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I’d Never Forget About You

Coop

I left for school before everyone else on Monday. Archie would run interference with Frankie, but I wanted to catch that smoky little fuckweed before school started. I knew just where he and his smelly little shits would be hanging out off-campus.

A win-win because they couldn’t smoke on school grounds, so their little dumpster playground was also out of bounds for school rules. Jake slid into the car next to me before I even got it started, and I side-eyed him. “To be perfectly clear, I can handle the little asshole.”

“Not a doubt in my mind,” he said as he set his backpack on the floor and pulled his seatbelt on. “I’m just tagging along for the ride.”

I blew out a breath. It had taken me most of the evening and then some to settle Trina and Mom. The whole damn thing had been one ugly conversation after another. One where we’d ended up finally having to call Dad in to join us for, and damn, Mom put him on