Graduation and Gifts (Untouchable Book 8) by Heather Long (best books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

of nurturing she'd gotten from her bitch of a mother, she'd managed to turn out a lot like the father she'd never met.

Please let him continue to be cool.

Bubba had his cell phone at his ear as he paced away and I cut a look to Archie and Jake. "What did I miss?" I hadn’t even heard it ring.

"No idea," Jake said. "Archie thinks it's the lawyer, which is good, cause maybe that means the producer got back to them."

"Would they call on a Saturday?" What I didn't know about the music business could fill volumes. Frankie had been emailing Kaitlyn from Torched on a semi-regular, if infrequent basis. That made sense. The girls were still finishing their tour.

I crossed mental fingers.

"You good?" Jake asked as Archie paced away from us in the other direction. He had his own phone up. I swore I could see Arch in ten or twenty years, probably dressed in a nicer suit, but still juggling a dozen different things and his phone permanently attached to his hand.

"We're done," I said slowly. "Is it me or does it feel surreal?"

He shrugged. "Yes and no? It kind of felt done when we took that last test and like we've had one foot out the door since spring break."

True. Except...

"Tomorrow, we wake up and everything high school is in our pasts." I wasn't sure I could quite put it into words. Pretty sure if I decided to have an existential crisis right now... "How are the girls taking the move?" Jake hadn't mentioned anything regarding them. To be honest, I'd also been pretty focused on Trina.

Thankfully, she was coping better.

"Becca is going to get my room, she and Blake flipped for it." Jake grinned. "She already texted this morning about how soon I could move my shit."

I laughed and the door to the bathroom opened to let Frankie and Rachel out.

Damn, my heart squeezed. Frankie seemed to glow as she came to a stop and spread her arms. "How do I look?"

With a twirl, she made me smile even wider. The happiness shimmering off her the night before practically seemed to be infused into her skin.

"Stunning," I affirmed as I crossed toward and leaned down to press a kiss to her smiling lips.

"Do not smear the lipstick." Rachel chortled, but I slid an arm around Frankie and flipped her off as I gave Frankie a real kiss. Fortunately, she didn't complain, and Rachel just laughed harder.

The rest of our lives began as soon they dismissed us from commencement. That was the whole idea. This was that last ritual before we walked out the doors of high school forever. We were leaving it all behind, except the very best parts.

Frankie tilted her head back to stare up at me and she grinned. "What are you thinking about?"

I opened my mouth to answer her and the principal announced over the PA system that we should be gathering to line up for our respective buses. Archie was already heading in our direction, as was Bubba. Jake stole Frankie away with an arm around her and pressed his lips to her temple.

"He's being philosophical," he warned, and Frankie laughed as she rubbed Jake's hand before looking at me again.

"Because this is the end?"

"In a way," I admitted. "It struck me, this really was the end of an era for us. Yes, we're still going to be together, but... no more coffee in the cafeteria or heading off campus for lunch or waiting by your car for you in the morning."

"Oh, fuck me," Archie groaned. "Who let him get started?"

Bubba chuckled. "Leave him alone. We all have to process in our own ways."

I flipped both of them off, but Frankie let out a whimsical little breath. "But the important part is we will be together. I mean, it hasn't been ‘whose house do we hang out at’ in months, and it won't be everyone crashing at my apartment, we're gonna find our own place. You know, if we can pull that off."

It was Bubba's turn to tug her away from Jake and he nuzzled a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "You're encouraging him."

Laughter swelled up, she didn't have to encourage me. We were doing this. Rachel made a gagging sound as they called us to the buses again and I snaked out an arm to grab her and tucked her close.

"All together means you're with us too, Queen Cactus."

She grunted, but didn't yank away, then Frankie glanced over her shoulder at Jake. "Road trip later, we need to go beat up a Freshman at UNT."

"Done," Jake said bringing up the rear. "Just tell me how much damage you want him to feel."

"A lot," Frankie said decisively. "He's a real dick."

"I'll take care of him, Baby Girl."

When Frankie flashed a triumphant smile at Rachel, she huffed out a laugh. I glanced at the brunette who gave me an impudent look. "I'll help," I decided aloud and Frankie beamed at me. Whoever this fuck was it had to do with Rachel. I had zero trouble beating the shit out of some asshole who hurt her, and Frankie wouldn't be asking if Rachel wasn't hurt.

"We all will," Archie agreed as Bubba shot a look back at me and Rachel.

"Yep." Then Jake fell in next to Rachel while Archie and Bubba kept Frankie between them.

"The musk of testosterone in the air is choking me," Rachel commented.

"Deal with it," I told her. "You're one of us."

Ian

The line for the buses took us out into the heat. Thankfully, all six of us were on the same bus because we were in the top one hundred, which meant instead of sitting alphabetically, we'd be sitting by class rank. I'd rather have just sat together, but even alphabetically, that wouldn't happen, so this was the next best thing.

Archie grunted when I slid into the seat next to Frankie and he snagged the one behind us with Jake while Coop and Rachel took the one ahead. The air outside