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

was already sticky, but they had the air conditioning running full blast. Maybe that was why Frankie gave a little shiver, or it could have been my fingers on her nape.

Maybe both.

She flashed a look up at me, those green eyes of hers sparkling. I loved seeing her happy like this. I wanted her to always be happy. "Attorney called," I said in a low breath, and she raised her eyebrows. So far, the only questions she'd had in the negotiations had been did I like it and did I trust it. If either answer had been no, then she'd voted no.

Was it any wonder I adored her?

"Still not happy with what the producers are pushing for and they want a full rights grab." I shook my head. After a couple of long discussions with Archie and the attorney, I had to agree with them. The more rights we retained the better for our future. If the producers had their way, we'd make ten to twenty percent at best off our work and our creations while they could then sell and resell it anywhere they wanted.

Granted, maybe it was arrogance on my part. Just because we got a recording contract didn't mean we'd make it anywhere. The contract didn't even mean they'd release it. Honestly, I just wanted to make music with her. I wanted to write with her, sing with her, and just share it with her.

If all we ever did was record for ourselves, then fine.

She bumped my shoulder. "Then we keep negotiating or we tell them to take a leap. If one producer wanted us, then another will too. Remember what KC said."

Yeah, KC, Kaitlyn, had been fantastic. She'd critiqued our demo and it had been mostly positive, but she'd also made a few suggestions, particularly where we could both feature our voices individually as well as in combo. I hadn't even realized that I'd done more about featuring Frankie's voice than mine.

Frankie had given me a scolding. It had earned her a lovely spanking, but I wasn't really sure who got chastised more in that situation. Color bloomed in her cheeks as if she, like me, was thinking about that particular conversation. Studio time had become one of my favorite parts of the week. The soundproof walls and privacy gave us a lot of freedom.

We also had a rope class in a couple of days, I was a little more nervous about that, but she was looking forward to it. Truthfully, so was I.

Linking our fingers, I gave her hand a squeeze. Seniors packed onto the buses... well I guess we weren't seniors anymore. We were graduates. Fuck. There were a lot of familiar faces that we never had to see again.

The girls. Some of the football players. Fuck, for every face we liked there were at least four or five I didn't care if we ever saw again. It didn't take long before we were rolling out. The principal was on our bus and began waxing poetic about the future ahead of us, but my future was sitting around me and right next to me.

There really was no rush for the rest of it. Archie had told us to clear a few weeks right at the beginning of summer for a surprise trip. No details on where we were going, yet. He promised to give me a heads up a couple of days before the blast off. Frankie had to know we were planning something. At least that Archie was, but she didn't ask.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I eased it out. We'd been told to keep them turned off for the duration. Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

Mom and Dad sent me a selfie with the sign they planned to hold up. Kill me.

"They're adorable," Frankie said as she leaned her head against my shoulder. The purple was really working for her.

"They're not bad," I admitted. Still, there was no mistaking the wistfulness in her voice.

"They're the best," Frankie teased me, then gave me a gentle jab. "Who else would have come up with brother boyfriends?"

Thankfully, she kept her voice pitched low, so it didn't set off Jake or Archie again. I was never living that down, and Coop's laughter? I thought the guy was gonna pull a muscle.

"Fine," I conceded. "Though if she puts that on a sign, I'm disowning them."

The drive proved uneventful and while Coop and Frankie had been the anxious ones, they were both calming. I wasn't anxious so much as ready. Ready to be done with high school, the drama, the politics, hell, even the bad decisions. I was ready to make a clean start in a new place.

New York was going to be so fucking different from here and I couldn't wait.

We pulled into the event center and Jake made this soothing noise behind us.

"Hang in there, Arch. You're almost done, and you can add ‘survive the public school bus system’ to your resumé."

The sound of Archie punching his arm carried, and I grinned.

Better, Frankie laughed.

Jake

Hell yes, I whooped as we descended the steps into the parking lot. The heat smacked at us and there were four other buses dropping off their graduates. A sea of purple. For the first time since the shit the team pulled at Halloween, I was proud of our school colors. A breeze stirred the warm air and Frankie adjusted her cap. Rachel was helping her pin it into place.

The robes looked fantastic on her. Best extra sixty bucks I ever spent. Mom had tried to reimburse me when she figured it out, but like I told her then, I did it for Frankie, I didn't want to be reimbursed.

Even better, she'd been on cloud nine since her father showed up at the front door. Hank seemed like a cool dude. He even rolled with it when Frankie said we were all her boyfriends. She flat fucking amazed me every time.

Hank's reaction had been surprise, but he'd taken the news and just gone