Whispers and Wishes (Untouchable Book 4)

by Heather Long

  I shook my head. “We went to her hotel to see her. She barely spoke to me the whole time I was there. Just nodded at me and told me to sit up straight. The rest of it was her and Mom having a fight without being a fight.” After… Well, after, we’d left and gone home, and that was the first and last time I ever saw my grandmother.

  Honestly, I didn’t even know if she was still alive.

  “You know mine still love you, right?” Coop said, giving me a comforting squeeze. “I’ll totally share them with you.”

  Heart heavy, I tried to smile. I did appreciate it. But I was so tired just thinking about it. “I’m glad. Your grandmother gives great hugs.” Mine didn’t. She hadn’t touched me once. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to play.”

  “Hey, we have all the time in the world,” Coop promised me as he put his feet up and grabbed the remote. “You look tired.”

  “I feel tired.” I felt worse than tired. It had been a good day, but I still had so much to figure out. “I have to call those therapists and the hospital and…”

  “They can wait,” he told me firmly. “None of them are going anywhere, and if you’re tired, you can nap. The guys will be home soon, and even if you only get thirty minutes, you’re going to feel better.”

  I didn’t want to miss the guys. “Wake me up if I don’t when they get here?”

  “Nope,” he told me with a grin. “’Cause then they’ll get mad at me. Trust me, everyone is more than willing to hang out and wait. I bet you can even convince them to order pizza tonight.”

  We kept ordering out food or Jeremy brought over food or one of their moms sent food. There was so much food in the fridge. “Potluck,” I said around a yawn. “We can’t let that stuff go to waste.”

  “Right,” Coop murmured, rubbing slow circles against my leg. My last glimpse of him was his smile as he glanced at me. I didn’t even see what he turned on the television.

  The pounding on the door jerked me awake, and I winced even as I blinked around the room. The television was on but quiet, and Ian sat at the coffee table working on his notebook. He jerked too at the pounding on the door.

  Jake was halfway across the room heading for the kitchen as I started to sit up. Tiddles leapt off me at the first movement, and I put my right hand down and then winced. A little sound must have escaped, because Ian slid an arm around my back and helped me up.

  “Easy,” he said, sitting behind me so he half-propped me up as I cradled my splinted wrist. “You okay?”

  The pounding on the door came again just as Jake wrenched it open. “What?” That growl was all kinds of hostile, and I strained to see who it was, but between the door, the angle, and Jake, I couldn’t see who it was.

  “Good evening, dickhead. I’ve come to see my BFF, so if you wouldn’t mind…”

  Rachel’s voice carried, and the combination of insolence and annoyance made me smile, even if my wrist ached.

  “You could have called,” Jake said, unmoved from his position. “Why the hell were you pounding on the door like that?”

  “One, I have called and you guys keep telling me she’s asleep, and she hasn’t answered my texts. Two, I knocked like that because I’d rather you didn’t pretend you didn’t hear me.”

  Guilt stabbed at me, and I glanced up at Ian who wore a frown. “I’m okay,” I said quietly, then held up wrist. “I think I forgot while I was asleep.” The pain meds always muddled me anyway.

  “Yeah, good.” But he didn’t move away, if anything, he just sat there and let me lean into him. And you know, it was nice, so I let myself lean into him, too.

  “Rach…” Jake began.

  “Save it, dickhead. I brought her coffee and chocolate, and I’m not budging until I see her. You guys have played guardian at the gate for a week. It’s cute, I appreciate it. Now get the hell out of my way.”

  “I need to go and deal with that,” I told Ian. The last thing I wanted was Jake slamming the door in her face or for it to escalate.

  “She’s asleep,” Jake replied, the testiness in his voice hitting epic proportions.

  “I got this,” Ian promised. “Not anymore.” He pitched his voice a little louder, and Jake yanked around to glare at him, though the moment his gaze connected with mine, it softened a bit. It also gave Rachel an opening, and she squeezed right past him with a pair of coffees in hand and a bag dangling off her wrist.

  She looked good. Dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and dressed in jeans and t-shirt with some band logo on it that I didn’t know. “You look like crap,” she said by way of greeting, and I almost laughed. Expression thunderous, Jake closed the door and stalked after her.

  “This is your idea of checking on her?”

  “Well, it is when she’s sitting here all pale and leaning on shit for brains like a good stiff wind will knock her over. On the other hand…” Rachel set the coffees down and cocked her head to the side as I met her dry gaze. “You also look a little bit like a badass.”

  “Only a little bit?” I said, sitting up more as Ian pressed his hand against my spine to support me until I swung my feet around. He kept his touch below the remnants of the bruise on my back. I didn’t think about it much unless someone put pressure on it, and then it reminded me that it hurt. The blanket tangled around me, I had to tug it off before I stood.

  “Well, maybe a lot,” Rachel conceded, and then she took another step toward me and put the coffee on the table. “Can I give you a hug?”

  “Sure,” I said, and it wasn’t as awkward as I feared as she wrapped her arms around me.

  “Be careful of her back,” Jake ordered, and I met his gaze over Rachel’s shoulder. Worry filtered through his eyes, and I mouthed ‘I’m okay.’ He frowned but nodded.

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” Rachel snapped back. “Go be a dickhead somewhere else. You too, shit for brains.” She flicked off Ian and Jake like they were bugs. “I want to talk to Frankie without an audience.”

  “Rach…”

  But before I could continue, she rolled her eyes as she released me and then said, “Please, would you give us a few minutes to catch up? Take a break. Take a shower. Take a walk. Just—go away.”

  “Frankie?” Ian asked, not missing a beat. “You want a minute with your friend?” The hesitation he put on the word friend spoke volumes, but Jake just rolled his eyes.

  “I’ll be in the bedroom, don’t be a bitch and don’t wear her out.” With that, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek before murmuring, “Coop and Archie went out to grab dinner, and before you say potluck, Bubba and I killed half the leftovers when we got home. I was starving.” Then he gave me a wink before he retreated toward my room. Which, you know, as weird as it was, I’d gotten kind of used to having them there.

  “Thanks,” I called after him and then glanced at Ian. “And yes, I’d like to talk to Rachel. I’ve not been a very good friend the last week. Do you mind?”

  “Nope,” he said, then pressed a kiss to my forehead, and my heart did a little squeeze. It was the first one he’d given me since everything happened. “I’ll go let Jake rant while I work on this.” He scooped up his notebook and glanced at Rachel. “Just—dial it down a notch?”

  “For you, stud, anything.”

  “Sorry, all taken here. Better luck next time.”

  My snicker at Rachel’s smirking tone dried up at Ian’s retort, but he was already vanishing down the hallway. A light touch against my chin jerked my gaze back to Rachel.

  “Don’t drool, girl, it’s not really attractive.”

  I wasn’t drooling. “If you came all the way over here and stormed the gates just to tell me that, I’ll be disappointed.” It was the best I could come up with. Ian knew Rachel wasn’t really interested, so the response didn’t have to be that. But why had he said that?

  “Hey,” Rachel countered. “I also brought coffee.” She handed me a peppermint mocha with a grin. “And best of all, I brought you me.”

  That really was best of all
. Smiling a little, I sat back down and nodded to the sofa. She dropped onto the other end and picked up her own coffee cup.

  “I’m sorry—” But she didn’t let me finish.

  “Nothing to be sorry for. You needed time and space, and I gave you as much as I can. They told me how you were doing, and as much shit as I give them, I like that they’ve closed ranks and been protective. But it’s been a week, and I needed to see you for myself. So, you can throw me out whenever. Until then, I figured we could hang out for a few?”

  “It feels a lot longer than a week, and I’d love it if you hung out for a while. At least until Coop and Archie get back.” I had no idea when they left, I was still a little muddled from the pain meds.

  “Cool,” Rachel said, then crossed one leg over the other. “So what do you want first? The good gossip? Or the really good gossip?”

  Um…

  That felt like a trick question.

  Chapter Six

  Playing Rubber Chicken

  Running.

  I was running.

  Only my feet weren’t moving.

  Everywhere I turned, the walls were blank. It was like I was in an endless hallway of dead ends. Frustrated, I turned in a circle. Something was after me.

  No. Some one was after me.

  I couldn’t see them either.

  Just the drag of their footsteps. I struck out blindly. Boxing with shadows. My wrist popped and hurt. My shoulders burned. I struck out again, and my face burned. I fell.

  Then I was running again, only this time, I ran right into a wall.

  It was a dream. I knew it was a dream. Why the fuck couldn’t I wake up?

  “Shh…” The soft hush of sound whispered against my ear. An arm tightened around me, and Coop’s familiar voice penetrated the endless walls.

  Then Jake’s voice joined him. “Shh, we’ve got you. You’re safe.”

  Relief swam up as I cracked an eyelid open. The light was on in the hall, enough for me to see Jake sitting on the bed in front of me. He was mostly dressed. With care, he brushed the hair away from my face.

  “You got her?” It took me a minute to register he wasn’t talking to me.

  “Yeah,” Coop said around a half-yawn. “I got her. Go do your sickeningly healthy thing.”

  A soft chuckle drifted over me as my eyelids fought to lower, but I didn’t want to go back to sleep yet. Coop’s arm was warm around me with his chest pressed firmly against my back. I was lying on my left side, and there was a pillow propping up my right arm. It had been on Jake, I thought.

  Maybe.

  “Hey, Baby Girl,” Jake tipped his head to the side as he found my gaze with his. “Go back to sleep. It’s still early.”

  “Where are you going?” It was the weekend. Why were they up early?

  With a long sigh, he said, “Arch, Bubba, and I are going running.”

  “Why?” The disgust must have reflected in my tone, because there were more soft huffs of laughter.

  “Because they’re getting lazy,” Archie murmured. “And I haven’t gone running all week. Coop’s here, and we’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

  “With donuts,” Ian tacked on.

  Two hours?

  I made a face. No way in hell was I leaving my warm, comfortable bed to go running, much less for two hours.

  “Want to go?” Jake asked, amusement curling his lips.

  “No.” I wiggled back against Coop, and he groaned into my neck. Oh. The thick erection nudging my ass had me curling my toes. Yeah, I’d stop wiggling.

  “Go back to sleep, Baby Girl.” Jake chuckled, then pressed a kiss to my forehead. He rose, and then Archie was there. He had his Bluetooth earphones around his neck and his phone tucked into a Velcro armband.

  Oh, he was wearing shorts and a tank just like Jake. They were gonna get hot and sweaty when they ran. I might need to get up before they got back. He brushed his lips against my forehead, and I caught a whiff of peppermint toothpaste. “See you in a little while, babe.”

  I smothered another yawn, then blinked because Ian had taken Archie’s place, and he brushed the hair back from my face. “Sleep well, Angel.” He shouldn’t be calling me that.

  His kiss was far briefer as he grazed his lips against my cheek, but there and gone as he straightened. And all chance of going back to sleep vanished as he left the room with the guys. I could hear the cats following them, meowing. They’d gotten used to the guys being there, too.

  The crinkling of a can being opened drifted back up the hall, and Coop chuckled against my hair as he flattened his hand over my stomach. “They are so pussy whipped.”

  The minute the words registered, laughter swelled through me and I cracked up. He shook with laughter.

  “I heard that,” Jake yelled, and the laughter bubbled up through me faster.

  “Don’t hear you denying it,” Coop answered in the same tone.

  “You can’t see me, but I’m flipping you off.”

  Coop’s laughter deepened, and my chest ached from the out of control giggles.

  “Be good,” Archie added. “Frankie’s pussy is all taken care of.”

  I sucked in a breath, then lost it laughing all over again. Masculine laughter chased Archie’s words, even as Coop clutched me to him still chuckling. The back door closed, but it did nothing to quiet our humor. Wiggling, I rolled onto my back and met Coop’s gaze. The guys had shut off the light in the hall, but it wasn’t really dark. We must be close to dawn. Coop touched my nose with a finger. The laughter surged up again, and he caught my splinted arm carefully as he hugged me.

  Practically panting to catch my breath, I lay there. My stomach hurt, we’d giggled so much. Next to me, Coop didn’t seem to be doing much better. One arm against his forehead, he snorted as he released another chuckle.

  “We’re not going back to sleep, are we?” Since he sounded almost as awake as I was, I turned my head to look at him.

  “Probably not,” I admitted. “I can try.” But I was really wired up.

  “I blame them,” Coop declared in an attempt to be grumpy.

  I couldn’t help it. “The pussy-whipped?”

  His guffaw made me grin until my cheeks ached. I had to stop ’cause it pulled on my bruise cheek too much, but I wanted to keep smiling. He rolled up to sitting, still laughing.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He was only wearing boxers and some of my laughter dried up as he walked away. Coop was wiry, and it was hard to see in his clothes, but without them?

  Whew. Hot.

  Sitting up, I checked my breath against my hand and then tested my back by stretching. There was still a pull. Coop took longer than a minute, more like ten. But when he came back in, he made a face when I slid off the bed.

  “I gotta pee,” I told him, and rose on my tiptoes to kiss his smooth cheek. A second grin stole through me. He took long enough to shave?

  “K.”

  It took me a couple of minutes, but I peed, brushed my teeth, and washed my face—one-handed. I was already sick of the splint. But I had to wear it for at least another week, and then they’d see whether I could take it off or if I needed something else.

  Blegh.

  My hair was kind of a mess. It had begun to pull out of the really nice braid Jake had put it in, so I freed it and used my fingers to comb it. It was all kinky waves and kind of huge. But I had to wash it at some point today. I kind of wished I could shower and do all the things on my own, but that was still tricky.

  Gathering my courage before it could flee, I padded back to the bedroom. “Coop,” I said before swinging in the door. “Do you think you could—oh.”

  I paused.

  Coop sprawled on the bed, completely naked. Not that he had that far to go, he’d just had boxer shorts on earlier. But he had one arm hooked behind his head while he palmed his very stiff cock with the other.

  “Hi.” All the breath kind of went out of me. Not that I hadn’t seen the guys in various states of n
aked for the last week. But it was really hard to appreciate in the shower when they were actually helping me wash and I had to keep my right arm out of the way.

  And I couldn’t lie, I riveted on the way his hand slid slowly up the length to the tip then back down again. There were already drops of moisture gathering, and each glimpse I got of the vein running along the underside showed it throbbing.

  “Frankie?” At the husky, yet questioning notes in my name, I dragged my gaze up to meet his. There was just a hint of laughter in his gray-green eyes. “Truth or dare?”

  The soft question sent a thrill through my system, and I moved closer to the bed. “Truth.”

  He stilled his hand and studied me. “Do you still want to experiment?”

  Oh, that shiver in my system seesawed between nervous and excited. “Yes.”

  Sitting up, he shot me an expectant look, and I rubbed at my lower lip carefully. “Truth or dare?”

  He grinned. “Dare.”

  I laughed.

  “You’re already naked.”

  “I know.” He leaned forward and crooked a finger unto the waistband of the boxers—Jake’s this time—I wore then tugged me toward him. “But you’re not.”

  “But this is my dare.” And my heart jumped again when he slid his hand under the tank top and began to nudge it upward.

  “True, but I want to be helpful while you’re thinking about it.”

  Helpful. He slid his hand just under my breast and then captured the nipple with his teeth through the shirt. The combination of sensations threatened to short-circuit my brain. It was so simple and at the same time, they’d been so careful in how they touched me. I’d half-worried it wasn’t going to be the same.

  No.

  Couldn’t say that worry lingered at the moment. He slid his free hand under my shirt and covered the other breast. My legs trembled, and I slid onto my knees onto the bed. When he lifted his head to look at me, I traced my fingers against his cheek. The damp tank clung to the nipple he’d just sucked, and it ached even as he tweaked it.