by Heather Long
Some of the party had spilled outside, but we walked around toward the drive. Despite the open-air, Ian held onto my hand.
“You know,” he said. “I’m glad we’re finally getting a minute.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. We really hadn’t, not since he helped me record the song for Archie. “I wanted to tell you thank you. Archie really loved the song.”
“I’m glad,” he told me as he paused near the covered porch and leaned against the railing. Looping his arms around me, he tugged me to him. We were in the shadows with only a couple of dim outdoor lights offering any illumination. The cloudy skies overhead added to the general darkness. “I’m also really glad I’m here.”
“You kissed me today.” I ripped the Band-Aid right off. While we hadn’t avoided the topic per se, we hadn’t really addressed it either, and the guys hadn’t commented.
“I did,” he murmured, then reached up to brush some of the hair away from my damp forehead. “I plan on kissing you again.”
“You do, huh?”
“I do.” The smile in his voice tugged at me. “I want to kiss you and make up for every single time I didn’t when I wanted to.”
My stomach see-sawed a little. “Ian…”
“Angel? I’m in. No more hesitation. You take all the time you need to forgive me. I know I need to earn it. But from the moment you said goodbye to me, it hit me what an enormous jackass I’d been. You were right, you deserved so much better. You deserved someone who knows what they want and isn’t afraid to go for it. I might be slow…but you’re where I want to be and who I want to be with. Think you can give me another chance?”
The sick, fluttery feeling was back in full force. “What if you change your mind again?”
“Not gonna happen,” he promised.
“Ian, you don’t know that.”
He cupped my chin when I would have looked down and kept my gaze up. “I know what it’s been like since you broke up with me. I know you’ve fought to stay my friend, even when it was hurting you. I know a lot of crap happened between then and now. But there’s good things too. I know what I lost, Frankie. I know what I want back, too. I’m not changing my mind. I’m not assuming you will or you won’t. I’m just asking to be here with you, to have a chance to prove to you that you weren’t wrong about me that day in the pool.”
The first time we kissed.
“I screwed up,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I know,” I answered him. “I am too. I’m sorry it was so hard for you that I’m…”
“Honest?” Challenge inhabited the word. “You haven’t lied to me. I see how you feel about them. I just want a chance for you to be able to feel that for me, too.”
Swallowing, I laughed a little. “You’re kind of an idiot.”
“I think we established that.”
“I’m kind of an idiot, too.”
“What’s the point of having friends if you can’t bitch, moan, and be idiots together?” He had a point.
“If you get scared again, talk to me first?”
“Promise. If I can’t find the words, I’ll fight to find them. I won’t just make sweeping decisions.”
“You know I want to trust you?”
“Yeah?” Surprise filtered through his voice.
“Yes,” I told him. “I don’t know if I do…all the way yet. But I want to. But I’m scared, too.”
“What are you scared of?”
“Everything some days. Of being selfish. Of making the wrong choices. Of not getting into college. Of getting into college. Of getting my emancipation. Of not getting it.” Then I focused on him. “Of caring about you guys and losing you.”
“You won’t lose,” he promised. “I’d tell you I’d follow you anywhere, but that’s a little stalkery.”
I laughed.
“A little, true.”
“How about this? Will you go out with me, Frankie? Real dates. You and me. Let me buy you flowers and take you out to eat. Let me take you for rides on the bike as soon as that arm is healed. Come listen to me work on my music, work on it with me? You inspire me, Angel. Everything I’ve written in the last few weeks, it’s all been you.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “We’re going to need rules.”
“Agreed.”
“And you guys don’t get to be the only ones who make them.”
“Totally down for that.”
“You owe me a night of dancing.”
“Agreed.”
“Karaoke.” That was a concession. I hated the karaoke, but he was so good at it.
“Name the time and the place, I’m there.”
“You’re easy.”
“For you?” Ian cocked his head. “Haven’t you figured it out yet, Angel? I’d do anything for you.”
Oh, I wanted to believe him so bad. I’d hated the distance between us. The gulf. Even holding on with my fingers and toes to our friendship, a piece of me had been missing.
“I—”
“Well, well, well,” a raspy voice gritted out, and ice slithered down my spine. Ian jerked up straight and glared.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
I turned, but Ian was already shoving me behind him.
Mitch stood there—a creepy Frankenstein—and he had a few friends with him.
“Believe it or not, Bubba…” Mitch gritted out. “We were looking for the pair of you. Trick or treat…”
I didn’t even get a chance to scream before something was yanked over my head.
Frankie and the boys return in Hangovers and Holidays.
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About Heather Long
USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.
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A Marine Affair
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When Danger Bites
Bitten Under Fire
Boomers
The Judas Contact
Deadly Genesis
Unstoppable
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Wanted: Fevered or Alive
Wild and Fevered
The Quick & The Fevered
A Man Called Wyatt
Going Royal
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Some Like It Deadly
Some Like it Secret
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Her Marine Prince
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Heart of the Nebula
Queenmaker
Deal Breaker
Throne Taker
Lone Star Leathernecks
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Madison, The Witch Hunter
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Mongrels, Mischief & Mayhem
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Succubus Chained
Succubus Unchained
Space Cowboy
Space Cowboy Survival Guide
Untouchable
Rules and Roses
Changes and Chocolates
Keys and Kisses
Whispers and Wishes
Wolves of Willow Bend
Wolf at Law
Wolf Bite
Caged Wolf
Wolf Claim
Wolf Next Door
Rogue Wolf
Bayou Wolf
Untamed Wolf
Wolf with Benefits
River Wolf
Single Wicked Wolf
Desert Wolf
Snow Wolf
Wolf on Board
Holly Jolly Wolf
Shadow Wolf
His Moonstruck Wolf
Thunder Wolf
Ghost Wolf
Outlaw Wolves
Wolf Unleashed
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