Tears burned in my eyes, and I let out a soppy little laugh.
“You’re going to make me cry.”
“As long as they’re happy tears.” He folded his arms around me and tucked his chin on my shoulder. “I can live with a few of those, but only a few. You want an island, we’ll get an island. You want school? We’ll go to school. You want a hundred cats? Well, we’re gonna have to work on robo-litter cleaners…”
That made me laugh, and I shook with it. “You’re such an ass.”
“But I’m your ass,” he said. “I always have been.”
“Well, my ass isn’t so bad-looking.”
It was his turn to snort. “Your ass is spectacular.”
I grinned. We sat there on the deck for another little while, finishing our coffees. Then we went back inside before heading downstairs. The guys were all passed out. I had to laugh at the fact that Coop was sprawled across half the bed and Jake and Ian were both sleeping at the worst angles to avoid his legs and arms.
Outside again, we followed the water’s edge. The sand here was so fine, it was like powder. We’d kept an eye out for rocks and shells, but we’d been pretty fortunate.
“I wanted to talk to you about school,” Archie began, and I glanced at him.
“Do you want to talk to me about school or your dad?”
He frowned. Like the guys, I’d been aware of Archie’s calls with his father. Coop and I had heard part of one the other day before we ducked out of the house to let him have his privacy. “How long have you known?”
“For a while.”
He sighed.
“I wanted to let you come to me with it, if and when you needed to.”
“I wasn’t trying to lie to you,” he offered, and I squeezed his hand.
“Archie, I know that. I know you’re not lying to me or trying to lie to me. Things with your father are…complicated.”
“That’s a really generous word for it.”
“It’s not about being generous,” I scolded him. “Archie—right, wrong, or indifferent—your relationship with Edward is yours. As long as he isn’t hurting you or trying to hurt you, I will keep my distance. If he turns into a giant douche canoe again, all bets are off.”
It was Archie’s turn to laugh.
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are, babe. Just like I know you’d kick his ass for me, no problem.”
“I would too.”
“I believe you.” His tone wasn’t placating. If anything, he sounded impressed. “And Jake would probably pummel him, while Bubba and Coop pinned him down.”
“Well, you’re not wrong.” The breeze carrying in off the water pushed my hair across my face, and I ran my fingers through it to push it out of the way. “That’s because we have each other’s backs. All of us.”
“You know that’s something else you gave me,” he said, and I shook my head before pinching him. Hard. He grunted. “Ow.”
“Stop doing yourself a disservice. You’re awesome. I can’t make anyone like or care about someone else if they don’t want to.”
“Really?” he retorted. “Explain Rachel.”
“I can’t.” I grinned. “That’s all Rachel. You have to love her.”
“Uh-huh. And why is that?”
“Because she’s Rachel.”
“You realize that’s circular logic.”
“You’re changing the subject.” I bumped him with my hip. “The guys love you for you. They’re your friends too. They were before they were your brother boyfriends.” I could kiss Sara for that term. Archie sent his gaze skyward.
“That phrase is never going away.”
“Nope,” I said. “But I promise never to tease you guys publicly about it.”
“You can tease us anytime. You know that. We love that you’re our girlfriend, and we’ll shout it from the fucking rooftops. Trust me when I say there will never be a mistake made that you’re not ours again.”
Love cascaded through me. “And I’m your girlfriend. So, agreed. No others get their hands on any of us. But back to what we were talking about—Archie, the guys love you for you.”
“Let’s not go that far.”
I rolled my eyes and twisted to walk backwards so I could meet his gaze. With the sun up and bathing us, the light highlighted all the shadows and planes of his face, from his adorable half-smile to his rough cheeks with their morning stubble and the disheveled hair that the wind kept tossing. He looked like a sexy god out for a stroll.
Or a Greek tycoon.
Yeah, Archie could totally rock Greek tycoon.
“They’re your friends too. They’d throw down for you. Last summer, you didn’t lose them, even when I wasn’t there.”
His expression tightened.
“That night we had sex the first time…that whole weekend, you had an advantage over all of them because even when I was furious with you for keeping our parents a secret and hurt about you making decisions for me, I never doubted for an instant how you made me feel or how you felt about me.”
I stopped, and so did he. “Frankie…”
“I’m not bringing that up to rehash the fight we had. That’s done. I’m pointing out that you and I, we made up before I made up with the others. We had sex again before Jake showed up, and when you could have persuaded me to stay, you encouraged me to go with him. To keep giving each of them a chance.”
He blew out a breath.
“You did it with Ian too. After everything that happened, you still supported the idea of him and I working things out.”
“You need him,” Archie said quietly. “You need all of them. Even if I wanted to be a selfish prick and keep you all to myself, which admittedly, there are times, Frankie. There will
