Legacy and lovers untouc.., p.1
Legacy and Lovers (Untouchable Book 11), page 1
LEGACY AND LOVERS
UNTOUCHABLE BOOK 11
HEATHER LONG
Copyright © 2022 by Heather Long
Cover by Crimson Phoenix Designs
Editing by Kira of Leavens Editing
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To every person who ever stressed me the fuck out about needing a damn plan for the future.
Bite me.
SERIES SO FAR
Rules and Roses
Changes and Chocolate
Keys and Kisses
Whispers and Wishes
Hangovers and Holidays
Brazen and Breathless
Trials and Tiaras
Graduation and Gifts
Defiance and Dedication
Songs and Sweethearts
CONTENTS
Legacy and Lovers
Foreword
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Ninteetn
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thirty
31. Chapter Thirty-One
Afterword
Farewells and Forever
About Heather Long
Also by Heather Long
LEGACY AND LOVERS
When did we become the adults? When did we become the ones who had to make the hard calls? One by one, we’ve all left our teenage years behind. College brought new challenges even as Bound Hearts brings us more.
Whether we’re making music, love, war, games, or trouble, we’ve found a good balance. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Together, we know we can do anything.
We’ve learned that even being apart doesn’t mean we aren’t together.
Life has a habit of throwing curve balls. School, careers, new hobbies, friends in need, and family demands are hitting us from every angle. We’re going to need each other more than ever.
Archie, Coop, Ian, Jake, and I are a team. We’re constantly figuring it out and sometimes, we fight. We also make up.
And we’ll have each other’s backs, today, tomorrow, and into the future.
*Please note this is a reverse harem and the author suggests you always read the forward in her books. Contains some bullying elements, mature situations, violence, and is recommended for 17+. This is the eleventh in a series and the story will continue through future books.
FOREWORD
Dear Reader,
Welcome to book eleven , the penultimate book of the Untouchable series. I thought finishing book ten was a heady experience. Yet, here we are. You are holding in your hands the final “cliffhanger” as it were to the series. The next book will be the last.
With everything that has happened in these characters’ lives, they have become so damn personal to me. They are my kids, my friends, the people across the street that I have to watch through the blinds in a totally non-creepy, non-stalkerish way because the drama is so delicious.
Saying goodbye will be hard.
I’ve been saying goodbye though since Songs and Sweethearts. I legit have no idea if I said that in the last book, but there was a moment when I was writing it that everything just—settled. When I added two books to the series, I knew I needed them and that the story needed those two extra books.
At the same time, I had to take a deep breath cause that was almost another quarter of a million words that had to be written. Despite life delays, I savored, delighted, and thrilled to every single word you’re about to read.
I had the absolute best time with this book. I love these characters. They will probably live rent-free in my head forever. Thank you so damn much for being on this journey with me. Thank you for loving them too.
Just thank you. Don’t forget to check out the afterword, join my group, leave a review, and in general, just keep being awesome. We have one more book to go.
One more.
Whew.
Please be aware there is a content warning located at the bottom of the letter following the housekeeping notes. This is there so you can make the right decisions for you.
Without further ado, I’ll cover that bit of housekeeping and then we’ll dive in. See you on the flip side.
This is the eleventh book in a series. If you haven’t read the first nine, I encourage you to pause here and go grab them. While there may be no specific happy endings at the end of each of these books, there will be one to the whole series, that I promise you. Some of these books will have cliffhangers, largely due to the size of the story, but the happy ending has to be earned as part of the journey.
xoxo
Heather
TW: Miscarriage, Grief
CHAPTER ONE
IT WAS ME AND YOU, SINCE WAY BACK WHEN
FRANKIE
It was a beautiful day to take the subway out to Queens. Well, it had started out a beautiful day. The rain rolled in like it had just been waiting for me to appreciate the cooler temperatures. Granted, we were only two weeks into the new semester and it was barely past Labor Day, but it had been positively chilly. With the sun shining, the temps would have been perfect.
The rain definitely made it dreary. Blegh. Then again, it had taken me three trains to get out to Flushing, where Coop was volunteering this week. They’d been short staffed, so he offered to work his weekly hours out here rather than in Manhattan at the Middle School Community Center, where he worked with grades six through eight kids. Something he adored.
Before walking down the steps, I pulled out the compact umbrella Jeremy had given me the first autumn we were in New York, two years prior. That seemed so long ago and like yesterday. Weird. I opened it when I stepped outside. The rain came down steadily, but at least it wasn’t in sheets.
Could have been better, I was in sandals. But I ignored the water hitting my feet as I checked the directions on my phone. Two blocks. Yeah, that was doable. There were messages from Ian and Jake. They were heading to the gym, but they’d be home before dinner. Did I want to do movies tonight?
I liked that idea. So, I fired back a text that said sure and I’d let them know if Coop and I were going to be late. Archie didn’t say anything, but it was a group text, which meant he and Coop could get caught up when they checked.
At Jake’s dinner question, I sent back a shrug emoji. I was good with pretty much all food groups. He just responded with a thumbs up and a kiss. Ian was typing something but the phone rang before he finished. Hank’s name flashed on the screen and I shoved the phone in my pocket before tapping the Bluetooth earpiece.
I was practically a professional, look at me with all the toys. “Hey Dad,” I said as I answered and he huffed out a laugh.
“That is never not going to make me smile, Frankie,” Hank told me and I grinned wider. Part of the reason I did it. It wasn’t always easy to think of him as Dad. But my dad? Yeah, that was actually becoming very familiar.
“Good. What’s up?”
“You sound like you’re on the move.”
“Cause I’m walking. But I have a few minutes before I get there.” I wasn’t exactly racing. Course, my toes were getting cold.
“I just called to check in. First couple of weeks of a new semester is always an adjustment.”
“Spoken with all the experience of a professor.”
“Exactly,” he said with a chuckle, a knock echoed over the phone. “One sec.” While he didn’t mute the phone, it sounded like he lowered it. “Hey there, no,” he said to someone I couldn’t hear as more than a mumble. “Office hours are nine to twelve on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Two to Four on Mondays and Wednesdays.”
It was a Friday.
“Not a problem, send me an email and if I have time, I’ll look at it over the weekend. Right then.” The door closed and he was back on the phone. “Sorry about that. Like I said, first couple of weeks take some adjusting.”
“Aww, and you were just the big bad professor telling that kid they had to follow the rules. Where’s the rebel in you?”
His laughter just made me grin wider. “The rebel has a mortgage, four kids, one of which is in college. No time for shenanigans.”
“The way I hear it, shenanigans are the best.”
“But the way you do it?”
“Yeah, yeah. You forget, I’m almost a bona fide rock star.”
“I forget nothing,” he said as if suddenly doing a bad Monty
The rain seemed to be lightening up thankfully, and I had half a block to go. “I’m good,” I said. “Really good. I like my classes. It’s a heavy load, but I’m okay with it. A couple of the classes are independent study, so other than checking in with my advisor and the teachers, I don’t have to add more physical in class time. That leaves me with time to do the rest.”
“Still interning with Standish?”
“Sorta? I mean, Eddie has been pretty great about keeping the position open with no time requirements, but it’s more like we get together at the offices every couple of weeks, we have lunch, then I spend about half the day shadowing him while he gives me an overview of the business.”
“You’re enjoying it.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, I am. It’s weird. I never really knew him before—mostly because I didn’t want to—and now?” I shrugged. Hank would get it. He and Eddie had been building a friendship of their own over the last year and a half.
Year and a half.
It kind of sucker punched me. Almost eighteen months since Maddy died. All the air whooshed out of me.
“Dad, I’m here, so I have to let you go.” Thankfully, my voice didn’t waiver. “I’ll call on Sunday?”
“Sounds good, love you.”
“Love you.” He hung up which saved me the trouble of doing it. I could see the community center’s front doors but I slowed and stepped out of the middle of the sidewalk. It had actually been fairly light foot traffic from the subway to here, but there were more people around and it was getting closer to four, so people would be heading home from work and school.
I needed a moment. Just one.
Breathe. It was easier said than done sometimes, but it was an important reminder. Stop. Take a breath. It was okay to feel the grief and the pain, even the surprise that it had been so long. The first anniversary had been on my past birthday. The two year anniversary was my next. Thanks for that Maddy. Still... it was okay to feel the way I felt. I was okay.
The world didn’t stop turning and I didn’t fall apart. Ever since that breakdown in Los Angeles, I had worked really hard to not bottle it all up again. It wasn’t always easy. But when it got too difficult, I could and did ask for help.
Another breath, then the tight fist in my chest began to uncurl. A quick glance around said, no one was staring at me and I hadn’t had some kind of freakout on the street. Go me! I pressed on through the still drizzling rain. I made it just in time for the door to open and I caught it and stepped back to let out a pair of kids and their father.
Well, I guess he was their dad. They nodded their thanks. Snapping the umbrella closed, I shook it off then went inside. A receptionist looked up from the desk, but she was talking on the phone and held up a finger.
I nodded as she continued her conversation and walked over to look at the cork board. There were all kinds of local announcements, including one about a band playing in a local park, some advertised needing a roommate while others offered handyman services and more. There were even some offering babysitting, tutoring, and a drama class.
Ian used to teach music to kids. He hadn’t had as much time this year. Maybe I should ask him if it was something he wanted to get back into doing.
“Thank you for waiting,” the woman said and I turned to find her looking at me expectantly. “How can I help you?”
“I’m here to pick up Coop Brennen,” I told her. “If he’s not done yet, I can wait.”
She smiled. “I’ll call back and let him know you’re here. They should be wrapping up for the day if they haven’t already.”
“Thank you.”
I stepped back and left her to work as I went back to skimming the board. A beep in my ear, accompanied by my phone vibrating in my pocket, had me tugging it out to read. Archie sent a message. Not to the group chat. Just to me.
Archie: Gonna be late, babe. Trying to figure this cooling issue out. I’ve already burnt up two engines.
I made a face.
Me: Want me to bring you something? You need to eat. And sleep.
The workshop was in Brooklyn, it would mean more trains, or I could just call for a car. Whatever he needed. I almost didn’t add the last part because I didn’t want to smother him. But he’d fallen asleep at the workshop twice the week before.
I got it. He needed space and he was working through things. I understood that. But I also needed him to take care of himself or let me do it.
Archie: I’ll order pizza, promise. Also, setting an alarm. I’ll be home tonight. Also promise.
Okay, so I was definitely smothering him. Dammit.
ME: Sorry.
Archie: I love you too.
The kiss emoji made me smile. I sent one back.
“Miss?” The woman at the desk called me and I glanced back at her. “Mr. Brennen just called up. He said it would be ten more minutes.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded and I settled into a chair to wait. More to get out of the way of the parents coming in. They would talk to the lady at the desk, she called someone, and a few minutes later a kid would come out with their backpack. Their expressions often turned warm and smiling as they greeted their parent, or a grandparent as it was in one case.
It was kind of sweet. God, they looked so young. Coop was working with mostly middle schoolers. In Texas, that had been fifth and sixth grade for us. Seventh and eighth had been junior high. So what age was it here?
Fifth grade?
When did fifth grade look so far away?
Weird.
About a dozen kids were picked up before a familiar sandy blond head appeared in the open doorway. He wasn’t looking out here, but talking to someone inside before he smiled at them, waved, and then headed out. I stood up as he crossed the room in three easy strides, grinning.
“Beautiful, you are a sight for sore eyes.” The simple joy in his voice lifted the tired some, but there was no mistaking the tired. Even with his smile, there was a tension around his eyes. When he dipped his head, I gave into the impulse and just wrapped my arms around him. The brush of his lips to mine was gentle, there and gone again before he squeezed me tight.
Yeah, he was tired and very happy to see me.
“You really didn’t have to come all this way to take three trains back with me.”
“Yes, I did,” I told him as I leaned back. More parents were coming in, so I clasped Coop’s hand and he tugged me to him again as we headed to the door. My feet were still damp, but I’d kind of forgotten all about that. It had started raining again, so I reopened the umbrella and Coop let out a laugh.
Like me, he had on a backpack, so he just took the umbrella and wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we began the walk to the subway. When he swung his foot out a little to walk goofily, I matched him without even thinking about it. He chuckled and when we approached a puddle, we both jumped it.
More than one person hurrying past gave us a brief look, but that was another fun thing about New York. You wanted to be a little crazy, most people didn’t notice.
“I’m glad you came,” Coop admitted when we got to the steps leading down and I grinned up at him.
“I know.” I’d missed him too. He’d been out here all week long which meant leaving earlier, coming home later and he had one evening class this semester. No way around it, not with the work he’d been doing. So, Tuesdays and Thursdays he got home really late.
