Page 59 of Sunrise Arrows

“Baby, what happened to your hands?”

Since she’s more awake, I begin to nudge her hair out of my way with my nose and dot her bare skin with open mouth kisses.

“Just had to handle some stuff.”

She blindly pats around for her phone that spends more time showing a red battery in the corner than being used. “Archer, it’s three in the morning.”

I ignore the time and instead cup her between her thighs, petting and playing with her pussy and clit. With each touch between her puffy lips, she grows wetter for me, sending her ass into my cock. Her questions fade into moans as she squirms and writhes for more of my touch.

I’m too desperate to be home to tease her for long, and as soon as I’m able, I’m lifting her thigh over mine to open her up for me. Easing myself inside her, I swear, “I won’t let anyone come between us again, Tinsley,” loving her and silently apologizing for my own shortcomings until the sunrise.

CHAPTER20

Tinsley

For a week,Archer hasn’t spoken to Hunter. Anytime his brother shows up at the house, he either won’t open the door or I have to tell Hunter that now isn’t a good time. All of Hunter’s texts have gone unanswered and Archer sends any calls he gets to voicemail—all of which have gone unheard.

This was exactly what I had hoped to avoid.

Eleanor and Ryder both assure me that the twins will work through it, but I don’t know how. Archer is steadfastly digging his heels in when it comes to holding onto his anger. Not that I can blame him; I’d been doing the same for weeks with Hunter, which ultimately led to the cracks that let out the truth.

Still, I feel terrible now more than ever. We’re at the municipal airport with Briar—Mikey and John along with Will, my pilot, and the small crew waiting for us—and the two still haven’t spoken.

Eleanor wraps me up in a fierce hug, kissing my head several times as she tries not to tear up. “We’re gonna miss you, sweet girl.”

“I’m gonna miss y’all too.” I sniffle before quietly correcting, “Going to; I’mgoing tomiss you all too,” my speech having become lazy and thick with accent over the last several weeks of being home.

The real world is coming back for me, and in just a few short hours, I have to slip on the mask of Tinsley Jacobs—one I couldn’t live without before and now wish I could smash to pieces.

“Miss Jacobs?” Will politely interrupts from the plane’s stairs. “We’re going to need you to board soon if we wish to keep our schedule, ma’am.”

“Of course,” I reply, squeezing Eleanor tighter before letting go.

“Be patient with him,” she whispers. “It’s going to be a lot for him so just… be patient.”

“Having him in L.A. with me is more than I ever thought I’d experience. He could refuse to go anywhere with me publicly and he’d still be giving me more than I could ever give him.”

She smooths her hands over my hair and tucks it behind my ears. “Remember what it was like without each other. You keep that and how much y’all have always loved each other in mind, and everything else will be easy to roll with as it comes.”

I step back and hold my arms out for Ellie, who’s being carried by her dad. We rub our noses together one last time and, with her big green eyes looking at me, she bursts into tears.

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m going to bring your uncle back, I promise.”

She flings her arms around me, holding on tighter than I thought possible for an eight year old and sobs, “You can keep him; I have another. It’s you I don’t want to go!”

“Ellie!” Ryder tries and fails to scold, laughing instead.

I hug her back and promise, “You’ll see me again. Plus, Archer got me a phone and your daddy has my number, so we can talkwheneveryou want.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky swear,” I solemnly offer, holding out my right hand.

We loop our pinkies together, kissing the ends, and tapping foreheads.

“Love you, mini.”

“Love you too, big.”

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