Page 62 of A Little Bit Reckless
He was smiling.
He had that sappy look only adoration could bring out, love. He was talking to someone who put nothing but joy across his entire being and only one person could do that. Only one girl could do that.
“Wells?”
The sound of my name burned into me. Especially coming from… her.
“Wells, we need to talk… About what happened?”
I spun Squeak instead of responding to her, my jaw tight. When I brought her back to me, I noticed I got another approving nod from my dad and something in my soul told me I got what I wanted. I was in the clear with him, and I didn’t have to try anymore. I made him happy just like everyone else was on this dance floor. There were so many happy couples, so much happiness.
“Wells…”
“What do you want from me?” I asked, gritting my teeth. I dared to look down at the small girl who’d spoken in my arms.
I immediately regretted it. I saw those large blue eyes of hers. The ones that constantly stared up at me with hope and adoration. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew Squeak had a crush on me when we were younger. She did, like a fool, andIwas a fool for giving her as much attention as I had over the years. She played me with those blue eyes, that smooth skin…
She touched my arm. “Wells?”
The heat of her hand soldered through my jacket at this point, and I adjusted until she let go. I looked away again. Iignored her,her voice, and the fact that it almost always cracked. Especially when she laughed. I used to make her laugh a lot.
I was an idiot fuck, foolish. I shook my head, my gaze on anything in the ballroom but her. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Bru may have egged on what happened between us all, but she’d been the one to start that shit. She had no business kissing me. No. Fucking. Business. Thatcher’s little sister or not, I didn’t let anyone make a fool of me.
She’d done it more than once.
My brain ignored the fact that I wasn’t even thinking about what happened the summer I let that girl drown.That hadn’t beenwhat my mind had gone to and…
“Well, I have something to say to you,” Bow said, and my gaze darted in her direction. She’d never spoken so boldly to me, and her eyes flashed as soon as mine made contact with hers. She didn’t back down though, blinking. She nodded. “At Legacy House, we?—”
“No,” I said, firm. She wouldn’t make me relive that day or how it felt. She wouldn’tmake mebetray my friend again, even if it was just in my head. My throat worked. “You’re making me lie to Thatch.”
Lying to my parents was fine. I was their kid. Of course I lied to them on occasion, but Thatcher was different. He was my brother.
Like he knew he was thought about, Thatcher made eye contact with me from the bar. Perhaps he thought it was unusual I was dancing with his sister, or maybe he just didn’t care. Maybehe was happyI was dancing with her because that meant I truly did forgive her.
On his phone call, Thatcher waved at me with a grin, and my stomach went so fucking tight.
I tipped my chin back at him, forcing a smile I didn’t fucking feel or want. I just wanted this goddamn song over so I could hide out again.
I spun Squeak again before bringing her back. She may have wanted to talk, but I noticed Bru was absent tonight. Yes, I’d gone out of my way to avoid him, but I hadn’t seen him at all this evening.
There were a lot of people at Dorian’s party, and it would be easy to miss him. Especially since I had skipped out on dinner. I could imagine he’d been there…
“I don’t want that. For you to lie to Thatcher,” Squeak said, pulling me out of my thoughts. That stupid flush had returned to her cheeks, the one that made her look innocent, ethereal. Her red lips turned down. “I don’t want that at all.”
“What do you want, then?” I asked, forcing my sight away from that delicate flush in her cheeks. This girl wasn’t innocent. She wasn’t?—
“You.”
My gaze zoomed down again, my eyes wide. “What?”
Bow’s throat worked, and, suddenly, it was her who was finding it hard to keep her gaze on me. Her gloved hand squeezed mine, but soon, she stood tall. “I want you, Wells. Our friendship.” Her hand moved in mine again, and that forced me to look at them. How small her hand looked in my palm. She was always so small. “I miss you so much, Archer.”
Archer.
How dare she.Howdareshe bring me back to a placeagainwhere neither of us had been in so long. It was one thing to talk her off a ledge, but it was another to just up and take us to the place we’d both been before the drama,before the deathand the blood that was onmy hands.It was a place where I was her protector again, legitimately. I was her archer.
