Page 37 of Archer
I crawled under the covers, resting my head on the pillow, and thought about Archer. Inside, there was something telling me to go out into the kitchen and be with Archer. For some reason, I knew his presence would soothe me. He would make some joke or distract me.
But… that’s not what he was there for.
Like he said, he doesn’t get attached.
Yes, he said nice things, but I also sucked his dick. It’s easy to say nice things after that.
My heart felt heavy, weighing me deep into the mattress.
I think it’s time to detach from Archer.
Chapter Nineteen
Archer
When I got home the next day around supper time, I was looking forward to checking on Rose. After she went to bed the night before, I could have sworn I heard her crying. It took everything I had to not knock on her door to see if she was okay, but I figured she needed her space. Everything was going so perfectly, an incredible evening of silly conversation over some drinks after being sexually satisfied. But as soon as I mentioned her father, her mood shifted.
I opened the door and was relieved to see her sitting on a stool in the kitchen eating a sandwich. Part of me was expecting that she’d be holed up in her bedroom all day, in which case I’d be at a loss on how to proceed, so when I saw her my face lit up. “Hey! How are you?”
She looked up from her sandwich and finished chewing before saying, “Good. You?”
“Good,” I said, not sure how to gauge her mood from here. Every other time we wound up spending time together it was either spontaneous and dramatic or, like the night before, it was planned. Simply beginning the conversation from scratch caught me off guard. “So, uh, how was your night?”
“Good. Slept well.”
“Good.” I wished we could think of anything else to say than “good”. Especially because I could tell by the way she was avoiding eye contact by seeming fascinated by the contents of her sandwich. Pursing my lips together and rubbing the back of my neck, I said, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Last night, you didn’t seem totally…”
“I’m fine, Archer,” she said with a hint of annoyance. “Things are messed up. I’m not always going to be in a great mood.”
I frowned, feeling a little stung by the coldness in her voice. Though I couldn’t blame her. If I were in her situation, I knew my moods wouldn’t be linear either. Deciding to give her time to herself, I said, “Well, I’m gonna hop in the shower. Probably just have an early night after that.”
The relief on her face made my heart sink, and I walked toward my bedroom. As much as I liked Rose, I had to get a hold of myself. She said not to get attached, that we had no future, and even if she wanted one, I certainly didn’t want to settle down. Why the hell was I trying so hard to make her happy? I’d protect her and her father the best I could, yes, because I was a good guy, and sure, if she wanted some more lessons in sexuality, fuck yeah. I’d help her there. But spending all day worrying about why she was upset? What was happening to me?
I grabbed a towel and hung it over my shoulder, walking down the hallway to the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. From the kitchen, I heard Rose hiss, “Archer.” For a second, I hesitated to wonder who would be there, but I didn’t waste time, knowing Rose was probably worried. When I turned the corner of the hall, before I answered the door, I glanced at Rose, but she wasn’t in her seat.
Confused, I walked to the other side of the breakfast island and was both relieved and concerned to see Rose crumpled to the floor, hugging her knees and trembling. “Hey, it’s okay, I’ll get it.”
“No, it might be them.”
“It’s okay,” I said gently, bending my knees to meet her at eye level. Of course, minutes after thinking about how I was beginning to care for her too much, I was once again wanting to do whatever I could to ease her worries. I set a hand on her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. “I’m here. I’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry.”
With her bottom lip puffed out and quivering, she nodded. I stood up from her. On my way, the knocking came again, and I said, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” Before opening the door, I looked through the peephole and was startled to see a man wearing the same leather jacket as myself with his long, light blond hair tied in a low ponytail. “What the fuck?”
“What is it?” Rose whispered from the kitchen and I kind of laughed.
“It’s okay, Rose, I know him,” I said and unlocked the door, opening it to meet the visitor. “Crow? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Why the fuck did it take you a year to answer the door?” he asked as he walked inside, tracking in dried mud stuck to his boots. “Think I don’t have shit to do?”
“How was I supposed to know you were coming?” I asked, but then realized we could probably banter forever over such an asinine topic. Shaking my head, I walked back to the kitchen to check on Rose, who was still sitting on the floor looking distrustful of Crow. “Don’t worry. He’s with me, on our side.”
“You keep the girl on the floor?” Crow asked with his hands in his pockets, still standing at the door.
“I don’t keep her on the floor, Crow, what does that even mean?” I said looking at him like he was an idiot before turning back to Rose and holding out my hand. “Come on, let me introduce you. He’s an asshole but he doesn’t bite.”
