“Really?”
I didn’t bother responding to Jolee; instead, I let the worrisome feeling crawl up my spine until it threatened to drown me. His reaction left me on edge. Sure, I wasn’t the most attractive thing to find when you turned around after being bumped into, but I had apologized, nor had I fallen into him on purpose.
“It was just another clumsy moment for me.”
“It’s just. . .Archer is such a laid back kind of guy. I’ve never seen that expression on him before.”
It was a relief to know that I wasn’t the only one that noticed his expression change. When he initially turned around, it seemed as if he was merely slightly annoyed at my collision with his muscular frame, but his entire demeanor had changed once his gaze settled on my face.
“I’m not sure what happened, but it was like he was looking right through me.”
The feeling of his haunted gaze was going to stay with me for a while. I could still sense it on my skin and it left me uneasy.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I startled him? Anyway, I came over to see if you wanted to join us for dinner tomorrow. I figured since you’ll be moving into your new place that we could help welcome you to the complex.”
“That sounds nice. Can I bring anything?” I asked her as we took a few steps closer to the food truck. My stomach growled loudly as the smells of the fried food grew stronger.
“No need. It’s Chance’s turn for food, so that means it’s either pizza or spaghetti. Are you sure you don’t want any help moving? I have access to six strapping men that I can convince to help,” she said with a laugh.
“Honestly, I have an air mattress, television, and suitcases. I think I can handle it, but I do appreciate the offer.”
“Alright, well, thank you again for your help today and good luck tonight. I kind of wish that I could come watch, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Jolee was right in that assumption, but maybe once I felt more comfortable, I could invite her to watch a dance or two. I wasn’t embarrassed about my body; I’d been a fan of running and yoga for as long as I could remember. My fear stemmed from having everyone’s eyes on me.
“Maybe once I get settled, you could come to watch.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll let you enjoy your lunch. Call me tomorrow if you end up needing help.” Resting her hand gently on my arm, she drew my attention away from the food truck’s chalkboard menu and back onto her. “And don’t let Archer’s reaction bother you. I’m sure it was nothing.”
I was sure that it was something more than nothing, and as I made my way to work that night, the look in his green eyes seemed to haunt me until they were all that I could see. If there was one night where I didn’t need a distraction, it was this one. But all that I could do was close my eyes, take a deep breath, and dance like my life depended on it. Because right now, it did.
Chapter Three – Archer
The spring sun was shining brightly in Boston this morning, melting the last bit of winter’s snow. I was up early to help my brother, Ford, and his girlfriend, Jolee, set up a fundraiser at the local animal shelter down the road from Wellington University. This was where she had volunteered her time outside of classes and her job at the veterinary clinic. I didn’t know how she found the time or energy to do any of this – she amazed not only me but all of the ridge rogues.
“Hey, where do you want this?” I asked Jolee as I carried the parts of the dunk tank. She had asked us all to volunteer our time this Saturday without any qualms, mainly because she knew we would say yes. For how she was able to save our brother Ford from himself, we would do whatever she wanted. Plus, we all loved animals and the cause.
“Over by the big oak tree.” She pointed in the direction she wanted across the front lawn.
I carried the large contraption over to the oak tree and sat it in the shade. People were already starting to arrive just as the workers at the shelter began carrying some of the dogs outside. They were the ones eligible for adoption. Ford was going to have his hands full trying to keep Jolee from bringing another pet home – they were still working on house training their puppy Balboa.
Glancing around the yard, I noticed a hose tucked around the side and went to grab it to start filling the dunk tank. Ford struggled to carry a few blowers for the bounce house and inflatable slides, and I was very tempted to turn the hose on him but held myself back. I didn’t need Jolee coming after me. She may be beautiful, but she had a vicious tongue.
By lunchtime, the parking lot was filled and there were lines of students waiting to dunk volunteers in the tank or wait for food from a local food truck.
Knowing that my chance to grab a bite to eat was shrinking by the second, I made my way to the food truck and waited in line, pulling the brim of my hat down low. I was tired from the week before. My most recent conquest making more out of our two nights together than I ever promised her. She was showing up everywhere I turned and I knew that I was going to have to lay things out more clearly for her.
Behind me, a soft voice rang out as she bumped into my back. “I’m sorry.”
I turned around to tell her that it was fine, but my tongue caught in my throat. Her red hair hung down in soft waves around her face and her pale skin shone under the sun. But it was her brown eyes that held me captive. They reminded me of someone so familiar, someone I hadn’t thought of for over ten years. The woman reached out to touch me and then suddenly I was transported back in time.
I shivered in the cold, dank apartment. The walls were peeling away and the floor felt wet beneath my feet. I sat on the couch, one of the springs poking into my thigh as I held tightly to the only picture we had of my parents.
The phone in the kitchen kept ringing, but I was scared to answer it. I was afraid it was my teacher calling to yell at me again. She didn’t like how I acted in school and how I never turned in any homework, but I didn’t have anyone to help me.
My parents left for a trip one day and never came back, my sister, Natalie, told me that they went to be with the angels. She packed me up in the small car my mother used and we moved into this nasty apartment that smelled like old people.
I hadn’t seen my sister in three days and I hadn’t left the apartment to go to school because I was afraid I wouldn’t have a place to come back to.
Just as the phone stopped ringing, my sister stumbled into the apartment. I rushed to her and wrapped myself around her legs, but she kicked me away. Her red hair that had reminded me of Clifford the Dog had turned a weird color since my parents left, it was more like straw now. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like how her arms had bruises all over them, either.
“Sissy?” I asked as I scrambled onto my feet. My stomach had been growling for two days and all I had to eat was cereal. I hoped that she came home with more food because we didn’t have anything left.
My sister bypassed me and went to the room we shared, ignoring me completely, as she slammed the door closed.
I counted as high as I could before I knocked on the door again, but my sister didn’t answer.
“Natalie?” I called out as I peeked through a crack in the door.
She was draped halfway on the bed and halfway off like I did when I was dreaming about fighting bad guys.
“Sissy?” I said as I walked closer to her and rocked her shoulder with my hand. Usually, she would move or try to shove me away, but she didn’t do any of those things.
“Sissy, wake up. My school keeps calling and I’m hungry.”
I repeated the same motion until I rocked her so hard that she fell off the bed.
But she didn’t do anything. She just laid there.
I knew what that meant. I had seen it on television when Natalie had stayed out late one night.
“Sissy!!!!!”
“Oh. . .um. . ,” she murmured, breaking me free from my flashback.
I was glad that she had taken two large steps back because I was completely disgusted with myself and needed to find an escape.
�
��Hey, guys,” Jolee said as she approached.
“I’m sorry, but I need to go,” I told her without a backward glance.
And I just prayed that I didn’t run into anyone as I sprinted home to burn my skin under the hot water.
It had been years since I had felt this dirty, this unglued. Leave it to a gorgeous redhead to bring my haunted past into the present.
I lost the contents of my stomach the first time in the bushes that lined the University’s outskirt sidewalk. The second time I barely made it into my apartment and to the hall bath before I collapsed onto the cool tile floor. I was grateful that Jolee had been living with us at that moment because I knew the floor and bathroom was clean. Getting sick in a dirty bathroom wasn’t my favorite thing to do and I had experienced it more than once as a kid and an adult.
Closing my eyes, I found myself murmuring the Lord’s name as the eyes of the woman that had run into me immediately sprang in my mind. I had seen her around campus before, but had no idea who she was. All I knew was that she hid behind oversized clothes that were two or three sizes larger than her body. Before today I had thought that there was nothing remarkable about her or her face. She was pretty in the girl next door sort of way, nothing remarkable or any features that stood out. If it wasn’t for the red hair and large brown doe eyes, I wouldn’t have looked twice at her.
“Shit,” I groaned as I recalled the last time I had seen my sister when she was clean. Her hair and eyes had been almost the same color and shade as the girl that had jostled me. Drug use and prostitution had morphed my sister into someone I had no longer recognized. Even now, I wasn’t sure why being that close to the red-haired woman triggered a memory from my past that I had compartmentalized and stowed away back into the depths of my memory.
I wasn’t sure how long I had laid on the cold floor, but I was startled at the sound of the apartment door slamming, which rattled the bathroom wall.
“Archer?” a voice called out and I recognized it as Ford’s, which meant Jolee wouldn’t be far behind.
Standing, I stood in front of the sink and glanced at myself in the mirror. My eyes appeared lifeless and troubled, just like they had been when I was found in my sister’s apartment cold and hungry. Splashing cold water onto my face, I tried to bring life back into my features, but it did very little.
Suddenly I was exhausted as I stepped out of the bathroom to find Ford standing in the kitchen holding two bottles of water. My body felt drained and I wanted nothing more than to climb into my bed and sleep for days. Except I knew that sleep would allude me.
“There you are. Jolee asked me to check in with you. Said you left the fundraiser in a hurry.”
It was moments like this that I hated having so many people watching out for me. No one other than our mother knew the extent of what I had gone through as a child, each of us keeping our experiences locked away. We had only recently learned of Ford’s past when his father threatened Jolee.
“Yeah, I didn’t mean to leave her high and dry like that. I just. . .forgot that I had something to do,” I said, but I could see that Ford didn’t believe me. He cocked a brow in my direction as he silently handed me a bottle of water. Untwisting the top, I gulped down the chilled liquid, the water soothing my scratchy throat.
“You know that I don’t believe you, right?”
“Yep.”
“But you, ugh, know that you can talk to Jolee or me, right?”
“Yep.”
“Going to say anything else?” he asked, annoyed with my one-word answers.
“Nope.”
“Alright, at least tell Jolee I tried, okay? She has a soft spot for you. God only knows why.”
“Because I’m charming, attractive, and have a great personality?”
“Conceited much?” he said as he brushed past me to make his way to his room.
“Just stating the facts.”
The door to Ford’s room closed with a flourish and I stood in a haze for a moment staring at the large piece of wood. As tired as I felt, my body was itching to feel something – anything. Grabbing my phone from my back pocket, I dialed up the number for my friend Trey and messaged him asking if he wanted to hit up one of the bars close to campus. There was never any shortage of women vying for a spot in my bed or for me to warm theirs; so long as they understood it would never amount to a relationship, I had no problem losing myself in a night with a stranger.
***
My breath was shallow, barely able to fill my lungs with much-needed oxygen. I kept relieving the horror of finding my sister’s lifeless body lying on her bed. My nightmare began the day she died, trying to fend for myself as a ten-year-old without letting any of our neighbors know that she had passed away. I was afraid of what would happen to me, of where I would go.
It took only three days for someone to pound on the apartment door. The landlord wanted his rent payment and he was tired of waiting. I had just returned from school for the day to find the landlord letting himself into the apartment. On my feeble legs, I ran as fast as I could and launched myself at him, knocking him off balance. In his attempt to right himself, he fell into the bedroom door where my sister slept.
The smell was rancid. Even in my dreams, I could remember the putrid scent. The landlord had thrown up all over the white shag rug that my sister had loved, which broke something in me. Even as small as I had been, I had pounded the guy’s back for ruining something my sister had loved.
When the police arrived, I was scared and outraged. I remember the officer telling CPS that I was like a caged animal, ready to lash out at anyone that came close. I’m not sure how they had expected me to act, but losing your sister and only living relative to drugs was not something I figured most people would take lightly.
I arrived at the club half out of my mind as it were and I immediately sidled up to the bar to get my signature vodka tonic. Over in the dimly lit corner, I found Trey surrounded by a gathering of women as he stood with a pool stick, obviously waiting for me to arrive and join him in a game.
“Hey, man,” he called out when he noticed my approach. He never minded when I joined him on a lady hunt, mainly because he enjoyed being my wingman and having his pick of whatever females I turned down.
“Hey, Trey. Who do we have here?” I asked the group, but my attention was on the closest woman with platinum blonde hair. She was barely wearing any clothing, just enough to cover the important parts that I planned to explore later, and she was wearing enough makeup to fill a drug store, but she would easily do for the night.
The woman must have sensed my interest in her because she moved herself closer until she could possessively place her hand on my arm, staking her claim.
Trey introduced the rest of the girls, but my new companion whispered in my ear that her name was Callie and she wasn’t wearing any panties.
The last bit was information that I would keep tucked in the back of my mind. She would be easy enough to take home so long as I made sure she didn’t get drunk. That was the one rule in the game I played: the woman had to be of sound mind. If she was under any influence, she wouldn’t comprehend it when I explained that it was a one-time thing. More than once, the women were convinced that I had made promises to them.
When in fact, I never ever made promises.
“Ready to play?” I asked Trey as I grabbed a pool stick while he began setting up the balls.
“Let's go.”
With my arm around Callie’s waist, I whispered in her ear that I would win the game for her tonight and she promptly giggled, the response that I had hoped for.
It didn’t take long for a crowd to grow around us as it usually did. Trey and I played pool together since we ended up in the same foster home when we were fifteen. I didn’t last long in that home, due to my attitude and anger issues, but I had stayed in touch with Trey. I had even helped him get financial assistance to come to Wellington Ridge.
By the end of our third game, Trey and I had a nice buzz and I was mor
e than ready to head back to my apartment with my guest.
“Ready to go, sweetheart?” I whispered in her ear, watching as she tried to smile seductively but her lips pulled in oddly. It was obvious that she’d had lip injections already. A bit young for surgery but I didn’t mind. I could only imagine what those lips would look like wrapped around my cock later.
She played coy as she fake argued with her friends about leaving with a stranger. It was a routine that I was all too familiar with. The women I met at bars, especially if they were there with a group of their friends, would always make it seem like they were putting their friends out until they could be convinced to “go home with that hot guy.”
Just as expected, Callie wrapped her friends in a vicious hug and promised to text when she arrived at my apartment. I rolled my eyes at Trey, who was witness to the routine on more than one occasion as well.
“I’m ready now. How far away is your place?” she asked, stumbling from the bar as she teetered on her high heels. I had watched her meticulously to make sure that she didn’t drink too much and knew that she had only drunk two red-colored drinks served in a martini glass. I assumed that they were cosmos and had very little alcohol content. Callie was putting on a show and I was willing to play along.
“I’m three blocks away. Close enough to walk.”
She pouted, realizing that she was going to have to skip a ride share service and walk precariously on her heels. That wasn’t my problem.
“Don’t worry. It will be worth it,” I told her as I reached around her waist and gripped a globe of her ass in my hand. It was firm enough that I was going to have fun with her tonight. I bet she’d like a bit of spanking.
“Oh, I bet it will be.”
As we approached the complex, I turned toward Callie and gave her my signature smile. The one that I knew landed me the deal every time. The one that made women crazy and convinced them that they were making a good decision. This was all a power play for me. I wasn’t taking advantage of what they were offering, but I made sure that they knew that there was nothing more than this one night, this one play.
Of Bishops And Pawns (Ridge Rogues Book 2) Page 3