And like a case of whiplash, I understood the lengths Sarah had gone to keep up with her education.
“I’m an idiot.”
“I wouldn’t say that, but you need to know that she isn’t ashamed of the job. I think she’s actually a little proud of it. When I first met her, I thought she was this shy, timid, little hermit. She’s definitely come out of her shell.”
“What should I do? I’m not sure she’s going to be willing to hear my apology.”
“Just be honest. That’s all you can do. But, for the love of all that is holy, do not. And I repeat, do not, give her an ultimatum. It will not end well for you.”
“You give good advice, Jolee.”
“I know. Now, if only I could get your brother to listen to me every once in a while,” she added with a giggle.
Before heading to Sarah’s apartment to grovel, I had a plan to put into place. I went into my room and set things in motion. I was going to bear everything to her and hoped that she’d forgive me or at least consider it.
Chapter Ten - Sarah
It had been three days since I had seen Archer. I pretended like I didn’t care, but deep down, I missed him.
I missed the snarky comebacks.
I missed the teasing.
I missed the way he thought he was superior but always gave way and let me lead.
I just missed him.
I kept reliving that one incredible and explosive moment of reckless abandon with him in my mind. Nothing had ever been as wild, chaotic, and perfect as that moment in the bathroom.
I could never look at the house the same way again.
Rain had poured for the days since I left him, keeping me tucked into the apartment and unable to volunteer with the Wellington Housing Alliance. It was my only connection to Archer and I had enough pride that I wasn’t about the knock on the door to his apartment.
Yet.
I was wearing down and had thought of countless excuses to see him. But I feared that he didn’t want to see me.
Maybe Callie had been right and I was just another girl on his list. Another pawn in his game. He had me in checkmate and I saw no way out.
To keep my mind occupied, I worked on refinishing the small table and chairs I found near the dumpster outside our complex. I waited to see if anyone would claim the furniture, but I snagged it and carried it up to my place when it sat for a few hours.
The table and chairs were old and worn. Nothing that I couldn’t breathe new life into with a bit of TLC and stain.
Pulling my hair into a sloppy mass on the top of my head, I twisted the hem of my shirt into a knot to keep it from getting in the way and began sanding the piece.
The noise from the sander was loud enough to drown out the music I had playing on the stereo. It wasn’t until I took a break for some water that I realized that someone was knocking on my door. I hoped that it wasn’t the neighbors again. I kept to my promise of only using power tools during wake hours instead of late at night, which was unfortunate because that was my favorite time to work on the pieces.
“Coming!” I shouted as I turned down the volume on the radio and brushed the sanding dust from my shirt and shorts.
I opened the door to my apartment with a flourish and froze when I saw Archer standing on the other side carrying two large canvases under his arms.
“Archer? What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in, please? I want to talk to you about some things.”
“Yeah, I mean. Sure, you can come in.”
He stepped in behind me and waited for me to shut the door. I could smell the cologne he wore. Something rich and musky that tickled my nose just a bit. It was a scent that was all Archer Calloway.
“Sorry for the mess,” I said as I gestured for him to come farther inside and take a seat on the couch. “Can I get you a water, beer, anything?”
“No, thank you. Just sit beside me, please.”
He sounded as defeated as I felt.
“So, what brings you here?” I asked after a minute had passed where Archer seemed to be studying my apartment.
“At first, I came to apologize, but then I realized that it would do little to no good. Then I figured that there was something more that I needed to do than just to apologize. I needed to share a part of me with you.”
“I. . .I don’t understand.”
“I like you, Sarah, a lot. You changed the rules of the game for me. No longer do I want just one night to forget my past. I want every night, with you, to remind me how far I’ve come.
“I’m lost, Archer.”
“Here, I just want you to listen.”
And listen, I did. He spent about an hour describing in horrific detail how his parents had died and his sister took care of him until she could no longer take care of herself. She had stripped to make money, then the pull from drugs and prostitution became too much and had been the end of everything for them. He had gone days without anyone as his sister lay dead in her bedroom. If it wasn’t for a persistent landlord, there was no telling how long he would have been locked in the apartment.
Archer went into details about the nightmares that plagued him and how they had recently morphed into images of me lying lifeless in the apartment.
By the time he was done telling his story, we were both in tears. He mourned the life of his family and I mourned the innocence that Archer had lost.
Everything made sense then—the fear of me dancing, the hostility at my defiance. Everything clicked into place.
Then he showed me a piece of himself that no one had ever seen. The canvases were beautiful. One angry and one peaceful. True yin and yangs that were a way of Archer releasing his emotions. He asked me to keep them, to treasure these small parts of his soul that he painted onto the canvases and any part of me that had been hesitant with my feelings fell completely over the cliff in love with him.
“There is one more thing, and then I’ll leave you alone.”
I didn’t want him to leave, but I knew that he might need some time alone after sharing so much of himself.
“Okay.”
“I know about the scholarship that you lost. I can’t believe that they gave you such a ridiculous timeline for payment. I would have come by a few days ago, but I was busy doing research and trying to gain more information.”
Reaching into his back pocket, Archer produced a folded manila envelope and handed it to me.
“Inside you’ll find about ten scholarships that you’re eligible for as an out-of-state student. Some are small; others are significant enough that, combined, would be more than what you owe.”
“You. . .you did this for me?”
“With the help of Jolee, of course. She was the one that called some of the local businesses and inquired about the scholarship funds.”
“I can’t believe it.”
Quickly he added, “This doesn’t mean I’m trying to keep you from dancing. I just wanted you to know that it’s not the only option. You can do both if you want.”
“You’d be okay with that?” I asked. “Now that I know why you’re so against the dancing, I don’t want you to worry.”
“Sarah, as long as I could have you, I’d be okay with anything.”
Everything that I had feared was instantly washed away, leaving me feeling refreshed and renewed, just like the credenza that I had breathed new life into.
Not only was I going to be able to stay at the university, I was going to get the guy that made my heart skip beats and my stomach flip over itself. The guy who hid behind a bad attitude but gave me glimpses of the sweet man he could be.
“I can’t believe this is happening. I never expected that I’d fall for you or that you’d even look twice at me,” I told him as I curled my body against his on the couch.
“Believe it, Sarah. Until I met you, I had no idea how I was living my life. You showed me that every move had a purpose, every thought had an action. You, Sarah Hodges, are my endgame.
Epilogue �
�� Archer
“This is the last of the boxes,” I called out as I sat the box of paint in the corner of the studio apartment.
Once Sarah and I had decided to give our relationship a go, I couldn’t be without her for a single night. She changed everything for me. Not only how I treated her and how I lived my life, but my nightmares had ended. The only dreams I had now were those of Sarah walking toward me in a white dress with her long red hair blowing the breeze.
“Oh. Perfect. All of your paint supplies will fit perfectly in the hutch I picked up.”
My girl was so talented when it came to refinishing junky furniture that I had been after her to consider opening up a shop online selling her finds. She was still dead set on working in accounting, but I as adamant that she was missing her calling.
“I grabbed the mail on the way in,” I told her. There had been a large white envelope that I hoped was a response to one of her scholarship requests.
With the same amount of excitement a child had on Christmas, Sarah rushed over to the kitchen counter and tore open the envelope. Quietly she read the letter, her face giving nothing away.
“So, what does it say?”
“I got it,” she whispered at first. “I got the scholarship from the Wellington Ridge Township.”
“Which one is that?” I asked, but I remembered. This was the one that would cover her tuition, books, and living expenses. Roughly seventy thousand dollars an academic year. The best part was that the scholarship would stay with her for the remainder of the time that she was attending Wellington Ridge University.
“The big one. Archer, I can’t believe this! If it wasn’t for you researching all of these, I’d forever feel like I was just scraping by. Now I can relax and take a breath.”
“That’s all I want for you. To understand your worth and to feel as if you can do anything.”
“What can I ever do to thank you?” she asked coyly as she placed the paper back on the counter and reached out for me, the tips of her fingers hooking into the belt loop of my shorts.
“I’m sure we can come up with something,” I said as I leaned toward her and sealed our mouths together as I walked backward toward the bed. She may be the one that got the scholarship, but I was definitely the one who felt like I had won the lottery.
***
Swirling my glass of vodka tonic, I relaxed back in my seat and watched the customers stroll into the room.
The music began to change and I recognized the song, my cock instantly growing hard, knowing my girl was about to go on stage. One of the many perks to being a dancer’s boyfriend was that she frequently tried out her new routines on me. I was always happy to oblige her requests.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Alice walk into the main area. We acknowledged each other with a nod and I went back to watching Sarah take the stage.
She amazed me as she swayed to the music, so far removed from the clumsy girl that ran into our coffee table on a daily basis.
“Wow,” Jolee whispered from beside me, finally taking Sarah up on the offer to visit the club.
“She’s really talented, but I may be biased.”
“No, she really is. I didn’t even know hips could move that way.”
“Oh, they can. And she can bend her legs-” I started, but Jolee slapped her hand across my mouth to stop from telling her more. With all the times I heard her and Ford going at it at night, she deserved a little payback.
We stayed for the rest of the set until Sarah walked out into the club wearing her typical oversized shirt and shorts.
Jolee praised her with caused Sarah to blush, my favorite color on her skin. I still had trouble convincing myself that she was mine and that I would get to spend every day with this beautiful soul.
“Ready to go home, gorgeous?”
“With you, I’d go anywhere.”
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More Books by Renee Harless
Ridge Rogues
Of Boys And Men
Of Bishops and Pawns
Welcome to Carson Series
Coming Alive
Coming Together
Coming Consumed
Coming Altered
Coming Innocent
Coming Unraveled
Coming Unplugged
Coming Home
Home in Carson Series
Behind the Lens
Behind the Badge
Behind the Bar
The Stolen Series
Stolen Nights
Stolen Kisses
Stolen Hearts
The Stone Trilogy
Make Me Yours
Make You Mine
Make Us More
Standalones
Screw You
Between the Lines
The Scene Stealer
A Snowflake Wish
Rebel Teacher
Of Boys And Men
(Ridge Rogues, Book One)
By Renee Harless
Chapter one – Jolee
I did it.
I couldn’t believe that I finally did it.
As the plane taxied down the runway to its final destination, I exhaled the deep breath I had been holding since the plane began its descent. The flight from Anchorage, Alaska to Boston, Massachusetts, was a long one, and through the entire trip, I couldn’t help but recall how similarly my life matched that of Rapunzel’s from the Disney movie, Tangled.
After living under my parents’ strict watch for the last twenty years, I finally took the chance to go out on my own, despite their insistence and fear. I wanted to see what the world was like and what treasures it could hold for me. The day I received that acceptance letter to Wellington Ridge University had been a game-changer. Miraculously I was given a few scholarships, which I desperately needed because my parents weren’t going to help out one iota since I decided to transfer from the local college. The rest of the funds were coming from my savings and a job I found close to campus.
The only reason my parents didn’t completely lose their sanity over my pleas to study somewhere else was that my cousin, Willow, attended the college where I would be transferring.
As the plane settled into place I shot a message to my cousin and let her know that I had landed, she had promised to meet me at baggage claim. A welcoming face to greet me was going to be worth the long flight. Thankfully, I didn’t bring much with me; one checked bag, a carryon, and my laptop. Everything else was mailed or I planned to purchase it when I arrived.
Exiting the aircraft, I followed the masses toward baggage claim, where I found Willow standing nervously by the farthest corner, anxiously glancing at any person that walked passed her. She looked just as I remembered. Her long blonde hair, similar to mine but with tight, spiral curls, was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head while she looked casual in a pair of jeans and a navy blue T-shirt.
Willow smiled a dimpled grin when she noticed me and I generously smiled in return. We’d only met in person three times, but as the cousins closest in age, we video chatted almost daily. She understood what this journey meant for me, how difficult it was for me to leave everything behind, but she encouraged me to stand up for myself and spread my wings. If I ever wanted out of the small town, I needed to do it soon.
“Did you have a good flight?” she asked in her soft voice.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” I told her as I rolled my carryon toward the conveyor with the rest of the passengers and waited for my one suitcase to make its way down the path. She followed along with me, her eyes darting around constantly.
“Are you okay?” I asked her wondering about her anxious nature.
“Sorry, I’m just not a huge fan of crowds.” I nodded in understanding. Crowds weren’t my favorite thing either; that’s another reason I chose Wellington Ridge. The Univers
ity was on the smaller side since it was a private college.
“Anyway, the flight was fine. I expected it to feel confining and scary, but once we hit altitude and people started moving around, I felt more comfortable.”
I spotted my bright pink suitcase and gripped the handle before it passed, the heavy case landing with a thud as I yanked it down. The zippers were tightened to their max and I was worried that I’d find the contents inside draped along the conveyor, but so far, it seemed to be withstanding the pressure.
Together, Willow and I made our way out of the airport and waited in line for the shuttle that would take us back to the University. She had informed me that the shuttle is one of the luxuries provided by the upper-class private college – money made things happen. I didn’t have money, not like Willow. All I had to my name was my meager savings from working as a veterinary assistant the last three years and the job waiting for me to start in a week.
Willow came into a healthy inheritance when her grandmother passed away when she was in high school – the same grandmother that left nothing to my family. Another point of contention my parents had with me deciding to move and be closer with that side of the family. We never discussed the falling out. I made the mistake of asking once and I learned never to ask again.
The shuttle ride lasted about an hour and my nose was glued to the window the entire time. I had never seen so many historic buildings or so much traffic. Anchorage was busy, but it was nothing like this. And the suburban town my parents called home boasted no more than five thousand residents. I was in awe.
The prestigious gates of the school came into view and I felt like I had traveled back in time. The woodwork and stone seemed ancient amongst the bustling city, even though I knew from research that the school had been established in the 1950’s, but it had always been a functioning college since it’s construction in the late 1890’s.
Of Bishops And Pawns (Ridge Rogues Book 2) Page 8