“Why don’t you tell him where to get off? Better yet, give me your fucking phone and I’ll do it.”
That wouldn’t be clever. “Yeah, you’ve been looking for an excuse to do it for months.”
Bending at the waist she deliberately grinded her ass into his groin as she searched her drawer for a skirt. Archer took her hips and helped her move. “If he didn’t care when you got dumped, why should you care when he does?”
“It’s what friends do,” she said, pulling out her skirt and taking all of her clothes to the bed. She opened the nightstand to retrieve her hairbrush and pulled out the pins that held her hair up to run a brush through it.
“You’re a better friend than he is.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But it helps me sleep. If I don’t go, I’ll just lie here all night thinking about how I should’ve gone and I’ll never get to sleep. And I’ll be honest, for the past twenty-four days, I’ve been willing to do just about anything to distract myself from thinking about you. Now I have a chance to do that. I can’t ignore it.”
Opening his hands, he moved in front of her. “I’m right here,” he said and she stopped brushing.
“Are you staying the night?” she asked, expectant, hopeful, and then resigned to the confirmation that came when his shoulders fell.
But he had an argument. “You’re not gonna get laid over there either.”
“Maybe not, but at least I won’t have to sleep alone. You take up a lot of space in a girl’s bed, Arch, I’m drowning in those sheets without you.”
She stood up and he was instantly against her. “You’re gonna sleep with him?”
“I told you before. I sleep in his bed. That doesn’t mean I suck his dick.”
“You don’t have to fuck him to…” He stopped himself maybe because he knew how fucked up it was to ask his ex-girlfriend who he’d just finished groping, not to lie down and sleep in the same space as another man.
“Are you jealous?” she asked. “Of Tag? Haven’t we had this conversation a zillion and one times?”
“I don’t like him,” he said, opening his arms wide. “I’ll never like him.”
Nya patted his chest to give herself enough space to squeeze out. “You’ve made that clear.”
She began to put on her clothes. “What if he wants her back?”
“Farrah?” she asked, bending to put her feet in her skirt.
“Yeah, what if he tells you he’s willing to do anything to get her back.”
She stood up and zipped her skirt. “Then we’ll do anything to get her back.”
Archer moved into her field of vision. “Do you think Hex is gonna like that? If his baby sister says the relationship is over and Tag comes sniffing around again?”
Wasn’t Archer just the happy, good news fairy? “Oh, God,” she groaned, sinking down to let her head fall into her hands. “We’ve had this conversation before too. The Farrah girl has a lot to answer for. We just managed to get them together and get Hexam to accept it and now she’s playing hard to get.”
“Maybe it’s not hard to get,” he said, sitting beside her. “Maybe your boy fucked up, ever think of that?”
“Screwed around on her you mean?” Nya considered it and had to concede that it was a possibility.
“That or they argued and he got physical.”
Bouncing down the bed an inch, she twisted her body toward him. “Are you saying he hit her? Tag would never do that.”
“I’m saying that if he did, Hexam’s likely to go through him, no matter what Farrah says.”
But she wouldn’t hear it. “Tag just wouldn’t. He wouldn’t. Think about what he did for me. He’s never raised his hands to me and you know how annoying I can be.”
“You were never in a relationship with him.”
“No,” she admitted. “But I’ve seen it. My dad was a beater, my brother, Damien. I know the signs and Tag doesn’t have them.”
Proving his trust, Archer accepted that. “Ok. Just make sure he’s honest with you.”
Nya was already thinking about how she’d have to come straight back here to give Archer all of the details she learned and that made her consider something else.
While rubbing her hand on his thigh, she put her chin on his shoulder. “You could come with me.”
He tilted to look at her. “You want me to come to Tag’s house at four in the morning.” She dug her chin into his shoulder. “I thought you said he knew we were broken up. Why would we be together at four in the morning?”
Sitting back, she raised her arms in a shrug and let her hands slap onto her thighs. “I don’t know, Arch, why are we together at four o’clock in the morning?” His eyes flicked to her bare breasts and she pushed her shoulders back. “Take what you want, I won’t stop you.”
Now he groaned and covered his eyes. “Is this the way it’s always gonna be?” he asked, and his hand fell. “You’re just gonna keep telling me you’re mine, ready, and waiting. You’re gonna keep stripping off and flaunting yourself, trying to get me into bed?”
Rolling her eyes to their top corners, she twisted her lips, but didn’t think about it for long. “Yeah,” she said. “Pretty much.”
“You don’t want to accept that we’re over and move on?”
“Nope,” she said, kissing his arm. “Because your reason for dumping me was stupid and now you’re just being stubborn. We both know it. You want me. So when you’re ready to be a man and fuck me stupid like a good boyfriend should, I’ll be ready… If you haven’t come to your senses by my birthday, I’ll seriously consider getting you drunk and taking advantage.”
“I was honest with you so you’d stop flaunting it,” he said. “I thought if I was upfront you’d realize that what I’m doing makes sense. So you can quit coming round and dressing for me and—”
“Dressing for you?” she asked, amazed at his ego. “I’ve never dressed for you in my life.” It hadn’t occurred to her to do such a thing and it made her wonder, “How would I do that? What would you want me to wear? You’ve never expressed a preference for any outfit or style or anything except seeing as much of my breasts as you can at any opportunity.”
Hence the white tee shirts he always tried to put her in. “I’m not coming to Tag’s with you,” he said.
Typical that he should avoid the question. “Ok, fine.”
Picking up her bra, she put it on and was yawning when she went for her deodorant. “You’re going over there half dead. What use are you gonna be to him?”
“He just needs company. The first night is tough. I only got through it because I was sure you’d forgive me in the morning. I didn’t like being wrong about that by the way.”
After spraying, she held out a limp arm for the top she’d left on the bed. Archer picked it up and tossed it to her. “Stay here.”
“But, I—”
“Just for a minute,” he said, rising from the bed.
She was to stay here, but he was leaving? What was going on? “Where are you going?”
“Upstairs to get my car keys.”
“I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I’m not coming in,” he said. “But I’ll drive you over there, give you an hour and then I’m bringing you home if I have to haul you out by your hair. You remember how cozy my trunk is, right?”
She blocked the door so he couldn’t go through it. “Why would you do that?”
He held her chin for a second. “Because I don’t want you sleeping in his bed.”
Lowering to bump his forehead on hers, he ushered her aside so he could go out. They weren’t together. He didn’t want them to be. But he loved her and it was clear he was still willing to go to drastic lengths for her.
Archer had found out the truth about what Hexam was up to and even in spite of his hatred for Tag, he was still willing to sit alone on a city street with fuck all to do for an hour, just so she could feel better about consoling her friend.
Her heart had been broken and she was su
re the relationship was over. Maybe it was her almost coming to terms with that, which had prompted Archer to change gear. Because admit it or not, he didn’t want to lose her. Nya had no intention of going anywhere, she just had to convince him that things weren’t as over as he thought.
twenty-two
“I think we should move in together.”
Nya stopped mid-chew while Tag kept shoveling the veggie risotto she’d made into his mouth. “We should what?” she asked.
They were seated at her bistro table eating dinner. It had only been three days since Tag and Farrah had broken up, but apparently he was making plans for the future. “Think about it,” Tag said. “You don’t want to be here. I’m knocking around that big apartment by myself. We should move in together. It’s not like we don’t get along. I can watch you if you’re at mine.”
She speared a pea. “I just moved in here,” she said, eyeing the boxes still stacked by her front door.
It was nice to see him optimistic, but she couldn’t figure out where this was coming from. “Yeah, but it’s not like you’re settled. You could pack up again in a day. It might be fun.”
“We’ve lived together before.”
He picked up his glass of white wine. “Yeah, but not on purpose. We only stay together when there’s some kind of crisis and you need a place to crash. This would be a choice.”
Putting her fork on her plate, Nya clasped her hands over it, thinking maybe his proactive attitude was a cover for his emotional upheaval. “I think it’s great you’ve decided not to go after Farrah and I know you’re worried about Gio ‘cause you haven’t heard anything from him for weeks…”
During her conversation on the night of Tag’s break-up, Nya learned that Gio had gone on a trip about the same time Tag hooked up with Farrah. He’d been so besotted that Tag couldn’t remember if he’d heard from Gio at all.
Still, he was glib about his friend’s safety. “Gio can take care of himself.”
“Maybe we should try to find out what happened to him. He might need help. I know you guys sometimes do your own thing, but you usually keep in touch.”
Gio hadn’t liked it when she hooked up with Archer, but he’d been Tag’s right-hand man in business for years. If he’d been around, maybe Tag wouldn’t have been so eager to get embroiled in Hexam’s business.
And because the men had been close, Nya had always considered Gio a friend. One blot of friction on their record wasn’t enough to erase her concern for a man who’d been missing for weeks.
Tag got impatient. “I’m gonna. But I want to try and figure the business out before I look too hard.”
Because if Gio came back and saw the mess Tag had made of their modest empire, he wouldn’t be happy. Nya had never put much faith in Gio’s role. Now she saw that he’d been a steadying influence who she’d taken for granted.
“I can ask Archer,” she said, “find out if anyone’s seen anything of Gio recently.”
Scowling, Tag scraped the remainder of his food together and tipped his bowl. “No, you need to stay the fuck away from him.”
Not liking his judgement, she chose to be obtuse. “From Gio or Archer?” she asked.
“From Archer, that’s why you should get away from this place. You guys are over. He fucked you over, just like I said he would and tossed your ass to the curb.”
“He paid my rent here,” she said, “and he’s never asked me for a dime.”
After Archer brought her back from Tag’s, he’d walked her to her door. She’d tried to kiss him goodnight and invite him in. But he’d been adamant about putting her across the threshold and listening to her lock the door. She’d never understood why listening was so important, until she lived here because she didn’t leave her door or even take off her jacket until she heard Archer slam into his apartment and cross the floor above her.
It had become habit to wait and listen when she knew he was heading upstairs. She’d gone to bed and had quite a smooth sleep, probably because she was exhausted and because spending some extended time with Archer had left her more content.
When she’d awoken to stretch and sit up, she was thinking about coffee when she’d noticed the pile of bills on the nightstand. Picking them up, she’d realized, this was the same scrunched lot of bills she’d given to him for rent. Nestled inside the pile was a Post-It and this one was in Archer’s handwriting. It said, “I take care of you.”
She’d been sure this was a good sign and had faced the day with vigor except she’d had to go to Tag’s before she did anything else and then Sizzle needed her attention. Life got in the way of her pursuing her man.
Here she was, eating dinner with Tag three days later, still desperate to ask Archer what the Post-It meant.
“You were right about Farrah,” he said. “She’s too young for me. I think we should both spend some time by ourselves focusing on our own shit. And if I can get over Farrah, you can for sure get over that bastard.”
He nodded upwards, but she hadn’t heard anything from Archer all night. The funny thing was, his slamming doors and stomping feet were usually the only sign he was there. He didn’t play music and watched the TV on mute with subtitles. Even the coffee machine was too quiet for her to hear. If he was in the shower at the same time she was, it messed with her water pressure. But it had taken her a couple of weeks of living here before she realized that.
Her situation wasn’t the same as Tag’s and she had to make sure her friend knew that. “I’m not sure it is over,” she admitted. Dragging the prongs of her fork through her food, she thought about everything she’d been through with Archer since they’d broken up, and lost her appetite. Although the food had smelled great as she prepared it, she wasn’t in the mood to eat anymore.
“Not sure what’s over?” he asked, reaching for a breadstick.
“Me and Archer.”
Taking a bite of his stick, Tag crunched it and swallowed, then washed it down with some more wine. “He dumped you, Nya. It doesn’t usually take you this long to get the message when a guy’s not interested.”
“He is interested. But even if he’s not, I want to be his friend.”
Tag gaped at her and his limp hand fell to the table. “His friend? Since when do you want to be friends with exes? Careful, Yorkie, you’re edging into pathetic.”
He eyed the cuff on her wrist. Tag thought she wore it because it signified something special between her and Archer. After being split up for so long it was no surprise that her friend thought she was strange to be wearing something her ex had given her. Except he was wrong about her reasons, Nya wore it to conceal from him what was beneath it, and it was time to reveal the truth of its purpose to him.
Unfastening the buckle, she shoved her plate away to slap her forearm down on the table to present the inside of her wrist to him so he could see the brand and tattoo. “I wear this to cover the mark,” she said. “Because I thought you would freak out if you saw it.”
Lowering his gaze, he scrutinized the mark. “Is that… a burn?”
“Yes,” she said. “I told you Archer saved me in Sizzle, and that’s true, he did. But I spent the next three days chained up at his mercy. The night after the raid, he gave me this. I’ve never felt pain like it and I was absolutely terrified of him. But this mark means something to me now. It means I belong to him and I want that more than anything. I want to belong to him. I will always belong to him.”
“He burned you?” Tag asked, surging to his feet. “That bastard, I’m going to—”
She grabbed his arm, but instead of panic, it was anger that poured into her. “He’s not home and even if he was, he’d take you apart. Yeah, Archer dumped me and broke my heart. He did it because I protected him. I risked my life to make sure he wouldn’t get hurt.”
Grabbing hold of her, Tag twisted her arm to show her the brand. “After he did this to you?”
But the scar didn’t make her angry. “You don’t understand. He did this to me because he couldn’t hu
rt me in any other way. He couldn’t hit me or cut me or make me bleed. After he’d done it, even though he was still trying to scare me into giving you up, he took care of me and this. He’s saved your ass too, Hexam would’ve killed you ten times by now if it wasn’t for him. Wearing this mark…” Nya stood up to present it to him. “Makes me proud of him.”
“And the tattoo, did he make you do that after?”
She shook her head. “I did this a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “After we were broken up when he was bastard enough to tell me I could have my brand removed. That prick thought I might accept his rejection. I don’t fucking think so.”
“You can’t make him be with you. Whatever sick, fucking twisted relationship you got yourself mixed up in, Yorkie. He finished it. You have to accept that.”
Empowered, embracing this honesty made her feel free. “Accept that he may never share my bed again? Yes, I might. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving him and I know he loves me too.”
“He wouldn’t be treating you like this if he did.”
“Like what? Putting a roof over my head and covering my bills even when I’ve asked him not to. He protects me in ways you can’t begin to understand.”
“I protect you,” Tag said, thrusting his thumb to his chest. “If you need something, you come to me.”
Something clicked and so many things that Archer had said began to make sense. “That’s the thing about Archer. He doesn’t want me to ask. I don’t need to. He fixes problems I don’t even know I have. Since we’ve been together, his whole life has become about making mine better.”
Nya had told Archer he was better off without her and every time she went into one of her rants, she came up with a thousand reasons that Archer should run for the hills and then she remembered what he’d said to her about how he couldn’t lie to her and struggled to resist her.
Scarred (Branded Book 2) Page 26