Page 23 of Easton

He makes a strange sound before his forehead drops to my chest. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

And there it is, what I was expecting to happen all along. Archer realizing he doesn’t want me, that this is too much. I guess I didn’t expect it to happen when I was trying to have sex with him.

“Yeah. You’re right. Don’t know what I was thinking.” I try to climb off him, but his hold on my hips tightens.

“It’s just, we’re friends, and you’re…”

He doesn’t finish his sentence, but then, he doesn’t have to. I’m me. Why the hell would Archer Thorn want to fuck me?

“Whatever. It’s fine. Just bored and hard up. I thought we could blow off some steam together.” I try to get off him again, but he keeps holding me.

My head spins. I’m embarrassed and angry, though not at him. At myself.

“Let me go, Archer.”

“Listen to me for a second and—”

“Let. Me. Go.” I punctuate each word, and his hold on me loosens. He doesn’t fight me as I stand up, and then he does the same. “Pretty Girl, Casanova. Come on. Let’s go.” I head for the door and grab their leashes.

“Easton, will you listen to me for a second?” he asks while I hook the dogs. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea on what this is about.”

This is about me being a fuckup and him trying to fix me. I shouldn’t have forgotten that. The worst part is, I get it. I understand why he wouldn’t want to fuck someone like me. I’m a mess, and all he did was not want to kiss me. He has that right.

But I wanted him…tonight I wantedhim, wanted more good feelings, wanted to give him the same thing, and I’m not sure how to process what happened.

I open the door.

“East.”

“I’m fine, Archer.”

I walk down the steps with my dogs.

“Hey, promise me you’re okay. That you’re not going to do anything to get yourself into any trouble.”

And there it is again: I’m a project to Archer, someone he feels he has to take care of, and nothing more. The even more fucked-up part is that I want to let him be there for me, want to be able to lean on him. That’s clear because I’ve let him be there for me so many times now, but somehow, I’ve let that get all crisscrossed in my head. I won’t make that mistake again.

CHAPTER SIX

Archer

It’s been threedays since Easton walked out of my house, and I haven’t seen him since. I’ve texted him every day to check in, but he hasn’t responded. I’ve been giving him space because he has a right to that, but it’s getting harder and harder. I want to be respectful of his wishes, but I’m also not walking away from him. I think that’s what East expects, maybe even trying to make happen, but that’s not me.

It had taken every ounce of strength inside me to stop that kiss. I’d wanted my tongue in his mouth, wanted to lay him down, strip him bare, and make him feel good. Because I don’t think Easton has had enough good in his life, don’t think he’s smiled enough and been pleasured enough. There’s this unexplainable, feral urge to be the one to show him that.

My mind is on him while I’m writing tickets and taking calls at work. When I get off, I should head home or go see Cass or something, but goddamn it. I have to check in on him, so I make the quick drive to Dusty’s Collision Repair, trying to think of an excuse as to why I’m going there that doesn’t screamI kissed your almost brother-in-law, then told him no, and he stormed out.

The stalls are open when I pull up. I don’t see Easton, and while there could be a hundred reasons for that, my pulse speeds up. Has he not been going into work?

I breathe a little easier when I see his truck parked, then head over. “Hey, Dust.”

“Hey, man. How’s it going?” He wipes his hands on his work jeans and heads my way.

I try to discreetly look around the building to see if I can find Easton. Jesus, what the fuck is happening to me?

“Good,” I reply. Okay, so I probably should have come with a plan, but I’ve never done something like this before. “How’s Morgan?”

“Good. He’s getting things settled to start the remodel of the bar. He wants to do a lot of the work himself. I’ll help him when I’m off here.”