Page 34 of Archer
“Yeah”—she nods at him—“you can sit with me, you don’t have to ask.”
He gives her a small smile, then joins her, sitting close and immediately claiming her by putting his hand on her thigh over top of the bandage. He turns his head toward her, cocking it to the side.
She understands his silent question and leans in to press her lips to his jaw. “It’s getting better.”
Cannon exhales sharply but doesn’t take that vein of conversation further. He knows why we’re in here, and while related, he won’t want to derail what we came in to talk to her about.
My eyes rove over Elliot, stalling while I search my head for a good way to start this discussion. She’s so fuckin’ perfect, but at the moment, her eyes hold a note of anxiousness I most certainly see as my doing. I hold out my hand in an effort to jump-start some words, and I fail, my eyes crashing shut.
“What’s going on?” Her quiet concern hits me square in the chest, taking my breath away.
Kingston slings an arm around my upper back, his hand landing on my shoulder. His presence and calm reassurance is apparently what I need because I expel a harsh breath, and my words burst forth. “Peaches, I feel terrible that I’ve kept something from you, but I want to come clean about it now. There aren’t supposed to be secrets among brothers, and I purposely kept this from you the last few days. I’m sorry it’s probably going to upset you, but I’m not sorry I did it. I can’t be.”
A haze of uncertainty crosses her features, her eyes sliding among the three of us, waiting for any one of us to explain why we’ve come at her together like we have. To her credit, though, she leans into Cannon’s side, waiting, not a single word passing her lips. She must sense whatever is about to be said is big.
“Peaches, um—” I stop, glancing out of the corner of my eye at Kingston for support, and he gives me a simple nod. My eyes flick back to hers. “The day that fuckhead took you, you shared with me some of the thoughts in your head.” I force myself to hold her gaze, though it’s difficult with the way she’s looking at me with those big, dark doe eyes. “Elliot, based on what you confided, while you were sleeping, I went through your bedroom and bathroom and took out every single fucking thing that I thought maybe you’d use…” I can’t even finish the goddamn sentence. My chest clenches violently, crushing my heart the same way I’m afraid I’ve smashed hers with my words and, even more so, with my assumptions at what she might be capable of doing to herself.
She looks down, slicking her tongue over her lip. Her hands tremble in her lap and her eyes remain trained on the floor at our feet for what seems like an eternity before she looks up.
Aw, fuck.There are tears in her eyes. I have to say something else, but my voice hitches at first when I try. “I-I’m really fucking sorry, Elliot, I just thought—”
When I jerk to a stop, Kingston continues for me, murmuring low. “He didn’t do it to upset you.”
Cannon’s hand skims up and down her arm as she sits there. I have no clue if she’s pissed or hurt or what. But her silence, it’s goddamn killing me. I throw my arms out from my sides. “You can be as mad about it as you want. You can scream at me. Or completely shut me out. You can even come at me like you did Alec. I’ll take whatever you think I deserve. Irefuseto lose you. It’s not happening on my watch.”
Elliot blinks at me, a tear slipping from the corner of my eye. “You went through my things? My makeup bag? My drawers?” She tries to be nonchalant about it, but her gaze darts to the bathroom.Oh,boy. The bag in the tampon box hadn’t been on my mind until now, but I bet the thought has crossed her mind that I found that, too.
Trying to focus on one thing at a time, I solemnly nod, though I find it difficult to be sorry for what I did when I was protecting her from herself. But I am sorry I hurther.“A little pair of scissors, some tweezers, the razor from the shower…”
Her eyes flick to mine because she has every right to question whether I all but lied to her earlier. She obviously hadn’t realized her razor was missing and already in my possession.
Before she can ask, I blurt, “It was in my dresser already.” I let out an agonized breath. “You bared yourself—let me see the real you—but I couldn’t live with myself if I had that knowledge and didn’t protect you.” Kingston squeezes my shoulder imperceptibly, reminding me that he’s right here with me.
Her eyes become a little wild, darting from me and then over our shoulders to the bathroom, and I’m now positive it has to do with the Faraday bag.
I bite my lip, my anxiety shooting through the roof. “Say something, baby.” My voice comes out a quiet rasp.
Several long moments go by before she finally nods to herself, as if she’s made some sort of decision we aren’t yet aware of. Her shoulders square as she unfolds her legs and stands up, closing the distance between us.
Elliot presses her lips together, trying—and failing—to stop the wobble of her chin. “I won’t lie and say I’m not mad at you for going through my things, because I can’t help but feel that way.” She blinks, and she must be holding back tears because there is wetness clinging to her lashes. “But I understand why you did it. What you did for me was kind. I told you I didn’t trust myself, and you were protecting me in the only way you knew how.” She nods, gripping my hips in her hands, and lowering her forehead to my bare chest before murmuring, “Thank you for recognizing what I needed before I saw it myself.”
A shuddering laugh falls from my lips. “Fuck. I thought you were going to be so pissed.”
She clutches me tightly, her fingers depressing into my skin. “A little pissed, but I’m fine with it.” She wets her lips, looking up at me and cocking her head. “Can I ask you a question?”
I nod, sure as fuck sensing the way her tone has shifted ever so slightly.Oh boy. Here it comes.
“Did you look… everywhere?”
Yep, there it is.I swallow hard, glancing first at Kingston and then at Cannon. A breath heaves from me, then another as I catch her chin with my fingers. “Everywhere I could think you would stash something… even where I thought you’d go if you were to—”
Shit.I side-eye Kingston, and he nods again carefully. We need to know what the hell is going on. Cannon’s brows furrow, but then it seems like he gets what I’m silently asking, too.
Elliot looks up at me, and I can’t resist dropping a kiss to her lips and brushing the emotion away from the corners of her eyes. She releases me and sits back down on the edge of the bed. “Archer, where would I go if I were going to harm myself?”
Beside her, the groan that rips from Cannon’s throat is that of a raw, angry beast. Elliot quickly turns, putting a hand on his bicep, and shakes her head.
I clear my throat. “Probably off camera, I’d expect.”