Page 64 of Archer
I stare at him until he gives me a barely there, hardly perceptible shake of his head. And right back at him, I shoot a look withFine, we’ll talk laterwritten all over it.
Not sensing the silent exchange, Elliot rolls her eyes at him, picks up another cupcake and frosts it, all while I’m trying to figure out what the fuck could possibly be going on. Maybe it’s something to do with last night, and he doesn’t want to upset Elliot. The very fact that someone was in her room has got to be unnerving as hell.
I’m jerked from those thoughts when Kingston laughs, snatching another unfrosted cupcake from the platter. “I’m just the taste tester, but I’m taking my job very seriously.”
Great. He’s definitely not aware of whatever the problem is, or he’d be all the fuck over it. I’ll text him when it’s not so obvious. Hopefully, it’s nothing. Fucked up a test or they were out of the honey whiskey at the store. Some shit like that.
Forcing it out of my head, my eyebrows lift a fraction as my head tilts to the side, waiting for his verdict on the cupcake he’s sampling.
He laughs again. “They’re fuckin’ great, man. She went out of her way to add some secret ingredient that she won’t reveal. I could eat a ton of them. They’re dangerous as hell, even without the frosting.”
“The special ingredient is one secret Iwillbe keeping. And you didn’t even try any of the frosting.” Elliot shoots him a fake pout as I walk over to stand beside her. I pat my chest, eyeing the bowl of frosting that she’s dexterously applying to the cupcakes with a butter knife. “You want a taste?”
I nod, gesturing that she should get it for me… but when she goes to pull open a drawer to grab a spoon, I stop her with a hand to her shoulder. Her eyes narrow in adorable confusion, but it only takes her a fraction of a second to realize what I want. She dips her finger into the sweet concoction, smiling as she brings it to my mouth. Our eyes connect. I wait with bated breath until ever so slowly, she puts her frosting-coated finger between my lips. I groan, my tongue swirling around as I suck on it with gentle pressure. Not gonna lie, I’m totally enjoying the way her pupils dilate and her mouth drops open as she watches me. When I finally release her with a wet pop, there’s a snicker at my back from Archer, and a grumble of what I think might be begrudging approval from Kingston mixed with a hint of arousal.
I swivel to shoot each of them a smirk, and that’s how I don’t anticipate the frosting that ends up smeared across my lips, courtesy of Elliot. The creamy butter-and-sugar mixture covers both top and bottom. I hitch up a surprised eyebrow. Bright, beautiful laughter bubbles out of her, and there’s only one way to give proper payback. My hands dive into the hair on either side of her head, and I pull her to me in a way that demands her attention. Her eyes widen and dart to mine in eager anticipation. Ducking my head, I plant my frosting-covered lips on hers. With my heart thudding hard, I take us deeper into the kiss, licking her lips before sweeping my tongue into her mouth. The sugary sweetness is good. But Elliot? She’s better. Still, though, I have fun making a mess with her, each stroke of my tongue sensuous and sure.
“Fuck,” Kingston mutters. I hear the slight bite of jealousy, which I know only means he’ll pull her aside a bit later.
Archer’s no different, honestly, only instead of cussing out how hot he thinks it is, his hands have gone for his suspenders, and he slides his hooked thumbs up and down, up and down as he watches us with his keen gray-hued gaze.
When a moan tears from her throat, I know I’ve done my job. I pull away only an inch, waiting as her eyelids open, lashes fluttering. Dazed, she looks up at me, and I see stars in her eyes. For me.Fuck,since the day we met, I’ve been a goner for her. No rhyme, no reason. Just head over heels for Elliot.
“I wish I had known it was your birthday. I’d have gotten you a gift.”
I wet my lips, glancing up to find Archer has circled the kitchen island to stand beside Kingston. Taking a deep breath, I try to steady myself before I look her in the eye. “Being here with the three of you is more than enough.” My throat feels raspy and the words a little raw, but it’s worth it. It needed to be said.
Her head tips to the side for a moment, taking in what I’ve verbalized for her, as well as Kingston and Archer. “You mean it?”
I jut my chin out, glancing at the guys before coming back to focus on her. “Sure as fuck do.”
TWENTY-NINE
KINGSTON
Once Elliot hasthe cupcakes done—my sweet tooth is in so much trouble with her around—we gather up the trays of steaks and veggie kabobs that’ve been marinating in the fridge since early this morning and head down to the pool patio where we keep one beast of a grill. Cannon threatened if I decorated with balloons or any other standard birthday shit he’d knock me out. For the record, I totally believe he’d at least try.
Glancing around, I take inventory of those already present. Stuart, Joel, and Alec are on the far side of the patio, each with a drink in hand, despite the fact that everyone else is helping out. I’ll solve that fucking ridiculousness in a second. Taggart, Zeke, and Bridger have busied themselves shuffling in and out of the house with some lawn games, in case anyone’s looking for a little good-natured competition after we’ve eaten. I don’t know how long it’ll last before Cannon pitches a bocce ball at someone’s head if they step out of line, but at least it’d make things interesting.
I frown, realizing Dane isn’t here yet. He’d promised to man the grill tonight when I’d texted him earlier. I scratch my fingers over the stubble on my jaw. “Anyone seen Dane?”
There are a few head shakes and several calls in the negative, but then Zeke slowly raises a hand. “Um, he was here for a while this afternoon. I saw him when I was on a study break.”
Cannon eyes me warily from a few feet away where he’s assisting Elliot with the food, then points to Taggart and then kinda haphazardly toward the upper patio.
Taggart’s eyes widen at being singled out, but then, he bobs his head. “Yes, sir. On it.” He bounds away, his long legs taking two stairs at once. He demonstrates an urgency that not many of these other assholes do. I think I like that guy.
I shift closer to Archer and through my teeth, I mutter, “Fuckin’ weird that he’s not here. Ispecificallytexted to ask if he’d be our grill master so we could hang with Cannon.”
“He’s been out of it ever since Elliot was taken,” Archer murmurs under his breath so she doesn’t hear him from where she and Cannon are working at the food prep table set up beside the grill. “He showed up right after Elliot beat the piss out of Alec, in time to pull me off before I killed him.” Archer’s lips twitch into a scary smile, which I can only assume is directly related to memories of how he’d gone after Alec right after he saw the full footage of what’d gone done right here on this very patio.
My jaw clenches at all of it, but I set those issues aside knowing we have another problem brewing. “Agreed. And not just ‘out of it.’ Not even present. He’s here as long as he’s required to be, like for The Games last night, then gone again like a motherfucking ghost.”
My eyes drift to Elliot again as she flits around setting out heavy duty paper plates, utensils, and napkins. I wish for both her sake and Cannon’s that we could just have a normal night. But where thefuckis Dane? Something prickles along my spine. We’re missing something, we have to be. Because we may not have known why Elliot was here at first, but I’m more and more convinced that Dane definitely did… but was he the only one? Something isn’t adding up, and I don’t like the direction my mind is heading. There has to be another connection somewhere. Something we’re missing. And of course, we don’t know who our freaking masked intruder was last night. For all we know, it’s fucking Dane.Goddammit.
Archer’s eyes meet mine as he shakes his head. “Seriously. What the ever-loving fuck is going on around here?” He frowns, reaching into his pocket to withdraw his phone. He glances at the screen, and his jaw goes rigid before shoving it back into his pocket without responding.
What the fuck.I shift my body so I’m facing him and draw my brows together. Whoever that is on the other end of the conversation, I’m not digging at all the way it’s affecting him. Something is bothering Archer… I know him too well for him to think he can hide it from me. I wet my lips, unable to stop the gruff question from spilling out. “You gonna tell me what the fuck else is going on?”