Page 18 of Broken Halos
The sleepless nights I’d had since parting ways with Archie didn’t improve my mood. I’d never met anyone who twisted and knotted my insides the way Archie did. We parted on good terms on Tuesday night, and I knew he would’ve been fine if I showed up at Queen City Divas on Wednesday or called or texted during the week, but I didn’t do any of those things. Why? Archie had taken the first step by showing up at bowling night then took it another step further when he invited me to his mom’s pizza joint. Therein lay the crux of the issue. Archie took those steps, but they weren’t convincing. It reminded me of the tentative steps babies took when they first learned to walk. Archie acted as if he wanted to take a chance but looked like he was afraid of the fall. I wasn’t sure how I could convince him he was safe with me, or even if I should. Why was it up to me to prove anything? Why shouldn’t I demand Archie prove he’s not a flake, as his hot and cold behavior sometimes indicated?
Those were just some of the thoughts and questions cycling through my turbulent mind, but not all. Memories of the kisses we shared and images of the things we could have were included in the mix, so I was at a constant state of confusion and arousal. I felt like I was at my wits end and ready to snap beneath the slightest pressure. That’s when Archie walked into the community room at the senior center. I felt his presence before I saw him with my own eyes. Our gazes met, and I was unable to look away from his splendor. I saw the moment when his surprise turned to joy before it faded into… What did his frown mean? Was he upset to see me or was it concern causing his brow to furrow? I knew I was about to find out when Archie left his mom’s side to briskly walk across the room.
“Ollie, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Archie said in a neutral tone.
I just stared at him, unable to think or even blink, because he was the most beautiful being I’d ever seen. Whatever he’d done with his makeup made his eyes look bigger, greener, and shinier. I’d never seen eyelashes that long on another person. And his lips… The gloss made them look plumper, and I was dying to know if the shiny substance had a taste. If so, what would the pink gloss taste like? Strawberry? Melon? Cotton candy? How would those luscious lips feel working up and down my cock?
“Um,” I finally managed to say in an embarrassing squeak. The lips I couldn’t stop staring at spread into a slow smile which finally made me look into Archie’s eyes again. I wanted to see if they looked as inviting as his lips. His green gaze expressed the hesitance I was accustomed to seeing from him, but I also saw joy. I didn’t know how someone could look both unhappy and happy at the same time, but he somehow pulled it off. Archie raised one perfectly shaped brow and waited for me to say something else. What did he want? An apology? “Are you unhappy to see me?”
“Of course not. What we have here is a failure to communicate.” My left eyebrow lifted at theCool Hand Lukereference. Apparently, Archie quoted movie lines when he was angry or nervous. I thought it was adorable. “I thought our parting kiss indicated we were in a good place. I thought you said you’d see me soon. Oh, wow,” he said then briefly covered his mouth to hide a smirk. “That sounded really needy and desperate.”
To me, it was music to my ears. He apparently had missed me a little to react in such a way. “You sound like you’re still trying to figure out what this thing is between us,” I said.
“And you’re not?” Archie countered.
I shook my head. “I know exactly what I want.”
A delicious shiver worked its way through Archie’s body. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
“I’m here now, and it’s only been a few days.”
“Us being in the same room is a coincidence, unless you and my mom are working together as a team.” I looked over his shoulder and saw his mom smiling broadly as she waved at me.
“I’m not a big believer in coincidence.”
“You think us being here on the same night is fate?”
“I’ve been calling bingo numbers on Friday nights every six weeks for the past three years, and I’ve never seen you here before tonight. I did recognize your mother but couldn’t remember where I’d seen her.”
“Mamma doesn’t play regularly, and I don’t always come with her,” Archie explained. “I’m probably only here once or twice a year.”
It was obvious Archie needed our run-in to be a mere coincidence, and who was I to try and persuade him otherwise? To do so might set us back to the way things were before our truce.
“Regardless of the how or why, I am glad to see you. I’ve missed you, Archie.”
“You do look rough,” Archie said, raking narrowed eyes over my face. “Are you sleeping?”
“Some.”
“Eating?”
“Some.”
“Are you….” He let his words trail off, but I knew what his ornery glance meant. He wanted to know if I took my dick in my hand while thinking about him.
“I’ve done a lot of that.”
“Ollie,” Archie moaned softly.
“You started it.”
“Excuse me,” Edith Hastings said. “We were supposed to start bingo a minute ago.”
“There’s my cue,” I told Archie, wishing I could pull him into my arms and taste his ornery smile. “Can we talk after bingo is over?” I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I knew it would lead to other things.
“That would be great.”
“Any time now, Ollie,” Agnes Milgrove said.