15. A night under the moon
15
A NIGHT UNDER THE MOON
Archer
I loved our weekly barbecues on the roof patio but tonight was different. It’d been a week since that night at the bar. And I was still fuming that Micah had somehow followed us, and then sat there in the same room, eyeing what I was doing.
What I was doing was enjoying an evening with friends, sharing gossip, eating cheap pizza—which tasted better than any fancy schmancy ones I’d eaten—and having a laugh chatting to three kinda cute college freshmen. Now I wished I’d danced up a storm, wriggled my ass and draped myself over one of the guys. Damn Micah and his sidekick, Ryder.
Based on what Ivor had said about his little crush on the stag shifter, maybe it had been Ryder’s idea to stalk us. Unlikely. He was Ivor’s boss and he hadn’t detached himself from Kellan yet. Nope, I’d decided, without any evidence, that it was all Micah’s doing.
We hadn’t spoken all week. I’d been busy. Leaving early, coming home late, collapsing into bed fully clothed, but the project my boss was working on had been put to bed. And I was so ready for an evening with friends on the roof and spending the weekend sleeping. Alone, sadly.
“Archer,” everyone chorused as I set foot on the rooftop patio.
“Am I late?” I asked and pulled my phone out. Neil cleared his throat and pointed to Micah’s sign. “Right. Sorry, I forgot.” He was here. I caught sight of him from the corner of my eye talking to Ryder. Were the pair planning another outing later tonight? Going to hit up another student bar? Sorry to disappoint you, Micah, but I’m staying in. You’ll have to stalk someone else.
No! my wolf whimpered. He’d been pretty quiet lately. Out of sorts. Not doing much except sleeping and unless we’d hunted, he was silent. I hardly knew he was there. He was disappointed at me rejecting Micah, and I missed my beast. At the bar he’d been pestering me to talk to Micah. But he’d sensed I was determined to not sleep with the guy again, and he was acting as though his last friend had deserted him. I was his friend. His one and only.
“Glad you made it, Archer. I’ve got news,” Daire announced.
Everyone groaned. “Last time you had news, the building was being sold and we all had to leave,” Ivor grumbled.
“It’s not that bad.”
“Not as bad but still bad?” Micah had picked up on that one word as I had, and I sent him a quick glance but he had his gaze fixed on Daire.
“Well sort of but maybe not,” Daire replied, looking anything but comfortable.
“Oh, buddy, you’re not the best at delivering bad news,” Ryder complained.
“How do you deliver bad news in a good way?” Neil wondered, more to himself than the group.
“My parents are pissed at me, at us, for our stunt the other week,” Daire said.
“Not surprising,” Micah added. He shot me a look. “But we had fun.” He averted his gaze immediately as though he’d made a mistake. Too late. My dick reacted and my wolf awoke from his long slumber. Micah , he panted.
He wasn’t the only one. I licked my lips as my eyes roamed over the unicorn shifter.
“Eyes to the front, Archer,” Neil whispered as he tugged at my shirt and pulled me onto the bench beside him.
Tonight reminded me of my first Sunshine Manor barbecue. Me sitting with Neil and Ivor. The other three a little apart from us.
“And they handed the running of the building over to me. But…”
“Here it comes,” muttered Ivor, and Ryder turned his head toward the wolf shifter.
“But there’s no way the rent covers the expenses. I told you that a while ago,” Daire informed us.
“Yeah, we were up here. Doing the same thing we’re doing now,” Ryder interjected.
“Glad you remembered,” Daire said. “Gotta make sacrifices.”
Ivor put his face in his hands.
“So, I have to raise everyone’s rent,” Daire announced with a flourish as though he was delivering great news.
That hit me hard but poor Ivor was practically in tears and Neil was gnawing on a nail like a dog at a bone. “I’ll have to work longer hours,” Neil wailed. Even though he earned good money, his expenses were high as he was constantly buying clothes for work and makeup as well as updating his camera and recording gear. Plus he put a sizable amount away each month in case work dried up.
Ryder and Micah were muttering to one another. I assumed both could afford it but they weren’t pleased. Which was understandable. No one wished for a rent hike. I was bummed, like Neil, at not being able to save as much.
Ivor was rocking back and forth, his eyes swimming with tears. “I can’t pay any more. I’m already stretched so thin…” he choked out the words.
“Hey, Ivor,” Ryder strode over and kneeled in front of him. He placed a hand on the wolf shifter’s back. “Look at me.” Ivor glanced up. “You’re doing so well at the office. I’ve been meaning to give you a raise.”
“You have?” Ivor asked in a small voice.
“Yeah.”
Neil nudged me and I got a little teary. Despite his own fucked up life, Ryder was thinking of Ivor and it was very sweet. Maybe the two of them did have a future or the stag shifter was just a really good guy. Or both things could be true.
“But we don’t know how much the increase is,” Ivor said.
“Guys I feel bad. This was supposed to be a fun night and now I’ve ruined it,” Daire groaned.
“Talking of money, especially asking people to pay more of it, will do that,” Micah told him.
“Fine. If I keep the rent the same, we have to come up with other ways to make up the shortfall. Anyone got a brilliant idea?”
“Rent out that third bedroom in your huge apartment,” Ryder suggested.
“But that’s where Ivor and I play our video games,” Daire protested.
Everyone laughed at that. “Boo hoo,” Ryder shouted and clapped. “Boo hoo,” and everyone took up the chant. “Boo hoo.”
“You could rent out the roof for parties on the weekends,” I suggested. Looks of horror were plastered on everyone’s face. You’d think I’d kicked a puppy. Even Ivor’s mouth was gaping. “What?” I threw up my hands. “You asked for suggestions.”
“Not that,” someone muttered.
“That’s going too far.”
“Anything but the roof.”
“My babies.” That was Daire talking about his plants.
“Fine.” I shrugged. “Come up with a better idea.”
“What about dividing your apartment into two,” Neil said. “You and Ivor don’t need two bathrooms and three bedrooms.”
“That’d work,” Micah agreed. “Based on the layout, you’d need to add a kitchen and divide that huge third bedroom into two, plus take some of your existing living room. But you’d need to fork out money for the renovations.”
“And that I don’t have.” Daire made a face.
“I have an idea but it’ll hurt,’ I said.
“No!” Everyone glared at me.
“Daire. It’ll hurt Daire.”
“What is it with everyone tonight? It’s let’s make life hard for Daire night.”
“You have a van and a sports car.” I waited while his expression told me he’d blanked out and didn’t catch my meaning. “You can’t drive both at the same time.”
“No, not the sports car,” Daire pleaded.
I sighed. “Sell the van in that case.”
“But we use that a lot when we go to my parents’ place to shift,” he complained.
“Gotta make sacrifices.” I repeated his words back to him.
“I was thinking it’d be everyone else,” he complained. “Let’s think on it, family. If I have to sell the car, I’ll do it, but…” He grabbed his chest. “Getting rid of my baby’ll hurt.”
“Thought the plants were your babies,” Ryder quipped which had everyone laughing.
“Okay, family. Let’s get cooking. Whose turn is it to man the grill?”
“Yours,” Micah added.
“Man, I can’t catch a break tonight.”
Someone handed me a glass of wine and that someone was Micah. “Thanks.” I looked to Neil and Ivor for support but they were deep in conversation about makeup Neil was buying and scrolling through eyeliners on Neil’s phone. Daire was at the grill and Ryder was inspecting Daire’s herbs growing in the patio garden.
Now what? Micah was standing beside me staring at the moon. His aroma curled around my nostrils and my heart sped up. Damn you heart!
Nice , my wolf intoned.
Not you too.
“It’s a beautiful night,” he said.
“Yeah.” I took a sip of wine which gave me time to think. And of course, my mind went to how hot he was rather than thinking of something to say.
“I got you some veggie sausages. They’re from a new deli near where I was working today.” I really didn’t know what to say. I’d been throwing him mental daggers all week and now he’d gone and done me a huge favor. I’d brought a salad for dinner which was a bit of a yawn though there was a yummy potato salad on the table. “Not sure what they taste like though,” he added.
“Thank you.” My conversational skills needed improving. “I’m sure they’re delicious.”
“I’m sorry about the other night. We weren’t following you.”
“You go to student bars a lot, do you?” I snapped, though I hadn’t meant to. Shit! Reel it in, Archer.
“No, we ate burgers, drank some beer and wanted more, cheaper beer. It’s been a while since either of us were college kids. I’m really sorry. Guessing by your face, you weren’t happy.”
And when I stormed past him at the bar, I hoped he was studying my ass. “No.” He was being sincere based on his expression, the way he was holding his wine and biting his bottom lip. He hadn’t been following me. And I hated myself for thinking he had. My anger was more to do with liking him and being unable to be with him. And I took it out on him. “It’s okay,” I admitted.
“Seeing you with those younger guys was hard though.”
“We were just having fun.” Why’d I say that? I didn’t owe him an explanation. This was fucked up. A moment ago, I’d reached a point where I’d made peace with what happened at the bar, and now I was being snarky. “It’s not as though I was going to drag one home.”
“But if you did, it’d be none of my business.” He had his head down, swirling the wine in his glass. His sadness hovered over his head like a little black cloud.
“I miss you,” I blurted out as I downed the rest of my drink.
“I miss you too.” He moved a little closer so we were almost touching. “But I can’t give you what you want.”
“How do you know what I want?”
Stop , my wolf bellowed at me.
He was right. Micah hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d been honest from the start. And it made me unhappy. And snarky apparently.
He slipped his hand in mine and we both gazed up at the moon.
I want you, Micah .