Chapter 45
45
LAYLA
S tumbling down the hallway, I button up the front of Archer’s shirt that I’m wearing.
I step into the kitchen where I find the man himself, leaned against the counter and munching on an apple with a spatula in hand.
What a sight to start the day.
He grins at me. “Good morning.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and smile up at his handsome face. “My morning could not possibly be any better, Lover Man.”
He sets down the spatula to grab a handful of my ass. “Well now I’ll just have to prove you wrong, Belle.”
Archer’s parents took Sky for the night. They said we needed to go on a ‘real date’. It was a very thoughtful suggestion and we couldn’t exactly turn them down.A happy, new couple would never turn away a kid-free evening, right?
The Brighton parents reserved a table for us at Matilda’s, the official fancy-pants restaurant of Starlight Falls. They even gave us a gift certificate to cover the meal. Dr. and Mrs. Brighton are that invested in the relationship between their son and me. They’re making no secret of it.
Archer and I did technically show up at the restaurant last night. But we didn’t make it through dinner. Shortly after placing our orders, Archer grabbed the leg of my chair and dragged it close to his. Then he put his hand on my thigh, took a sniff of my perfume and moaned.
At that precise moment, our nice, respectable date was over for me. Sorry . I politely asked our server to pack up our order to go.
Then we hopped into Archer’s truck in the parking lot where I promptly unzipped his pants and performed some not-so-respectable activities right there in the front seat.
When we got home, Archer fucked me silly all over the house. This morning, I’ve got the sore muscles and achy joints to prove it.
“No wood-chopping today?” I ask him.
Chopping wood is a part of Archer’s daily morning routine. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably cathartic for him. He hardly goes a day without doing it.
A clever grin curls his lips. “I think I did more than enough axe-swinging last night.”
I bury my face against his chest and laugh. “It’s never enough, baby. I always want more of your axe-swinging.”
Chuckling, he lifts my chin and sweeps his mouth over mine. “More axe-swinging is on the way, then,” he promises me. “But first, I’d like to go out and get some fresh air. What do you say we grab breakfast and head down to a quiet spot in the woods?”
A winter-time picnic sounds romantic to me. “I’d like that,” I say.
We throw together some BLT sandwiches and Archer fills a tall flask with coffee to share. Then we tug on our coats and the towering lumberjack leads me into the forest.
We trek down the mountainside, past Rainbow’s backyard and beyond. The air is perfectly still, aside from the crunch of snow and ice under our feet. Every branch is covered in a heavy layer of white. Archer’s grip on my hand is tight as we follow an unmarked trail into the wintry void. I notice that his powerful stride has returned and there’s not even the slightest indication that he ever sprained his ankle.
My heart starts to beat faster when I realize where he’s leading me. The waterfall.
He’s leading me to the waterfall.
There’s this stupid folktale about the waterfall that’s been circulating around Starlight Falls for as long as I can remember. The elders say that there’s something special in the water out here. Something that makes people fall in love. But I don’t know if I believe any of that.It’s silly, right? No one with a lick of common sense would ever believe in such a silly superstition.
Except I’ve heard of more than a few success stories about the powers of the waterfall. Each of my friends included.
Yet still, I push my trepidation aside, continuing the slow hike through the trees. The icy water crashes violently against the rocks below. But when we make it down the trail to the water’s edge, we find a portion of the falls where there’s only a trickle of water moving through the otherwise turbulent-flowing falls. It’s just ice.
Long, thick icicles dangle from the rocky outcroppings before us. Like mammoth-sized fangs, gleaming blue-green under the overcast sky. Even though I’m not a superstitious girl, I have to admit that this is quite magical.
We select a bench along the water’s edge. I set down a thick blanket over the frosty wooden slats, and Archer digs our food out of the backpack he brought along. Then we drop down on the bench, sitting closely side by side, silently staring ahead, and listening to the crackling of the icy water.
Again and again, my gaze drifts to my quiet companion. He’s so beautiful. His dark hair curls around the edge of his black knitted hat. Falling snowflakes dust the expanse of his mile-wide shoulders. Every time our eyes meet, he smiles boyishly and my cheeks break out into a fever-like blush.
After we’re done eating, Archer stands. “Come. I want to show you something.”
Together, we venture even closer to the waterfall. Archer ducks behind a curtain of long, dangly icicles. Holding my breath, I follow him into a cave, big rocks surrounding us on the right and the frozen waterfall surrounding us on the left like a sheet of diamonds.
I spin around in amazement. My eyes cloud with tears. Yes. It’s so freaking beautiful that it brings me to tears.
Archer reaches up, his long, blunt fingertips touching a thick tentacle of ice in awe. Tugging off my mittens, I reach up too, letting my fingers trail over that same icicle, over Archer’s fingertips. Our hands intertwine.
The man turns to me with a smile. Then he wraps me in a tight embrace. The pad of his thumb wipes my tears away.
Forget what I said about not believing in the folklore. With the way Archer’s dark brown eyes glimmer at me, I can totally see how a girl might fall in love here.
“So the waterfall , huh?” We both know what this place is famous for. Everyone knows it.
His gaze fills with a tenderness that makes me melt despite the cold. “Can you blame a man for trying?”
My breath catches. He wants this. He wants me to fall in love with him. What he probably doesn’t realize is, I already am.
I don’t let myself dwell upon what loving Archer might entail in a practical, real-world kind of way. Hearts might get broken and expectations might be disappointed. But for now, I just play along with the magic.
Rising onto my tiptoes, I loop my hand around the back of his neck and pull him closer. His lips meet mine in a soft kiss.