Chapter 11 #3
When he sees Archie standing next to the bar, his eyes squint. He walks to us and takes a seat at the bar, eyeballing Archie and me. I stop moving and look at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I said we need to talk,” he intones through a clenched jaw, and I’m not even sure how it’s possible to talk so seriously without opening one’s mouth.
“And I said not today.”
“Today,” he parrots stubbornly.
“She said she doesn’t wanna talk to you, man.” Archie puffs his chest, and Justin stands up. They look like two baboons on Discovery Channel. All they’re missing are red butts and tails .
“I don’t remember asking your opinion,” Justin tells him.
“Okay, stop.” I smack the counter. “Justin, I’m not in the mood to talk today. You can call tomorrow, and we’ll set up a time. Archie, thank you for standing up for me, but I deal with shit on my own. And Justin is old shit that I’m used to.”
Justin looks like I just kneed him in the balls while Archie’s trying to hide a smile.
“Who’s that?” Justin finally stops this pissing contest—sort of—and asks me.
“That,” I gesture at tall, dark, and handsome, “is Archie, Alex’s friend from the Navy.”
Justin’s jaw clenches even more, and I fear his teeth are all but cracked. I know he’s heard this name before, and he has nothing but respect for the man, but the way they met wasn’t really a good start.
“And he is?” Archie asks me.
“And that,” I gesture at tall, blond, and devilish, “is Justin. Alex’s childhood friend.”
I wait for them to shake hands, but they don’t. They’re still two baboons showing each other how big their teeth are. At this point, I’m half expecting them to pull out their dicks and compare sizes.
I don’t understand Justin’s behavior. Why he got so mad at Archie without even knowing him is beyond my comprehension. Maybe it’s an alpha thing: two of those can’t be in the same room.
No more cleaning can be done today, so I turn off all the machines, check the kitchen, and return to the bar to grab my bag.
They haven’t said a word and still are looking at each other like they’re about to brawl.
I roll my eyes so dramatically that I’m sure they’re one step away from getting stuck at the back of my head forever .
“Alright. We need to go. We’ll talk tomorrow, Justin.
” I grab Archie’s hand and move to the door, but Justin doesn’t move.
I look back—he’s working his jaw from side to side.
His eyes are glued to my hand on Archie’s.
I’m about to let it go when Archie swiftly moves his, intervening our fingers, and gently squeezes my hand.
I let it be. Justin notices this exchange and strides past us without a single word, smacking the door into our newly renovated wall, leaving the picture over the accent table shaking and a massive dent in its wake.
He walks toward his shop without looking back and disappears into the dark.
I look over the damage again and sigh—I had a feeling we forgot a few little details. Like door stoppers, for example.
“He wants you so bad.” He shakes his head.
“What?” I startle.
“That guy, Justin,” he nods toward where Justin just disappeared, “he wants into your pants. Bad.”
“Let me stop you right there. He wants something, but it’s not to get into my pants.” I start to walk around the diner to the parking spot usually taken by Marina, but today I was there first.
Archie laughs. “He so does. That’s why I held your hand.
He wanted to kill me real bad.” I look at him as if he just spurted two—no, three—horns from his head.
“What? You don’t believe me?” He chuckles, biting his lower lip.
I suppose it’s meant to work to his advantage, making him look like a cute bad boy.
“You’re wasting that on me.” I point my finger at his face, causing him to laugh even louder. “And that guy hates my guts.” I point at where Justin just disappeared.
“He may hate you, but he still wants to fuck you.” His laughter’s dying. Finally. Hallelujah. “And you wanna fuck him. I say go for it. Hate-fucks are the best.”
“I’ve known you for a whole five minutes, and you’re already giving me sex advice. Moving too fast, don’t you think?” I raise a brow.
“Life’s short.” His face sobers, and I get the feeling he knows what he’s talking about.
“I’m rethinking my invitation.” I tap on my chin with a finger. “You’re annoying, so go find Alex yourself.”
He laughs again. “You don’t mean that.” I scowl at him. Damn jokester. “I don’t know shit about cars, and mine’s fucked on the side of the road. I need to find a mechanic or something. Do you know one?”
“Yep.” I say, popping the p . “You just met him.”
“Fucking small towns.” He laughs again and shakes his head.
If he laughs one more time, I’ll gag him with my dirty sock.
That thing just went through a full waitressing shift.
But I’m an evil person on Tuesdays. Archie’s lucky because today’s Monday, so instead, I pinch his arm a little harder than I intend to, and his eyes shift with something.
And it’s not a fucking annoyance. It’s… excitement .
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, dude!” I cry out, and he only laughs harder. “Keep your fetishes contained, would ya?”
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, honey.” He winks.
We stop by Archie’s car to get his overnight bag on the drive to Alex’s house.
He asks questions about Alex here and there, most of which I cannot answer.
Well, some of them I can, but I wouldn’t.
So I successfully deflect them. Those things are not mine to share.
By the time we reach the driveway to the cabin, I feel like Archie looks at me with much more respect.
The flirting has died down considerably .
The lights are on in every single window, and I hope we’re not interrupting some fun time. At least somebody’s getting some.
“You’re sure you’re fine to drive here?” he asks again, and it makes my hackle rise.
“What? Do you think they usually throw me out, and I’m just trying to snake my way in using you?”
“No,” he laughs, “I meant if it’s not too much out of the way for you?”
“Ah, no, it’s fine.” I guess I’m used to being treated like an outsider.
Any stranger who meets me for the first time automatically goes into the category of someone to beware of.
My brain is so messed up. “I really needed to stop by and drop this off.” I shake a package in front of me.
Amazon can never find Alex’s house in the woods, so Freya sends packages to the diner’s address.
We walk up to the house and knock. They told me not to, but one time I walked in on Alex’s naked ass plunging into my friend, and I got enough trauma for a lifetime, so I’m cautious now. It’s more self-preservation than a courtesy at this point.
The door swings open. “Kay, how many times we told you not to kno?—”
Alex’s words cut off when he sees Archie.
They both stare a moment before enveloping each other in an embrace.
A brotherly hug. I can tell neither of them are the touchy-feely type, and that makes the moment even more special.
My eyes swell, and I bite my lip as I try not to make a sobbing sound.
Seeing Alex so accepting after years of being a repressed dude…
man, that’s some strong onion-cutting stuff.
I look at Freya, frozen with a spatula — dear universe, save us all tonight —in the kitchen, and her eyes are misty as well.
I guess it’s even more touching for her after all the shit they went through together in such a short time.
When the guys let go of each other, they take a step back simultaneously.
“You’re still one ugly son of a bitch,” Alex says with a smile.
“And you’re still smooth as fucking sandpaper,” Archie responds with a punch to his arm. They both laugh.
Freya’s light footsteps can be heard behind Alex, and she appears next to him. “Come in, guys.” She smiles.
“You must be Freya,” Archie says, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. Alex growls. Like legitimately growls as a beast would. I can’t stop the chuckle from escaping, and he shoots me a death glare, causing me to laugh out loud.
“One smooth fucker,” Freya says. Archie’s brows shoot up, and he lets out a belly laugh.
“I guess I am.” He lets go of her hand.
“And you’re a traitor.” Alex pokes my arm.
“One smooth fucker, as she said.” I poke him back.
“How did you end up together here?” he asks suspiciously. His accusing gaze is fixed on Archie. O-o-oh. He’s going all big brother on me. I’m secretly exultant.
“My car broke down in your lovely town. And my phone died,” Archie says, emphasizing ‘lovely.’ “And everything is freaking closed at five. Kayla’s a lifesaver.” He gestures at me. “When it turned out that we both knew you, she offered me a ride.”
Alex nods. “Where’s your car now? We need to ask Justin to take a look at it.”
Archie and I look at each other. “Yeah, about that. That might be a little problem.” He doesn’t sound happy about it. I guess it finally hit him that Justin is Alex’s friend, and the situation might get messy. But then his face brightens up as if he read my mind. The guy likes messy.
“Why?” Alex looks confused.
“Because the dude was an asshole to Kayla, and I had to step in. So, we’re not really on friendly terms at this very moment.” He makes a sour face.
Freya and Alex groan in unison, and Archie looks from one to the other, looking confused. “Is there something I should know?”
“Too long of a story,” Alex says with a shrug, and I get a suspicion that he might know why Justin behaves the way he does toward me.
I notice Freya’s looking at him suspiciously too, and I feel a little better.
So, she doesn’t know why either. I got scared for a second that she knew something and wasn’t telling me. I’d feel utterly betrayed.