24. Archer
Chapter 24
Archer
The day before was a dream. I woke in Shane’s arms with birds singing outside the window, serenading us awake with their sweet songs. Okay, so I woke up sprawled out on the other side of the bed, far away from Shane’s arms, and it wasn’t the sound of birds that woke me, but the sun slicing through the window and straight into my brain that stirred me out of my sleep.
Shane, however, slept like the dead still. I stared at him for a minute, fairly certain that a bomb could go off and he’d sleep through it. Slipping out of bed, I made quick use of the bathroom before returning to slide in next to him and press myself close to his side and pretend that we’d woken up like that, all tangled together. The truth was that sleeping next to another person was great. Sleeping in their arms was sticky and uncomfortable and Shane and I had quickly stopped trying to be comfortable like that.
It was different post-orgasm, when we were still blissed out and craving that residual connection. We’d fallen asleep facing each other, hands tangled in the space between our bodies. In the dark, we’d whispered secrets to each other. Confessions had fallen from our lips so much easier than they would have in the light of day.
Reaching out, I traced the line of Shane’s jaw with my finger. His scruff was longer now, and soft. Last night, we’d kissed until I was sure my jaw was going to fall off. The muscles in my face had protested long before I was willing to stop.
Waking up next to someone was a novelty to me. I’d had a few relationships, but not for a while. I’d been focused on getting my shop off the ground, and then I’d been dealing with the mess Clayton left behind. My shop was my life. My livelihood. My soul. But Shane had become my heart. My light.
“I could get used to this,” I whispered to him. It was harder to confess things in the daylight.
“To which part?” Shane asked.
His voice was hoarse and gravelly. I loved the way it sounded and I loved that I was lucky enough to hear it. Sex with Shane was amazing. Explosive. Everything I’d ever wanted and never been able to find. But this quiet intimacy, this tender moment, was a gift.
“All of it,” I answered, burrowing closer. Was I horny? Absolutely. But this moment felt far too soft and precious. I wanted to exist in it on its own and absorb the easy affection that thrummed between us as Shane wrapped his arm around me and kissed my head.
“What time is it?” he mumbled some minutes later. “Shit.”
He kissed my head again. “I have to get up. It’s delivery day and I need to be there to sign.”
So much for the bubble we lived in. I tried not to be disappointed, even though I knew we’d have to leave eventually.
“Sorry,” Shane apologized as he crawled out of bed. I watched him tug clothes on, doing nothing to hide my admiration for his body. He was tall and strong, and I knew from experience how firm he felt under that top layer of padding.
Shane caught me staring. “What?” He pulled a shirt on over his head .
Sliding out of bed, I walked over to him and rose on my toes. I stole a kiss, smiling as I pulled away. “Nothing. You’re hot, that’s all.”
I raked my gaze over his body, letting him see me appreciate him before meeting his eyes again. “You should wear suspenders today.”
Shane’s nostrils flared. “That’s cruel. I’ll be hard all day long. I can’t even think about suspenders without getting a raging boner.”
“I’ll make it worth it.” I slid my finger down the center of his chest before spinning away. My clothes were in the bathroom where I’d left them, in the state that I’d left them in. Rumpled and crumpled, but they’d have to do. Shane came into the bathroom as I was zipping my fly. Of course he was wearing suspenders like I’d asked.
“Good boy.”
He huffed. “That shouldn’t be nearly as hot as I find it.”
“Why not? Don’t you like being my good boy? Good boys get rewards.”
Shane’s lip curled. “I can’t have this conversation right now. But we can pick it up later, say after work.”
I took pity on him as he had to steady himself with a few deep breaths before he could get his dick to cooperate and let him drain his bladder. He told me the secret location of the spare toothbrushes and I made use of one. The whole thing was startlingly domestic, intimate in a different way than I’d ever experienced.
“I’m sorry I don’t have time to make you breakfast,” Shane apologized as he shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed his keys.
“I didn’t come over for the food. Besides, I’m hoping there will be many more opportunities for you to serve me breakfast in bed.”
“Oh, now it’s breakfast in bed, is it?”
“I think I’m worth spoiling.”
“If it’s spoiling you want, I’ll take you to Bennett’s for breakfast. Their waffle stack is a sin. ”
“I like sin.” I flashed Shane a smile and waited for him to unlock his truck before I climbed inside.
It was easy to indulge myself where Shane was concerned. I wanted to make him happy, and if the idea of taking me for waffles did that, then who was I to argue. The way I saw it, Shane did so much for everyone else for no other reason than he could and he wanted to. He was like the little alien robots in ,*batteries not included the way he ran around fixing things for everyone.
Suddenly the sunflower didn’t seem like the right idea for his tattoo anymore. My fingers itched to get ahold of a sketchbook, but I’d left everything at home yesterday. Shane pulled up behind the bar and I unbuckled my seat belt.
“You don’t mind if I abandon you with your delivery, do you? I have a hot date with my sketchbook.”
Without glancing around, he leaned across the seat and stole a kiss. It was a risky thing to do and my breath caught in my throat. It was one thing to declare our feelings in the safety of his bedroom. It wasn’t dangerous to reach for me where no one could see. But here, anyone could see.
“So long as you promise to come see me later.”
“Yeah, of course.” I licked my lips in a vain attempt to try and taste him again. Before I did something reckless, like climb into his lap and rut against him, I slipped out of the truck and used my keys to open the back door. We agreed to meet up after the dinner rush and I darted upstairs, eager to get to work.
I usually never left home without a sketchbook of some kind, but yesterday’s call from Clayton had thrown me off kilter. Though I’d originally intended to unblock his number, in the light of a new day, I found myself changing my mind .
Not only was I not in a position to be able to help Clayton, but I wasn’t as good of a person as Shane was. I didn’t want to help him. Someone better than me might have found a way to justify it. Like if it weren’t for Clayton, then I wouldn’t have had to live with Cyrus. If I hadn’t been living with Cyrus, I wouldn’t have met Shane.
As good as my life was now, and as much as I loved Shane, I was still pissed at Clayton for what he’d done. He acted like he didn’t have a choice, but it was his choices that put him in that position in the first place.
I wasn’t sorry to have an amazing window to curl up next to and sketch. The natural light that poured in was great for my mood and for drawing. It was indulgent of me to draw Shane a tattoo inspired by my favorite movie, but he reminded me of those helpful little robots flying around. Indulging myself further, I surrounded Robot-Shane with sunflowers, meshing machine and nature together in a way I hadn’t thought to do before.
Bringing my things out of storage had done wonders for my attitude. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed having access to all my art supplies until I was sleeping on Cyrus’s couch. Over the years, I’d collected all kinds of media to work in. I’d attempted lithography a few years back but it was something that came less naturally to me than painting. I’d toyed with the idea of taking classes, but by the time I wanted to do that, I was trying to get my shop off the ground.
Mostly I worked in pencil. Sometimes I did something in charcoal or pen. Today I went to my room and opened the top drawer of the dresser. My clothes all hung in the closet and I’d used the dresser that was in the room as my giant art storage unit. One day I’d have my own space. A studio that I could arrange how I wanted. With comfy chairs and the best lighting money could buy. I’d have all my supplies organized so I never had to hunt or dig or wonder where something was.
I found the markers I was looking for in the second drawer and returned to my seat by the window. The light had moved on, indicating that I’d been at it longer than I’d originally thought, but I still had time yet before I had to meet Shane.
I started with the sunflowers first, filling the centers in before adding the bursts of yellow and orange to their petals. Already I saw tweaks that I’d want to make before putting this on Shane’s body, but I still wanted to finish this piece. I wanted to bring my vision to life, hoping he’d like it.
If he didn’t, it wasn’t a total loss. I’d still look at him and see the most generous person on the planet. I’d still look at him and see the person I’d fallen for. And I’d have an adorable one-of-a-kind piece of art to hang in my bedroom. No way in hell did I want to risk some random person seeing it and wanting me to tattoo it on them. I was possessive, sue me.
I looked up from my work to find that another huge chunk of time had passed. I’d put far more work into this piece than I’d intended, but the minute I got going I’d been unable to stop. The raging perfectionist in me kept wanting to tweak it, but I was at the point now where if I didn’t stop, I’d risk overdrawing it and ruining the whole thing.
Flipping my sketchbook shut, I stood and rolled my shoulders, then my neck, working the kinks out. I promised myself that I’d put my stuff away later and I went downstairs, eager to show Shane what I’d spent the afternoon working on.