Archer's Voice(78)

"Wow," Jordan said. "So if he never really even came off his property all those years, and he doesn't speak, what exactly is he planning on doing with his life?"

I looked down. "He's still figuring that out," I said, feeling suddenly defensive of him. "He will though. He's just still working on a few of the basics."

They looked at me and I felt suddenly embarrassed for some reason. "Anyway," I went on, "I'll go tell him our plans and hopefully he'll agree to come with us." I got up and went to put on my shoes and coat.

"Okay," Natalie said. "So is this a jeans and t-shirt type of place, or should I go dressier?"

I laughed. "Definitely jeans and t-shirt."

"Think Travis will be there?" she asked me.

I groaned. "Oh guys, I have so much to catch you up on. This could take a while. I'll be back in a few, okay?"

"Okay!" Natalie sang, getting up. Jordan was rooting through his small suitcase for something.

"Okay," he said too, looking back.

I headed out, jumping in my car and turning toward Archer's road.





CHAPTER 24




Archer



I stood at my kitchen sink, drinking down a glass of water in big gulps. I had just gotten back from a run on the shore with the dogs. I wouldn't be able to do that for too much longer once the weather turned.

I stood there thinking about what I was going to do today, feeling a heaviness in my gut that I wasn't sure how to handle. I had felt the same way before my run, too, and thought that the exercise would clear my head. It hadn't.

I was restless, pure and simple. And it wasn't a physical restlessness, apparently. It was mental. When I had awoken that morning, the smell of Bree all around me in the tangled sheets, I had felt happy and content. But then when I realized she had gone, I got up and tried to figure out what to do with my day. There were any number of projects I could work on, but none of them interested me. I had a vague sense that it was a topic that I needed to give some serious consideration to. What are you going to do with your life, Archer? Bree had shaken things up for me–and at the moment, all I could feel was unease. I never expected anyone to come in and open up the world for me, but that's what she had done. And now I had possibilities that I didn't think I'd had before. But they all revolved around her. And that scared me. That scared the living hell out of me.

I heard a knock on my gate and set the glass down. Was Bree off early?

I walked outside my house toward the gate and spotted Travis walking down my driveway toward me.

I stood waiting for him to approach, wondering what the hell he wanted.

He put his hands up in a 'don't shoot me' mock pose, and I cocked my head to the side, waiting.

Travis took a folded paper out of his back pocket and when he got to where I was standing, handed it to me. I took it, but didn't open it.

"Application for a learner's permit," he said. "You'll just need to bring your birth certificate and proof of address with you. A water bill or whatever."

I raised my eyebrows, glancing down at the paper. What did he have up his sleeve now?

"I owe you an apology for what I did with the strip club thing. It was… immature and uncool. And I'm actually glad to see that you and Bree worked it out. I think she really likes you, man."

I wanted to ask him how he knew that–I knew she liked me, maybe more, but I longed to hear what she had told Travis about me, if anything. Of course, even if I'd been able to, it wouldn't be a good idea to ask him–he'd just mess with me, most likely. But I didn't know how to talk about all my feelings with Bree. I knew sex didn't equal love, so how would I know if she loved me if she didn't tell me? And if she wasn't telling me, did that mean that she didn't love me? I was all twisted up and I had no one to talk to.

And the hell of it was, I knew I loved her–fiercely and with every part of my heart, even the broken parts, even the parts that felt unworthy and without value. And maybe those parts most of all.

"So," Travis went on, "can we call a truce? All's fair in love and war and all that? You win, you won the girl. Can't blame a guy for trying though, right? No hard feelings?" He held his hand out to me.

I looked at it. I trusted Travis about as far as I could throw him, but what was the point in making this some kind of ongoing war between us? He was right–I'd won. Bree was mine. With the thought alone, a fierce possessiveness roared through me. I reached out and shook his hand, still eyeing him distrustfully.

Travis rested his thumbs on his gun belt. "So I guess you already know that Bree's friends are in town–her hometown friends."

I frowned and pulled my head back slightly and gave myself away. Travis got an 'oh shit,' look on his face. "Shit, she didn't tell you?" he asked. He looked away and then back at me. "Well, I'm sure it's gotta be hard for her, I mean, here she is, she likes you and at some point, she's gotta go home, back to her real life. That's a tough position to be in."