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The murderous look on Rhys’s face dashes any hope I have of keeping things between me and Archer a secret.
“Archer’s been sneaking around with my sister.”
There’s a heavy sinking in my stomach when the room collectively looks at Archer, and then me, with various levels of amusement and anger on their faces. Miri doesn’t look all that surprised and there’s even a small smile tipping up one corner of her mouth. The way Ruby’s looking at me, though, it absolutely guts me. Betrayed and hurt flash over her face before it settles into one emotion; pissed. Shit. She doesn’t do well with secrets on a good day, the fact that one of her best friends has been keeping this from her isn’t going to go over well.
I’m going to feel guilt for the rest of my life.
“We haven’t been sneaking anywhere. We’ve just been figuring things out, dickhead,” Archer shouts at my brother and I’m almost certain another fight is about to go down.
“What’s there to figure out? The two of you need to stay the fuck away from each other. Are you really planning to bond and keep forming the Axis?”
“The Axis has nothing to do with any of this.” Archer’s practically vibrating with anger while the rest of us watch. Me included. I should do something, say something, but I don’t know what. I’m frozen with indecision.
“You’re just using her for sex, then?”
“Jesus, Rhys. Stop.” That breaks me out of my stupor. “This protective big brother shit has to stop. He’s your friend, not some creep off the street.”
“That makes it worse!” Rhys swings his furious gaze toward me. “You lied to me, too. Don’t think you’re off my shit list.”
“No one lied,” Archer says with a sigh, raking his hand through his wet hair. He flings the moisture off his fingers with a sharp flick, and I’m momentarily distracted by the way his wet shirt clings to all of his muscles. So not the time!
“We didn’t want everyone else to know when we haven’t even figured out what the fuck we were doing. It doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s over before it even started.”
Pain lances through me at the sharp cut of his words. My legs go numb and it’s a challenge to stay standing. It’s dumb. I’m the one who told him we should let things cool off between us. I’m the one who hasn’t answered his messages because I’ve been too scared to hear him say he agreed with me. I knew this was doomed from the start. But thinking it in my head and hearing him declare it to a room full of our closest friends, essentially our family, is completely different. It fucking hurts.
We’re all in a standoff, no one moving, no one speaking. There are just a bunch of jaws grinding and eyes darting about the room.
Water sprays over the room again. The freezing shower coats everyone but Miri, who’s still on the steps, and Ruby, who’s wielding the hose.
“Fuck this shit. Everyone go the fuck home and get your acts together.”
“What the hell did I do?” Ezra throws his hands up in the air, glaring at Ruby.
“You’re breathing, Ezzy. Go home.”
Ruby’s magic must have some kind of persuasive power to it because everyone obeys. Davis and Ezra maneuver Archer and Rhys so that there’s as much distance between the two of them as possible. We squelch through the kitchen and grand hall in a pathetic procession. I follow behind Rhys, not looking forward to the ride home. It’s a toss-up whether he’ll give me the silent treatment the whole way home, or if he’ll yell at me for keeping secrets from him.
Just as I’m about to follow him out the front door, Ruby hooks her arm around mine. She twirls me back to face her, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth pinched.
“Oh no, you don’t. We’re turning this into a girl’s night. Davis, go home. Only vaginas allowed for the rest of the night.”
Davis grunts a nonsensical response before walking over to Miri and brushing a soft kiss over her lips. “I’m going to change, then I’ll get out of here, but you call if you need anything.”
“Promise.” Miri grabs the back of his neck and pulls him down for a much steamier kiss before letting go. When she turns to me and Ruby, that sly smile is back on her face. “Do I know how to throw a party or what?”
“I think I’m booked up for future events,” I grumble, sinking onto an upholstered bench because standing is just too much right now.
“Let’s get you some dry clothes. Then you are going to tell me and Ruby every detail about what’s been going on.”
