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‘Fine. Next time a man talks about you like you’re a filthy slut, I won’t defend you. Happy?’
Words sizzle and die on my tongue. Because he had defended me, hadn’t he? If he hadn’t been there last night, God knows what would have happened.
‘Look.’ He pinches the bridge of his nose. ‘I’m sorry I hurt you. But I could have left you there, bleeding and crying, and I didn’t. I didn’t have to walk you home, but I did. Don’t I get some credit for that? I don’t understand why you’re playing the victim over something that isn’t even that big of a deal.’
It’s only then when I notice the bruise blooming across his cheek. Because of me. Because he stood up for me. He didn’t mean to hurt me; he was just pushing me out of the way and he accidently caught me with his key.
This whole time I’ve been selfish. I should be the one apologising for overreacting.
‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. ‘I didn’t mean—‘
‘Just get in the car.’
‘I meant what I said about the bus pass.’
He grins at this. ‘And where, exactly, are you going to go?’
‘Where do you think?’
‘School’s closed today.’
I blink. ‘It isn’t.’
‘Teacher training. There was an announcement Wednesday. After you left.’After you threw custard on my head.
‘So, what, were you just going to kidnap me or something?’
He does this thing with his eyes where he lets his emotions seep into them. They’ve always been expressive like that, but now, he’s looking at me with a hunger that makes heat pool between my thighs.
‘I’m into that,’ he says.
‘What if I’m not?’
‘Then it would make for an exciting kidnapping, wouldn’t it?’ He closes the distance between us. I flinch and try to move away, but his arm wraps around me. ‘I would wait behind your bedroom door until you come in, freshly showered, and I would come up behind you and put my hand over your mouth, and I would tie your hands and fuck you until my cum runs down your legs.’ His thumb strokes my bottom lip almost tentatively. ‘Then I would kidnap you, bind you to my bedposts, and take you whenever I want, however I want. ’
I want him to do all that to me and more, but it also kind of terrifies me.
Archer steps back, opens the passenger side door, and gestures for me to get in.
‘Where are we going?’ I hate that my voice is breathless.
‘You’ll see.’
???
He drives like a maniac. I grip the edge of the seat as he pushes 100mph down dual-carriageways, as he undertakes on motorways, as he tailgates and flashes his lights for the car in front to move over. You can tell a lot about a person who doesn’t indicate at junctions and roundabouts, but I don’t have the balls to tell him to slow down, even though I left my stomach back on my street.
Besides, we’ve only just made up for the incident last night. I don’t want to annoy him with this, too.
He pulls up in a layby down a country road and we walk across fields of rapeseed and wildflowers. It’s so warm today; I tip my head back and let the sun beat down on me. I breathe in the fresh air, catching the scent of flowers on the breeze, and all my worries melt away. I love being around nature; there’s a certain simplicity in it, a certain comfort that makes the rest of the world seem insignificant. It’s as if time itself pauses to take a breath and I am in this moment and I am alive.
He’s taking me on a date. I know he is. And he’s clearly done his research, because he knows days in the sun are my favourite. I wonder if he asked Chase where he thinks he should take me. I wonder if Chase told him about my bughouses.
My mind runs wild with possibilities. Will we sit and eat and talk about what we want out of life? Will he stare at me as I rattle about bees and flowers? Will he push me down gently and kiss me passionately?
I smile and bite my lip. I wonder what it will feel like to kiss Archer.
He leads me through overhanging trees and into a meadow, and my smile falters. A waterfall flows from a cliff, which feeds into a burbling stream at the edge of the meadow. Across the stream conifers stretch high, and it’s beautiful—at least, it would be if Archer and I were alone.
