AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My giddy good mood bubbles just under my skin and brings a bounce to my step as we turn toward the bar and head across the room. The building isn’t even at half capacity. Stools remain vacant, and booths overflow with first responders—mostly cops, though a few EMTs loiter and shoot pool with their comrades.
The smell of frying food lingers in the air, sliding into my stomach and eliciting a groan of appreciation as we come to a stop at the bar and Aubree slips onto a stool.
“Timothy Malone,” I exhale. Taking a seat myself, I watch my brother-in-law’s eyes, and smirk when they flick to the woman on my left.
He can’t help himself. He can’t ignore her any more than I can ignore Archer’s stroking fingers as they come up to the side of my neck. Tim can’tnotlook at Aubree’s silly expression any more than I can keep my eyes open when Archer leans in and nips the shell of my ear.
“Don’t say his name on a sigh,” Archer whispers. His voice is gruff, but his threat makes me snicker. “Only one Malone for you, lady.”
“Um…” I clear my throat when, instead of sitting, Archer plasters his chest to my back, and his free hand drops to my thigh.
We’re finally reunited, and I’m not sorry for a single second of how he touches. How he reclaims. I’m not displeased at a single brush of his fingertips.
And later, when we go back to our apartment, I won’t regret how we skip television and conversation, and instead, go straight to bed.
“It’s good to see you back,” Aubree breathes. It takes my scattered brain too long to process, then another lifetime to glance up and realize she’s talking to Tim. Resting her elbows on the bar and her chin in her hands, she wears a shy smile nothing like the wild whooping she saved for me. “I worried you wouldn’t come home.”
To keep his hands busy and away from the one woman he wants to grab, Tim takes a rag from the back counter, then a wineglass with watermarks from the dishwasher to wipe. “Because you thought I was in danger?”
She considers for a moment, and nibbles on her bottom lip while we wait. Finally, she settles on a gentle shake of her head. “Because I thought you might prefer to stay in New York.” Shrugging, she accepts the empty wineglass when he finishes cleaning it. “You don’t have any reason to come back, especially because Archer was there too. So I wondered… ya know?”
Turning to the back wall and showing off a muscular back that spans an easy two and a half feet from shoulder to shoulder, Tim selects a bottle of white wine from the rack, then he spins to face Aubree and slowly begins pouring.
“It’s fruity and delicious,” he murmurs. While he pours, he glances up and meets her eyes. “And Archer isn’t the only reason I have for being in Copeland.”
When the glass is half-full and Aubree’s cheeks burn with a blush, he sets the bottle down, then reaches across and flicks her purple streaks. “I like your hair, by the way.”
“Y—” She reaches up and fingers the locks. “You do?”
“Mm. The purple is sassy. Suits you.”
“Hoh-my-god.” When he turns and walks away to help Daisy at the other end of the bar, she watches him go, her eyes growing wider. Comically so. Bringing her glassy gaze to me, she allows her mouth to drop open. “Did he just…”
“Fuck you with his eyes?” Archer chuckles. “Yeah. I’d say he did.”
“But he—”
“Is a prude?” Arch inserts. “Not typically. Just with you.”
“But he said—”
“He didn’t want you to be in danger.” Another intrusion. Another finished sentence. “Yeah, he said that.” Archer slides his hand under my shirt and splays his palm across my bare ribs. “Maybe he doesn’t feel like things are as dangerous anymore.”
“Or maybe he just doesn’t care as much.” I lean to my left, though not so far that Archer’s touch leaves my flesh, and knock my shoulder against Aubree’s.
She’s in shock. Perhaps a little terrified of a door creaking open.
“He likes your hair. And he has reason to live in Copeland, even without Archer.” I run my tongue across my teeth and wait as her blush makes way for paling in realization. “I think that’s a good thing.”
“Finally!” A loud boom at the door has me spinning fast enough my knees hit Archer’s thighs. I’m forced to look under his arm, because he doesn’t move. He doesn’t remove the shield his body creates to protect me.
Fletch stands at the door in jeans and a button-up shirt. A baseball cap worn backwards, and a little girl, three years old and so freakin’ beautiful it’s disgusting, sitting on his hip.
“You’re home!” he bellows. Bending, he sets Mia on her feet and taps her butt so she starts running. “Jesus FC, guys, I missed the shit out of you.”
“Minka!” Mia dashes through the sparse crowd, oblivious to the glances that she pulls to her, then she springs like a board is hidden in the floor, and throws herself into the space between me and Aubree so we have to catch her, or risk her head slamming into the bar. “Hi, Miss Minka! I missed seeing you yesterday.”
“I missed seeing you too.” I set her on my knee and wrap my arms around her shoulders. “It stinks when I have to go away, even if it’s just for a short time.”
