Chapter 34: : Chapter 34

I sigh as I distribute the snacks Mom prepared across the tables in the backyard, my mood sullen. Ezra kept Archer and me up all evening with board games that neither of us wanted to play, but neither he nor I could come up with a good excuse not to when it’s what we’ve always done when we’re all home.

In the end, I had to call it a night and head to bed by myself, quietly resenting Ezra for keeping me from Archer on a night I really wanted to be with him. He and I have never argued, and I wouldn’t say our conversation yesterday was an argument per se, but something about it didn’t sit well with me. I’d been so frustrated that I nearly snuck out with my stash of spray cans that I keep hidden. I haven’t felt the urge to do that since Archer showed me what he’d done to his guest room for me. It doesn’t help that Mom and Dad put us to work again the moment we woke up this morning, depriving me of a chance to speak to him.

“Serenity!”

I turn around at the sound of Theo’s voice, and for the first time in years, my heart doesn’t skip a beat. Instead, I look around the rapidly filling backyard, my eyes settling on Archer. He’s standing next to Dad and Ezra, the three of them sorting out the barbecue together.

Archer’s eyes meet mine just as Theo’s arm wraps around me, and I tense. “Hey,” Theo says, surprising me when he lifts me off the ground and hugs me tightly.

He smiles as he puts me down, and I smile back at him involuntarily. “What was that for?”

Theo shakes his head and brushes one of my curls out of my face. “Just happy to see you.”

“You literally saw me two days ago.”

He grins at me. “Exactly. I didn’t get to see you yesterday, and it felt like an eternity.”

I laugh at his ridiculousness, but my gaze keeps drifting back to Archer, whose expression has hardened. My heart sinks when he turns his back to me, and I step away from Theo.

“Where is Kristen?”

Theo’s smile melts away. “We had an argument, and she decided to stay home.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, unsure what else to say to that. “Is there…is there anything I can do?”

He shakes his head. “No, nothing at all.” He throws his arm around me. “Except maybe grab a drink with me. Did I see you spiking your mom’s lemonade when I walked in?”

I throw him a conspiratorial look as I lead him closer to the drink station, hyperaware of how close it is to where Archer is standing. He looks at us as Theo and I head his way, his gaze settling on the arm Theo still has wrapped around me, and I try my hardest to resist the urge to shrug it off like I did last time, when Theo told me he didn’t want anything between us to change.

I pour both of us cups just as Mom walks up to the boys with one of my older cousins by her side.

“Archer,” she says, grinning. “I’ve been meaning to introduce you to Amari. She also works in fintech, and I thought you’d get on great.” She all but pushes Amari forward, toward him. “She’s single,” she adds without even a single hint of subtlety, and my heart drops.

I move closer, a deep and unfamiliar kind of unease unfurling in my stomach when Archer smiles at her. My chest begins to ache when she looks at him appreciatively, and every inch of my body screams mine. Why would Mom introduce the two of them like that? We’ve all been so respectful of his past with Tyra, but it seems she thinks it’s time he moves on. I just don’t understand: why now, and why Amari?

Archer doesn’t even look at me as he asks her what she does and where she works, nor does he notice me as I walk up to them, moving between him and Ezra, so I’m standing on his other side.

Ezra raises a brow, a hint of a smile on his face as he steps aside. “For me?” he asks, taking my drink from me.

“Yeah,” I lie, realizing my brother just unknowingly gave me an excuse. Amari places her hand on Archer’s arm, and I grit my teeth as I stare up at him. “What about you, Archer? Do you want a drink? You seem thirsty.”

He glances at me and shakes his head. “I’m good,” he says, before turning back to my cousin, completely ignoring my little dig. “What about you, Amari?” he asks. “Can I grab you a drink?”

She smiles up at him and nods, leaving me standing rooted in place as he leads her back to the drinks table, his hand on her lower back. “They’d make a nice couple,” Theo says, and Ezra hums in agreement.

I turn toward them to find both looking at me, and I realize I’ve been staring at Archer. “Would they?” I ask, my voice coming out a lot more strained than I expected.

“Of course,” Ezra says. “They’re about the same age, aren’t they? If I recall correctly, she’s a pretty senior employee in her current company, so I imagine they’d have a lot to talk about.”

Theo nods. “Besides, they look pretty good together. Most women look tiny next to Archer, but Amari’s height suits his perfectly.”

I bite on my lip as their words sink in, and realization soon follows. This thing between Archer and me will end in just a few more months at most, and someday, I’ll have to watch him be with someone else. I’ll have to live with the knowledge that he’ll give everything he gives me to someone else. Someday, he will move on, and it won’t be with me.

“Right,” I whisper, my heart breaking in a way it never has before. I reach for the cup Ezra stole from me, and much to my surprise, he doesn’t even bat an eye when I knock it back. He just raises a brow, looking irritatingly amused. “I need a refill.”

Theo falls into step with me as I reluctantly walk back to the drinks table, feeling both awkward and miserable. “What’s wrong?” he asks, frowning.

I shake my head and try my best to ignore the way Amari laughs at something Archer said, the two of them standing right next to the table, only a few paces away. “Nothing.”

“You sure?” he asks as he pours me another drink.

I take it from him and nod. “Yeah, just have a headache,” I lie, my voice trembling. “You know what? I think I’ll just go lie down for a few minutes.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Theo asks.

I could swear I see Archer tense from my peripheral vision, but when I glance at him, he’s smiling at Amari, giving her his undivided attention.