Chapter 47: : Chapter 47

I glance at Tyra’s sleeping face and carefully slip out of bed, my heart heavy. She can’t sleep if I’m not right there with her, reminding her that I’ll be there to protect her, and fuck, I want to be there for her, but at what cost?

I didn’t even feel like I had the right to beg my own girlfriend not to go out with the one man who could take her from me, couldn’t grab her hand and ask her to choose me. All I could do was stand there as he wrapped his arm around her, smiling at her in a way he never did before—like he finally realized how fucking special she is.

I try my best to be quiet as I slip out of my guest room, glancing over at Ezra on the sofa as I pad over to my own bedroom, the one Serenity has been sleeping in. He stirs, and for a moment I’m sure he’ll sit up like he usually does, but then he turns, seemingly falling back asleep.

My heart sinks when I walk into my bedroom and find it empty. It’s nearly midnight, and she still isn’t home. My thoughts begin to spiral as I imagine where she might be, what she might be doing with him.

I slip into bed, my eyes falling closed when her sweet scent fills my senses, and I inhale deeply, reveling in the remnants of her presence. She has no fucking idea how much I miss her, how miserable I’ve been without her. My days aren’t complete without our conversations, and the distance between us is fucking unbearable. She won’t reply to my text messages, won’t look at me at work, and when she is home, she barely leaves her room. I’m losing her, and I don’t know if I have the right to hold on the way I want to.

Time seems to move slowly as my mind tortures me with thoughts of her with Theo, of her showing him everything I taught her, kissing him the way she knows I like. My heart is in fucking tatters by the time the door opens, and I drink her in, taking in that flustered expression I didn’t put there, the twinkle in her eyes.

She gasps when she spots me, and I sit up, letting the sheet fall away as I lean back on my palms. “Archer,” she says, her voice betraying her surprise. “W-What are you doing here?”

My gaze roams over her body, and the tight black dress that envelops it. I don’t have to guess to know she’s wearing sexy stockings held up at her thighs, the very same ones that drive me completely wild. Did she show him something only I’d ever seen before?

“This is my bedroom, is it not?” I ask, my tone harsher than I’d intended.

She nods slowly and walks farther into the room, placing her handbag on my dresser before slipping out of her heels, her eyes moving over every part of the room but me.

Her body tenses almost imperceptibly when I slip out of bed and walk over to her, and it fucking destroys me to have her respond to me that way. She inhales shakily when I slide my hand around the back of her neck, my thumb resting along her jaw. “Look at me.” She keeps her eyes downcast, and pure sorrow settles in my gut. “Please look at me, darling.”

Serenity lifts her face, the same ache I’m feeling reflected in her eyes. “Don’t call me that,” she says, her voice breaking. “Do you have any idea what it does to me to hear you call her darling, when I thought that name was just mine?”

My eyes fall closed. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, my forehead falling to hers. “I’m so sorry, Serenity.”

“Don’t be,” she says, her tone carrying a tinge of bitterness. She pushes against my chest, and I reluctantly let go of her.

I watch her as she moves through the room, plugging her phone in to charge and placing her trusty notebook on my nightstand. Normally, I’d have loved how at home she feels in my room—how much it seems like ours. Tonight, it just makes me feel like an unwelcome stranger in what has always been one of my favorite spaces, even though I’m standing here with my favorite person.

“Were you with him all night?”

Her spine goes rigid, and defiance crosses her face as she looks at me. “Yes.”

I raise my fist to my mouth and bite down on it, despair spreading from my fucking heart. “Did anything happen that you think I should know about?”

She leans back against the wall, her gaze roaming over my face. Her expression softens, her anger dulled by the fear and jealousy I can’t hide. “He broke up with Kristen and told me he has feelings for me. We talked, and he asked me if he stood a chance or if it was too late.”

I clench my jaw and look away, surprise rendering me speechless. I noticed the way he started to look at her when he no longer had her full attention, but I foolishly thought I had nothing to worry about. “What did you say to that?” I ask, scared of what her response might be.

She smiles humorlessly. “I told him I needed time to think.”

I bite down on my lip as she turns and walks into my en suite bathroom, and I hesitate for a split second before following her in. Our eyes meet in the mirror, and something in her gaze makes me wrap one hand around her waist.

“Tell me you’re still mine, Serenity,” I beg, my voice soft, pleading.

She leans back, pressing herself against my chest. My arms wrap around her, one palm flat to her stomach while the other moves to cup her jaw as I tilt her head and make her face me, needing her to look me in the eye if she’s going to break my heart.

“I’m yours, Archer Harrison, whether I like it or not.”

I exhale in relief, my hand slipping into her hair as I lean in to kiss her, craving her with every fucking fiber of my being. She moans, and I turn her around, needing her closer.

Serenity rises to her tiptoes as I caress every inch of her I can reach, undoing the zipper on the back of her dress impatiently, needing to feel her soft skin. My heart rests a little easier when she slips her hand underneath my T-shirt, letting it trail over my abs in that way she likes.

I groan when she pushes the fabric up and I help her lift it over my head. It falls to the floor, and desire glitters in her eyes. This. This is exactly what I needed. I needed her to look at me like I’m the only one she wants, the only one that can give her what she needs.

“Archer,” she whispers, her eyes locking on the charm around my neck. “We can’t. You know we can’t.”

I look her in the eye as I reach over and turn the shower on. “No one will know.”