Page 64 of The Sounds of Her

“Nothing.” He shakes his head, but he’s still looking at me.

“Not nothing. What was that?” I point at his face. When he still doesn’t speak, I poke his side. “Jordan what? Tell me.”

“I just… Recall seeing something at the launch party last year.”

Oh fuck. I try to keep my face neutral, but if his look is anything to go by, I did not do a good job. Deny, deny. No matter what falls out of his mouth right now. He smirks at me.

“It was more than a onetime thing?”

That denial is about to pour from me, but it will fall on deaf ears. Jordan has gone from annoyed, to suspicious, to amused.

“It was never serious,” I tell him, grabbing a shot off the table. I don’t know where they’re coming from, but I need it right now. I can’t believe, of all people, Jordan figured it out. “And yes, it’s done.”

“Good.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he grins. “I told Alessa.”

He laughs at my reaction. I’m not sure if he means about my deal with Archer, or my thing with Ciro. It could be either. Or both. He’s so good at laying on the devil may care, jokers attitude, but he watches everything going on around him.

“I like you Brookster, you’re a friend, almost family. Almost,” he adds with a stupid wink. “I can’t and won’t keep secrets from my divchinka, but she will never tell a living soul. I didn’t let on you said not to tell her. You’d end up being her enemy and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“I didn’t do it because I don’t trust her.”

He shakes his head. “You did it cos you’re scared Ciro will find out.”

That hits a little too close to home. “I’m not scared,” I snap.

His brow quirks. “Doesn’t matter though, it’s not real, right? And Ciro knows it’s over with him?”

“It was never a thing,” I grit out.

“I get it,” he laughs, a wide smile cracks his face. “But if we want your fake relationship to help you, you better go stake your claim, Brookster.”

“Do not make that a thing,” I snap at him about the nicknames.

“Brookey-baby.”

“Oh my God, stop it.”

He laughs again. “Either way, you’ve got competition.” He points over my shoulder.

Archer is standing in a crowd of people and there is a woman sidling up next to him. Close. Too close. Archer doesn’t seem to realise she is there until she touches his abs and his brow creases as he turns to her. What the fuck makes her think she can walk up to someone and touch them like that?

“People are already watching.” Jordan nudges me hard enough I almost fall off the chair. “Go get him, Brookmeister.”

I ignore his stupid attempts at nicknames and get to my feet. The woman is plastered against Archer now and I see red. I don’t know what bullshit he is pulling, but he’s not stopping her. Or is he? He starts to move away then sees me walking towards them. A smirk tilts his lips, and he stands right where he is, with the woman at his side and her hand now spread across his lower stomach.

“Fucker,” I grumble.

He’s waiting to see what I’m going to do. I’m almost tempted to walk right past and call his bluff, but that wouldn’t benefit me. I’m here for a reason and I’m not having some groupie ruin everything because I’m pissed at him.

The woman realises she hasn’t got Archer’s attention. The closer I get, the easier it is to see how stiff he is. He doesn’t want her touching him, but he isn’t showing an inkling of that on his face.

Stopping right in front of Archer, our eyes lock. The guy who was chattering away to him stops talking, and out of the corner of my eye I see him glance my way, wondering why Archer is staring at me. Everyone is watching.

Archer’s smirk says, ‘what are you going to do about this?’

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