Page 195 of My Ruthless Neighbor

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Good morning,” Archer rasps in my ear as he wraps his arms around me from behind.

“Morning,” I untangle from him and turn around. He is still in the white t-shirt and sweatpants he went to bed last night. His hair is hanging over his forehead, giving him a boyish look. The sight makes my chest hurt.

“Going somewhere?” He asks as his gaze slides from my hot pink bucket hat to my neon green dungaree shorts outfit and mismatched colorful sneakers.

I shake my head. Reaching up, I touch the colorful scarf around my neck and take a long breath. “We need to talk.”

It’s time I ask the questions that have been troubling me. Last night was the last straw that pushed me to my limits. I can’t silence the questions arousing in me anymore. I can’t suppress it because doing so has been killing me slowly.

Being patient isn’t working. He uttered another woman’s name in his sleep. And while it hurt a lot, I still won’t jump to a conclusion without giving him a chance to explain.

“Talk about what?”

“Let’s sit first.” I brush past him and settle on the couch. Crossing my feet, I focus on the bright colors of my sneakers. He comes into view when he crosses the floor and sits on the armchair opposite me. “Tell me, Summer. What do you want to talk about?”

Goldie walks up to me and settles down on the rug at my feet. I graze his back, then his head, prolonging the talk for some reason.

I can feel him watching me patiently. He doesn’t say anything. Just waits for me to answer him.

Touching the scarf one more time, I finally do. “Us. I want to talk about us.”

“What about us?”

“What am I to you?” I look up. “Am I your girlfriend? Your partner—”

“Mine. You’re just mine.” He says it like it’s so simple.

My shoulders sag, my head lowering. “You have to give me more than that.”

“You need a label?”

“What if I do?” I ask faintly.

“Then yes. You are my girlfriend. My woman and every other term that could describe you as mine.”

My heart smiles through the ache and that, right there is my bitter truth. I can be easily swayed by his words. The words that I know is nothing but the truth. Because he never lies.

But I can’t let myself melt by his words. I fight against the hold of them. I fight hard but Archer has other plans. Because somehow, he senses it and gets up from his seat and is coming to me.

He sits beside me and takes my cold hand between his warm ones and gently rubs it, giving me his warmth.

“My answer may not be something that you were expecting,” He stares in my eyes. “But it’s the truth, Summer. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. You make me feelalive. I wasn’t living, not really. Until you.” He wipes under my eye. “Why are you crying, baby?”

He takes me in his arms and I squeeze my eyes shut. His admission has left me feeling raw.

I am not prepared for this conversation but there’s no other alternative. Because staying in the dark would only worsen the pain inside of me. I have to do this. He’s stroking my back and that makes me cry that much harder. But I control my emotions. “Who’s Amy?”

His hand stills on my back, his body stiffening. Silence stretches through the apartment. Even Goldie is quiet.

I draw back. His eyes give nothing away. His expression is unreadable. His posture is too guarded as he sits motionless beside me.

“Who is she, Archer?”

“Did my mother tell you about her?”

My heart falls to the bottom of my stomach. This woman named Amy is acquainted with Mrs. Kim as well. If she has met his family that means she is important.

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