Page 23 of Cascade

Opal

I’M NOT READY to face Archer right now. I’m not sure what to make of him showing up here like this, but the sight of him simultaneously makes me nervous and sends a pulse of longing through my core.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” I tell him, opening the door just a crack. But he leans against it and slides inside, that irresistible grin proving it still holds sway over me.

“Been a long time, Precious,” he says, reaching for my face. “Too long.” I swallow. It’s like he read my mind, peeked in on my conversation with Pam from earlier.

When I told her how I’d been doing selfish things with Archer, and having repeated, dirty, filthy sex with him whenever I felt like it, I expected her to react somehow. To chide me, maybe? Disapprove?

Instead she just asked how I feel about sex with Archer. I opened my mouth to tell her it felt just fine, but what came out was unexpected.

So now, I’m taken aback again to hear myself telling Archer the same words I told Pam: “You’ve been a really calming presence for me, Archer. I’ve needed you.” He seems stunned and confused and leans back against the bannister to the stairs, arms crossed. Ugh, I can really see the roped muscles of his forearms when he’s like this, even in the dim light of the TV from the other room.

“I…” I pause and sigh. “I don’t have a great track record of trusting people.”

He squints, considering. “That feels off to me, Precious.” He licks his lips and I feel my nipples tighten. Shit. I can’t even have a conversation around this man. I wonder if it’s possible for someone to be so sexually attracted to someone else that they literally cannot function. I tell myself this response is just because it’s been so long since we saw one another. “Based on what I saw from your dad, it seems like other people don’t have a good track record of treating you properly.”

I gasp. I withdraw from what he’s said. Because he’s right and I know it and I’ve been on the brink of discussing things this candidly with Pam, but I haven’t gotten there. “Please don’t talk about my father,” I tell him. His face softens and he looks like he wants to reach for me. I swallow. “I shouldn’t have disappeared like that,” I tell him. “I just don’t really like how it feels to need someone. But I haven’t been fair to you.”

“Well,” he says, sliding his hands into the pockets of his shorts. He looks up at me and grins again. “I haven’t exactly been complaining.” Ordinarily this is the part of our conversation where I’d yank his clothes off and demand that he lick me until I come. The things I say to him. I’ve never in my entire life spoken to anyone the way I yell at Archer to please me. And god almighty, the way he responds. But I can’t. Not tonight.

I shake my head, more for myself than for him since he hasn’t moved, hasn’t reached forward from where he leans against my stairs. Pam asked me to think about why I stopped going to Archer, and I haven’t figured that out yet. I still can’t figure out what made me start things up with him to begin with. None of it makes any sense.

“I always sleep so well after I’ve been with you,” I tell him. “And I never sleep. Just...never.” I gesture to the living room, whereDesigning Womenhas been running nonstop on the TV as Oscar lounges next to me.

“I always had a good time when you came over. And it seemed like you were enjoying yourself,” he says. I nod.

“That’s fair. I don’t really know why I did. Stop.” I bite my lip again, worrying the inside of my cheek between my teeth. I try to remember the last night I was with Archer. I think it was Abigail’s party, where he dragged me home through the back gate and tied me up to the bedpost in his room, hammering into me savagely until both of us were so completely spent I actually fell asleep in his bed and stayed there all night.

Waking up next to him that morning, it terrified me. And as I look at him I know he knows it, because he says, “we can take things real slow, Opal. I just want to see you. That’s all.” He swallows. There’s something so raw and honest about his words, about how badly and persistently he seems to just want me.

“Take things slow?”

He nods. “Yeah. Like go eat a meal together. Or walk along the creek. I mean, I’m not going to complain if you let your inner freak out again, because I love that.” He trails a finger down my leg and I shiver. “But I also want to get to know you because you’re really fascinating, Opal Whittaker.”

I take a deep breath.

“I think you’re fascinating, too, Archer. I do. You know how to talk to everyone and you don’t seem to take things personally, and I get really turned on watching you navigate different people’s problems so calmly.”

“Turned on, eh?” He winks.

“I mean, obviously you turn me on.” I force a laugh, and then I stiffen as he reaches for me. “I’m not really ready for romantic walks and dinner dates,” I say. He just keeps gazing at me with those huge eyes of his. They seem to melt in the low light of my entryway.

I swallow again and trail a finger on his shoulder. “But I have been missing the things we do together, Archer.”

I see his muscles tense. “I’m ok doing things together,” he whispers. “I’m very ok with that.” He leans forward like he’s going to kiss me, and I place a palm on his chest.

“The thing is, this is my fertile time and we can’t sleep together for the next few days.” And as I say the words and see his face contort, I realize that I’ve neglected to have a very important set of sexual safety conversations with Archer.

I remember all the times I had reminded myself to bring it up with him and forgotten. We never actually discuss anything in depth and usually, I stick a finger in his mouth when he tries to talk to me. It’s so foolish of me not to discuss contraception with him. It’s just that the first time he slid inside me raw and bare, it felt so decadent. So perfect. His silken cock always glides against my skin like heated marble and I don’t want to ever go back to having him with a condom.

“Fertile time? What the fuck is fertile time?” Archer lowers himself to sit on my bottom step and pats the carpet next to him. “I think we maybe need to have a chat.”

I decide that I won’t incinerate with need just sitting next to him, and lower myself to the step.

“So,” I say, clearing my throat. “You know how we haven’t been using any protection?”

His pupils contract as he squints, leaning back away from me. “I just assumed you were on the pill when you never said anything,” he says.

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