Page 12 of Beautiful Thing

But, I don’t see any of my other neighbors checking in on me. Mowing my lawn. Fixing my porch railing. Raking the leaves infall. Bringing me candles and firewood during a power outage on New Year’s Eve.

Stop making it mean anything, Layla. Archer doesn’t like you.

I look toward the hallway and find him now leaning up against the doorway, arms folded and jaw twitching with suppressed anger. I feel bad. I know he hates Razor’s guts and this situation is only pissing him off.

I give him a small, appreciative smile.I’m lucky to have a friend like him. I should be grateful. His friendship should be enough. I shouldn’t be pining away for more, but…

“We saw Razor when we were on the way up here,” Karli interrupts my runaway thoughts. “He looks like complete shit, by the way.”

My nose wrinkles. She’s not wrong. “That was one of my first thoughts last night, too.”

Razor’s hair was long and stringy. He smelled like he hadn’t showered in weeks. And I’m not sure if he’s actually brushed his teeth since we broke up. I didn’t realize how much I was taking care of him back when we were together.Which is pretty pathetic, seeing as he’s a grown man.

For the past few months, Razor has been living on the other side of town with his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Janet. But I guess I never ran into him because Razor lives like a damn vampire. Only ever coming out at night, to go drinking and stirring up trouble. The asshole never even bothered to visit his child even though he was right here in Starlight Falls all along.

“What are you going to do now?” Daphne asks quietly.

I shrug. “I…” Sheesh. I haven’t even thought that far ahead. “I don’t…”

“You can stay with me. I can convert my workout room back into a spare room for you and Sky,” Karli offers.

“My door is open, too,” Daphne adds. “Felix and I can finally clear out the extra bedroom, and we can totally make it work.”

Ziggy chimes in. “Or Darius and I have—”

“No,” Archer says, his voice loud and demanding as he takes a bold step into the room. “Layla is staying here until she figures out her next move.”

“What? No! She’s my bestie. I call dibs,” Karli protests.

“Yeah. With everything that’s going on, maybe she doesn’t want to stay with aguyright now.” Ziggy casts a doubtful look in my direction.

Archer just shakes his head. “There’s no argument here. Karli, you’re a newly wed. You think Layla wants to listen to you and Mason going at it all night long? Ziggy, you’re pregnant—I’d bet you already have enough on your plate. And Daphne, you’re planning a wedding, and while I know you have the best intentions, I bet Layla doesn’t want front row tickets to your love story right now. Plus, she’s already here, so why make her pack up and drive all the way across town?”

Then we hear Nicky’s voice through the phone. I almost forgot they were still listening in. “What about this? Layla can stay in Ronan’s guesthouse. She’d have the whole place to herself.”

Archer’s jaw ticks. “No. She’s safer close to me.” And on and on the argument goes.

I should probably be participating in this conversation, given that it’s my fate that my friends are battling over after all. But I stay silent, feeling overwhelmed at all these changes and decisions that are coming at me so fast. I take comfort in knowing that—at the very least—I won’t end up on the streets with my child.

Archer continues to argue. “Razor’s off his rocker. No one knows what he’ll try next. With Layla here, I’ll be able to protect her and Sky.”

I know that he’s overreacting. Razor has always been anall talk, no actionkind of guy. Even still, Archer’s protectiveness brings me instant relief. I feel safe with him. I want to be here with him.

His gaze falls on me, and my stomach does a weird little flip. “Plus it’s convenient. Same distance from work.”

All eyes turn to me.

I nod shakily. “He’s right. I’m just a few houses up the road from, well, my old house. Maybe staying here will give Sky and me a sense of normalcy while I figure out what’s next.”

“You have a point,” Daphne says in that quiet way of hers.

Karli sighs in defeat. “Fine. Okay. All right.”

Ziggy squeezes my shoulder. “The most important thing is that you and Sky will be okay.”

“We’ll be okay.” I offer a nod. Although I’m not sure aboutanythingright now.

Karli, Daphne and Ziggy smother me in hugs after giving up their fight with Archer. I say goodbye to Inez and Nicky before Daphne ends the videocall. Then the girls take off for work.

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