Page 38 of Pretty Lies & Ugly Truths

Confused, I stand there, staring at the door, as shame and humiliation coat the back of my tongue, making it hard to breathe.

What the hell just happened? Did I do something wrong?

My insecurities press in on me from all sides, threatening to crush me into sand. My arms come up to encircle my chest in a desperate attempt to hold myself together.

This time, when tears fill my eyes, I don’t even try to hold them in. Instead, I watch as they fall in big, fat drops to the floor.

The dipof the couch beside me gently wakes me. I am curled on my side, my head resting on the arm of the sofa, and there’s a soft knit blanket covering me that wasn’t there before.

Blinking my eyes awake, I look over to see Archer sitting on the opposite end, his elbows on his knees as his head hangs in his hands.

I don’t think he knows I’m awake, and I use this moment of candor to take him in.

If there is one thing I have realized about Archer, it’s that he always has his walls up. Very rarely does he let his true emotions show, but right now, he seems unguarded.

He heaves out a long sigh as he runs his long fingers through his mussed-up hair.

Images of soft female hands doing the same thing pop into my mind unbidden, making my chest ache. I must make a noise of some kind because his head turns towards me.

He looks exhausted, dark circles rimming his eyes. A quick glance at the clock shows its after two in themorning, and I wonder where he has been. The lines between his brows crease, and his frown deepens.

I wonder if he can tell I was crying. I’m sure my face is blotched and puffy.

“Hey,” I whisper into the dim light, my voice coming out slightly hoarse; whether from crying or sleep, I’m not sure.

“Everything ok?” I push to sitting, my back against the armrest, legs tucked in tight to my chest. My attempts to put some space between us, my emotions still too raw from earlier.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just…I needed to go into work for a little bit to take care of some things.” He leans back against the cushions, one arm slung over the back as he angles his body towards me. “I decided while I was out, I would stop by and check on your apartment.”

“Oh,” I say, sitting up straighter.

“It’s almost finished. The security system will be installed by Friday, so it looks like you may get to go back home soon.”

“Oh—that’s, um…that’s great news,” I say, my voice coming out hollow even to my own ears. What he says should be good news. That would mean I am able to go back to my apartment, get back to my normal life, see Jane and my friends. It should make me happy, but instead, his words leave me feeling depressed.

“But—wait, what about the attack? Is it safe to go back? If thereissomeone after me, I mean?”

“Trust me. You don’t have to worry about that guy,” he says. “As far as anyone else who may be looking foryou, I’m not sure. Look, I meant what I said. I won’t let anything happen to you. If you’re not ready or you don’t feel safe going back, you can stay with me as long as you want to.”

Part of me wants to take him up on that offer, to use that as an excuse to stay here in this little bubble where things feel a little safer, but reality is looming, and I’m going to have to face it at some point.

“Thanks for the offer. If I’m being totally honest, I am scared, but at some point, Iwillhave to go back to work. I really need to check in on Jane. I never told her about any of this. I’m actually kind of worried about her. She has a tendency of over doing it when I’m not around,” I tell him, and he nods.

“Okay. When are you supposed to be back at work?” he asks me.

“I’m not entirely sure. I was kind of forced into to taking time off, so Jane told me not to come back for at least a week, which I guess would be Friday.”

It’s crazy to think it’s been less than a whole week since everything happened, that I have only been with Archer for five days. So much has changed in such a short amount of time. It feels like so much longer.

I always thought insta-love was something only found in books or movies, but now I’m not sure what I think. While it’s not quite love, Archer has become important to me, my feelings for him growing deeper everyday. I can’t imagine never seeing him again. The thought of walking away and going on with my life without him in it makes me inexplicably sad.

Is it possible to feel this much for someone this soon? If you had asked me that before, I would have said no. But now…

“Okay. So Friday then?”

“Friday,” I say, my voice cracking at the end. He looks over at me, wearing a somber expression on his face. It’s not sad exactly, but it looks more like resolve.

“Now,” he says, reaching out to grab my ankles from under the blanket, pulling my feet into his lap, “tell me why you’ve been crying?”

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