Page 24 of You Cake My Breath Away

“What do you think about putting wallpaper behind this?” I turn around to find him with his hands propped on the side of the counter and his head hung. For a moment, I wonder if he fell asleep, but he moves his head from side to side before lifting it and piercing me with his stark green eyes.

Cement forms around my feet as he pushes off the counter and crouches down. Did I make him mad? It usually doesn’t take much, but nowadays every little thing seems to set him off. Papers shuffle together, and before I know it, he’s laying out colorful rolls of wallpaper, all with different designs.

“What’s all this?” I ask, cheeks stretching wide in delight.

He shrugs. “I knew you’d want some funky designs on the wall, so I picked up some rolls when I went to the store the other day.”

The tiny people controlling my brain clock in for the day, take an elevator down to my heart and pick up their chisels to start hacking awayat the ice around it. The ice Archer put there by constantly freezing me out.

“That’s so...”Sweet. Worrisome. Surprising.I scan each roll before landing on a chevron design. Unable to find an appropriate word, I land on, “Thank you.”

He rubs the back of his neck, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “They were on clearance by the checkout register.”

He doesn’t meet my eyes when he says that, and there’s a tiny part in the back of my mind that imagines he actually spent time looking through different wallpapers he thought I’d like.

“Do you think this color will look okay?” I hold up the wallpaper.

He shrugs. “Anything you pick will be perfect.”

He walks to the far wall and starts measuring. Like a child, I follow. “What are you measuring for?” I ask.

I can tell I’m annoying him by his deep sigh, but for some reason it makes me happy to pluck his nerves.

“I assume you want a wall between the front of the house and the kitchen, correct?”

I nod before I realize he can’t see me. “Yes, that would be perfect.”

“Great, then I need you to get out of my hair so I can get finished.”

Defeated, I back up a few steps. “You don’t have to be such an asshole, you know. I’m getting excited about this place.”

He snorts. “Darlin’, you’ve never seen me as an asshole.”

“I beg to differ.” I lean against the counter, trying not to let the many times he’s pushed me away with his words bubble back to the surface. Agitation rises in my chest, making my skin itch as I lock the memories away behind a mental door. “The man I knew in college never treated me like I was scum beneath his shoes.”

His measuring tape thuds to the ground, and he throws his head back, hands tensed at his sides. “Can we not do this right now?”

“No!” I yell, slamming my hands onto the counter. “I’m sick of it, Arch.”

“Here we go.”

The inhale I take is fueled with fire. “I’ve had enough of the side eyes and cutting remarks to last me a lifetime. If I’ve done something to you then be a man and tell me instead of having a shitty attitude all the time and treating me like a pariah. Weusedto be friends. Jessie would…” I struggle to get the words out. “Would want us to be in each other’s lives. What the hell happened?”

Archer picks up the measuring tape and stomps back to his toolbox. Slamming the lid closed, he takes it and starts moving toward the door.

“You’re leaving?” I ask, incredulous.

“Yup.” His reply is short and delivered with a sharpness that cuts through me.

“Fine,” I yell. “No one asked for your help anyway.”

Faster than I thought humanly possible, Archer is back in my space, so close the mint on his breath burns my nose. His throat bobs and sweat slides down into his shirt when he leans closer.

“Someonedidask for my help,” he grits out. “And that man was your husband.”

The muscle jumping in his jaw makes me think he’s holding back his emotions, and the ache in my throat becomes more prominent.

“So you honor him by treating his wife like trash,” I seethe. “Got it. Duly noted. Jessie was the only person who mattered to you, and now that he’s gone, you can’t wait to get away from me.”

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