Page 10 of Turning Tides
He leaned against the tree and made a point to not look at me. “How much did he tell you?”
“Would you believe me if I said nothing?”
Archer laughed. “That’s a lie. Cyrus has a big mouth.”
“Okay, so he told me the highlights. How your business partner fucked you over and that you’re staying with him for a while, but that’s it.”
He took a deep breath and it whooshed out all at once. “That’s the whole story. All my eggs were in one basket and he fucked off with the basket.” Archer turned his head and looked at me, blue eyes full of quiet rage.
“That sucks.” I sipped at my drink, wincing when pain slashed through my skull. My eye closed involuntarily and I lifted my free hand, pressing it against my eye socket.
“Brain freeze?” Archer sounded amused, and with my one good eye I saw him smirk.
“Glad you find it humorous.” I forced a couple deep breaths into my lungs and waited for the pain to subside. “Now I remember why I haven’t had one of these in years.”
He reached over and plucked the slushie from my grasp. In the time it took me to recover from the stabbing agony of a brain freeze, Archer had drank most of my slushie.
“Help yourself,” I told him. He smiled at me. A flash of teeth and it was gone again.
“I thought I’d save you from yourself.”
“How kind of you.”
He tipped the cup at me. “Happy to help.”
“Is there a way I can help you?”
If Archer rolled his eyes any harder, he was going to give himself a concussion.
“Are you sure Cyrus didn’t put you up to this?”
“Absolutely sure. Cyrus has nothing to do with this.”
“Ah, so you’re naturally nosy.”
“I prefer the term inquisitive.”
Archer eyed me… scrutinized was probably a better word for it. My skin heated under the weight of his stare.
“What I really need, Shane, is to fuck someone so hard I forget my name,” he paused and leaned back, letting his gaze drag over me again. Letting me see him do it.
Fuck, I loved how he said my name.
It was a bad idea. A terrible fucking idea. But, God, Archer’s stare was hotter than the sun, far more intense. Captivating. He pinned me in place with his challenge. The most likely scenario was that he was fucking with me. Most people looked at me and decided that I was a top. Someone they could count on to rough them up a bit. Holdthem down, fuck them through the floor. Nothing was further from the truth.
It dawned on me that Archer hadn’t made that assumption. My blood sang through my veins, thickening my cock in my jeans. Fuck. This was about to get really embarrassing.
I shouldn’t let Archer fuck me. But he said it would help, and Cyrus had wanted his brother to have someone to lean on. Someone to help him. This wasn’t what he’d imagined, but it was what Archer would accept.
“If you’re looking for a willing bottom, there’s one right here.” The words were surprisingly easy to say.
Heat flared in Archer’s eyes. If he had concerns about Cyrus’s opinion, he didn’t voice them either. This wasn’t about him and I refused to think about him now. It had been months since I’d found someone to scratch that itch with.
“You bottom?”
I nodded. “Dedicated beefy bottom. Most people look at me and think I’m a top.”
Bitterness tinged the edges of his laugh, but none of it was aimed at me.
