Page 52 of Turning Tides
“Yeah? You do?” Archer cleared his throat and took the sketchbook back. Flipping it shut, he tucked it in against his side. “I mean, of course you do. And whenever you have time is fine by me.”
“That reminds me of what I wanted to tell you. I’m about to have more time because I just hired a manager.”
Archer’s eyes lit up and he stepped in closer to me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s selfish, but I want to spend more time with you.”
“I don’t hate that.” Archer stepped into my space and ghosted a kiss against my lips. Then another. And a third. I reached for him, sinking my hand into his hair. As much as I loved The Anchor, I didn’t want it to be my entire life anymore and I had the luxury of stepping back and not suffering for it. I didn’t want to schedule seeing Archer around both our jobs. Hell, he wouldn’t have to work ever again if he didn’t want to, but I doubted that he’d want to give up his job. It was part of him. I’d seen firsthand how happy he was when he was working on a piece. Taking that from him, or asking him to give that up was the furthest thing from my mind.
He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into my mouth to dance around mine for several drawn-out moments before he pulled away.
“Holy shit,” he exhaled.
“Yeah, I’ll fucking say.” Cyrus’s angry voice cracked through the atmosphere like a whip. Archer and I spun around and it was impossible not to feel a flash of guilt at the look of total betrayal on Cyrus’s face.
“What the fuck, Shane?” A bag of trash landed on the ground at Cyrus’s feet and the back door of the restaurant banged shut. “What the entire fuck is going on here?”
“Cyrus, calm down,” Archer said, but Cyrus paid him no attention.
“Archer’s been through a lot of shit. The last thing he needs is his fucking landlord putting the moves on him. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Jesus Christ, Cy, calm down.” Archer stepped closer to him. “I got ripped off. I didn’t have some sort of trauma.”
“You’re in a vulnerable position.” Cyrus folded his arms over his chest. The muscle in his jaw ticked and throbbed and I thought the vein in his forehead might burst. “You don’t need this shit.”
“What shit, Cyrus? Someone who fucking cares about me?”
“I care about you!” Cyrus shouted.
Watching them fight was like watching a train wreck. I’d never had an out-of-body experience before, but it was sort of like I was outside of everything, watching it go down.
“Cyrus—” I wanted to tell him that Archer was it for me. That I’d rather chop off my own arm than ever hurt him. That I’d do whatever it took to keep him happy and safe. Forever.
“And you. You fucking asshole. The whole goddamned town of people and you have to go after my little brother? That’s like… illegal.”
Archer snorted.
“Okay, not illegal, but immoral. It’s against bro-code.”
“He’s not a child, Cyrus. And neither am I. Whatever problem you have with this, I suggest you find a way to get over it.”
“I don’t have to do anything.” Cyrus tugged at his apron and shoved it at me. I stood there, slack-jawed and stunned as Cyrus stormed toward his car.
“I’ll deal with him.” Archer shot me an apologetic look and handed me his sketchbook, then took off running after Cyrus. Left holding Archer’s sketchbook and Cyrus’s apron, I watched the brothers stand by Cyrus’s car and bicker. Cyrus was clearly pissed about the whole thing, but I didn’t quite understand why. So long as my brothers were with people who cared about them, people they were safe with, I would be happy for them. Instead, Cyrus had thrown a temper tantrum.
Fuck. Did I still have a cook? I had to get inside and get shit under control. I’d close the kitchen for the night if I had to, but I hoped that Cyrus just needed a few minutes to get it together.
I took the trash to the dumpster and caught a few curse words carrying through the parking lot from where Archer and Cyrus were still fighting. As much as I wanted to go over there, I doubted my presence would help matters much.
Making my way back into the bar, I went out front and waved Vivian over to me.
“Houston, we have a problem. Cyrus walked out.”
“What?” Vivian’s eyes went wide. “Where? Why?”
“Long story short, he found out that I’ve been seeing his brother.”
Vivian sighed dramatically. “I can’t even begin to understand any of this and I’m not sure I want to. What are we going to do with all the food orders?”
