Page 388 of Vicious Saint
Archer tries yanking the pillow off the bed, but I latch onto it, regretting the decision the second I’m hit by a round of sharp shooting pain.
“Well, fuck me sideways.” I groan a laugh, sitting upright to toss the pillows behind me across the bed.
“Need anything?”
“Nope. Even though the correct answer should be heavy drugs.”
“I’d go with some makeup…but drugs work too.”
I level Archer with a glare, making him hold up both hands.
“Too soon…got it.”
“How about never?”
“Double got it.”
As much as I can without hurting, I take The Black Panther up on his offer and curl around him, letting out a satisfied exhale as the cool fabric soothes my cheek.
“You can adjust the temperature to warm also.”
“Mhmmm…” I snuggle deeper into the pillow. “This is perfect.”
Archer remains quiet as I enjoy the first real comfort I’ve felt in days, and just as my eyes grow heavy, he says, “I’ll never lie to you again, Hendrix. I swear it.”
“I know you won’t, Arch.”
“Really? How?”
“Because I’ll punch that pretty face of yours if you do.”
“Fair enough,” he concedes. “Want me to let you sleep?”
“No…but I could use a little ASMR.”
Needing no further explanation, Archer lifts the blanket to slide behind me, gently resting his arm over my waist.
“Love you, bestie.”
“Right back at you.”
We remain this way for a while, with Archer’s warmth coating my back and the pillow’s coolness soothing my front. The perfect mixture from my Good Guy best friend. It’s why I don’t protest when his breaths even out and tiny snores begin rumbling past his lips.
“Hey, you.” A female voice comes from the door, and no turn of my head is needed to know who it belongs to.
Like Archer and Saint, Bex has been doing her part with apologies, but unlike with them, I found it a lot easier to avoid responding to hers. Not because I love Bex any less, just because her reasoning for keeping secrets was a lot less complicated than theirs.
She didn’t have a list of powerful families breathing down her neck like they did. The head of a mafia family trying to kill someone she loved like Saint did. Or arson being held falsely against her like Archer still does.
It may not be an ideal one, but Bex got her happy ending with Crayton, therefore had very little reason to lie about something that happened before mine began with Saint.
“Can I come in?” she asks after I greet her back.
This talk is not something I’m ready for, but what’s the point in denying? The universe has already decided today will be the day for apologies.
“Sure.”
When Bex appears before me, it’s with her holding out a care package full of trashy magazines, comic books, and snacks.
