Chapter 41

I wake up in the morning incredibly disoriented. I was half expecting to wake up in the front seat of Archer’s jeep. In the comfort of my own silk sheets was a shock.

I wipe the sleep from my eyes and check my alarm clock. Four AM. Mia’s feeding isn’t for another two hours. I roll over to look at the crib. The babe in question is wrapped in her own blanket. Her mouth is wide open and she’s snoring softly.

I roll on to my back and stare at the ceiling.

The day before queues up in my memory as if it was a movie. I see all of the scenes. The champagne in the limo. The game. Beau. Archer. Getting stuck in the rain. Archer’s disdain for love. His loss. It all ticks by in black and white silent pictures.

The idea that Archer had a reason for being so guarded had never crossed my mind. I simply thought he was some rich boy who was bored and hated the poor with equal amounts of fervor. To hear the way he explained his loss – and the way he was so blunt about it – hurt me. But it also made a lot of sense.

Of course he’d be an absolute dick to anyone. He was afraid of getting his heart broken again. He was afraid to let anyone get close to him. Then I think of him after winning the game. He’d never looked so happy. I wonder if I’d ever see that again. I wondered if I’d ever be the cause.

Ah, fuck.

I cover my face with my pillow and groan. I rip it off my face and huff an annoyed sigh. I was not falling for Archer Hayes. Over my dead body. I was here to become a warrior and if that meant be in this damn pyramid then so be it. But I was not here to fall in love.

Especially not with King Alpha douchebag McFuckface.

I look back at my clock. Four fifteen. Lovely. I groan softly again and wipe a hand over my face. I shift in bed and try and fall back asleep. I get almost there and my head is flooded with Archer.

Archer on my bed.

Archer shirtless.

Archer naked –

My eyes snap open. Another look at the clock. Four forty-five. My eyes are heavy but my thoughts are heavier. I rip the covers off my bed and start down the hall to the guest bathroom. There’s nothing an ice cold glass of water can fix.

The hallway with the boys bedrooms is eerily quiet. I can hear my feet lightly slapping on the floor as I cross it. The silence is suddenly broken.

I hear the most wanton moan I’ve ever heard in my life. I immediately squeak in response. I slap my hand over my mouth immediately. The last thing I need right now is to be heard.

My eyes wander towards Beau’s room instinctually. I tiptoe a bit closer and press my ear to the door. I don’t hear anything from inside the room which makes me furrow my brow,. Then, I hear another one of those horrific moans followed by something ever worse.

“Oh, Archer!”

I can’t even believe my ears at that point. I skuttle over to Archer’s door. It’s slightly propped open. Part of me is disgusted. The other part is so curious. I peak slightly through the crack and what I find is enough to send my heart into my throat.

A woman is bent over a red bench. Her wrists are strapped to the floor. Her ass is high in the air and she’s rolling around the bench in ecstasy. My eyes follow the tip of her ass to her feet and I almost gasp again.

Archer is on the floor. He’s clad in only his trouser. Worse, his face is buried between the woman’s legs. I can’t see any of his face but I know it’s him. The curl of his hair is not something I’d forget. Especially with how close I was to it today.

The woman writhes and pushes back into Archer’s face more. She whines and the words are almost unintelligible except for a gurgled “Daddy!”

Archer’s hand comes down hard on the side of her ass. She cries out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. My entire body feels hot watching it. I’ve never seen the two blended together. Archer raises up from the floor. His one hand is still where he slapped her. The other goes between her legs. I can see his forearm tensing.

The other hand reaches out and gathers all of her hair together. He pulls, hard and the women is pulled off the bench. Her exposed chest is out towards the air. I hide behind the door and close my eyes. But, I’m still close enough that I can hear all of Archer’s words.

“You like that slut?” he grunts out. “You like when Daddy works your cunt?”

“Yes, daddy!” She whines.

I decide at that point, I’d heard enough. I almost run down the hallway. I go past the guest bathroom, nervous the noise would carry and bolt into the gold room. My heart is pounding in my head as I catch my breath.

What the Hells was that?

Navis was the one between us who’d had sex. I was always a bit too busy with training for boys. (That, and none of the Greendale assfucks wanted me.) (As if I’d want them). She said that it was nice. A bit uncomfortable but genuinely good feeling.

That did not look like it felt good.

I shivered slightly and let out a low breath. Just when I was finally starting to think maybe Archer wasn’t as bad as he wanted everyone to believe. I looked up around the gold room. It’s dark, save for the light coming in from the kitchen. My brows furrow.

The cooks don’t get in until five thirty and they shut off the lights around eleven. I slowly walk towards the door. I curse myself for leaving my knife in my bedroom. All this when I just wanted a damn drink.

I peak into the doors and see someone at the kitchen table. Beau. Immediately, I relax and push my way through the double doors. Beau looks up. It seems like he was waiting for me. He’s lazily scrolling his phone, feet kicked up on the table top.

“Not sleeping well after our nap I see,” he drawls.

I shove his feet off the table and scowl at him. “People eat here, you know.”

Beau rolls his eyes and sits up. He sets his phone down and gives me a pointed look.

“You didn’t answer my question,”

“Was it a question?”

“Touch,” Beau chuckles. “Why are you not sleeping well?”

“Dunno,” I lie through my teeth. I can sense Beau can tell. He ignores it however and just hums, low. I motion towards his phone. “You can’t sleep either?”

“Nah,” he says. “I had to shower and decompress after the game. Then Arch needed help with something. By that time it was like two and I don’t have class tomorrow. Might as well pull an all nighter.”

I grimace at the thought of what Beau had to help Archer with that led to what he was doing now. Beau catches it and smiles, a wide Cheshire grin.

“Take it you heard lover boy,” he says.

“The door was open,” I say quickly. “I didn’t – I wasn’t – “

“Calm down, Nanny,” Beau snorts. “I’m not gonna tell him. Though I didn’t picture you as a voyeur.”

I have no idea was the word means but by the way he says it, it can’t be good. I narrow my eyes at him and he laughs. He waves a hand.

“I digress. But I guess it was the best way for you to find out,” he says.

I give him an odd look. “Find out what?”

“Archer will never settle,” he says. His face is deadly serious. “He’s known for it across campus. Every time a girl thinks they get close enough to taming him—” he snaps his fingers. “He cuts her off. He doesn’t do commitment. Doesn’t do close. He does sex and that’s all.”

I snort. “Like you’re any different.”

“I am,” he sounds sure of himself. He sounds offended. “I sleep around, yes. But I make my intentions clear from the start. I tell them if I want them. I don’t break hearts.” He looks me dead in the eyes. “Archer does.”

He stands from the table and shoves his phone in his pocket. He starts towards the door and I watch him leave. With one last look over his shoulder at me, he props the door open.

“Be careful, Chloe,” he adds. It’s soft and sweet.

Before I can even say anything, he’s gone. I’m left alone in the kitchen. The fluorescent lights buzz over my head.