The Best Mistake

by O'Gorman, Cookie

  And all that time he never stopped kissing me.

  My whole body felt completely attuned to his. It wasn’t like any kiss I’d ever experienced. I sighed into his mouth as he deepened the kiss, his hands tightening on my legs. Surely this couldn’t have been as earthshattering for him as it was for me, I thought, my self-doubt kicking in. I had no idea what I was doing. My fingers traveled through his hair, and once again, he made that noise of approval in the back of his throat, so I knew I’d done something right.

  “Archer,” I gasped as his lips moved to my neck.

  “Again,” he murmured.

  “What?”

  Lifting his head, he pierced me with eyes so intense, I couldn’t look away even if I’d wanted to—which I didn’t.

  “My name,” he said. “Say it again, just like that.”

  I must’ve taken too long because dropping his head, he placed another lingering kiss against my mouth.

  “My name,” he repeated, and then added almost as an afterthought, “please.”

  Not knowing where the courage came from, I leaned so my lips were right next to his ear.

  “Archer,” I whispered, smiling when I felt him shiver. “We should get on the bus. Anyone could walk by and see us.”

  His voice was dark as he said, “If one of my brothers tries to interrupt again, I swear I’m going to kill someone.”

  I laughed, couldn’t help it.

  Archer leaned back, searching my face, then he kissed me once more before setting me on my feet. His frown was back, but I could tell he wanted to smile. His eyes were bright as he looked me over, and I wondered what he saw. He didn’t seem nearly as dazed as I felt. Archer looked just as good as he had before the kiss, totally unaffected. Well, except for his hair. It was a lot messier—which had to be from my fingers running through it, I realized belatedly.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked as he continued to stare. “Do I look okay?”

  “Your lips are swollen,” he said voice low. “I did that.”

  Cheeks flushed, I said, “Yeah well…I should probably take a second to get myself back together. You can go on ahead.”

  Archer nodded. I think he knew I needed some time alone. “I’ll see you on the bus.”

  With one last look, he left, and I grabbed my bag from the ground with shaky hands. I must’ve dropped it sometime during the kiss. My fingers went to my lips which were indeed swollen.

  Archer had done that.

  And I was in so much trouble.

  Honor.

  Her mouth.

  That kiss.

  The way her fingers felt in my hair.

  The sound of my name falling from her lips…

  I had to force myself to turn and walk away, and even then, all I wanted to do was go back and kiss her some more. Not going to lie, I hadn’t known that was going to happen. When I’d seen her go between the buses, I’d followed, just wanting to make sure she was alright. Never, not in my wildest dreams, had I thought it would lead to the hottest, most sensational kiss of my life.

  My lips were still tingling for God’s sake. I could still feel her legs wrapped around me—and I needed to calm down. I was about to have to sit through a six-hour drive with my team, and I didn’t need everyone knowing how hung up I was.

  Plus, Honor had said no strings.

  Everything in me revolted at the thought. Honor had been right. I was definitely not that type of guy. But I’d try to be. For her.

  My head was in a fog as I made the short trek to the bus. The scene replayed on a loop in my mind. As I made my way up the bus steps and into the aisle, I was still preoccupied with thoughts of Honor, distracted as I greeted my teammates, hoping no one would notice.

  But of course, I wasn’t that lucky.

  “Damn, Arch,” Baylor said and stopped me with a hand on my arm. His eyes were sparkling as his gaze went to my hair. “Looks like you’ve been having fun.”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know what you mean.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m sure you don’t.”

  “Give it a rest,” Chase said from a couple rows back, but of course, his twin didn’t listen.

  With his lips tilted up in a grin, Baylor said, “Like hell I will. When was the last time I got to tease Archer about anything? Especially for looking like he just finished hooking up with someone?”

  Instead of blushing at his too-accurate description, I frowned harder.

  “Ah, I can tell by your constipated expression that I’m right.”

  Parker Graves spoke up then. “Ten bucks says the captain punches him before this little convo is over. Any takers?”

  “You’re on,” Dex said. “No way Archer would do that. Even if Bay is asking for it.”

  I wasn’t so sure. On the typical, I would’ve never considered punching him—okay, I might have considered it, but the better angels in my mind would’ve stayed my hand. This time Baylor’s smug expression was making me more and more pissed—especially when he mentioned Honor by name.

  “I bet it was Emmy’s new roommate. Honor, right?”

  My hands curled into fists.

  “Bay, I would shut up now,” Chase cautioned.

  “Or maybe you took my advice and moved on,” Baylor said, sitting in a seat and pulling me down next to him. “So, who was it? And where can I get her number? She’d have to be something to make you look this out of it. Sharing is caring, Arch.”

  I distantly heard T.J. say, “I’ve got ten on Captain decking him.”

  Dex groaned as my frown only grew. “Baylor, geez man. Why do you got to be such an indiscriminate manwhore?”

  Baylor pointed at him. “I take issue with that statement. I am very discriminant. There is no one more discriminating than me.”

  “Do you even know what that word means?” Chase asked.

  “I do,” Baylor said emphatically. “And even if I didn’t, I’d know it was insult by the way Dex said it.”

  Dex groaned again, but I was done with this.

  “You need to stop,” I said, voice pitched low so only Baylor could hear. He looked back to me in confusion. “Even if I was out there ‘hooking up’ as you crudely put it, that’s between me and that person.”

  “But—”

  I shook my head. “It’s none of your business.”

  Baylor couldn’t take a hint. “But I’m dying of curiosity over here. Plus, I tell you and the guys everything.”

  “You are the king of TMI,” I agreed.

  “At least tell me this,” he said. “Who was she?”

  Before I could put him off again, Honor stepped onto the bus. The effect she had was instant. Everyone stopped moving, and everything got quiet. I didn’t know if it was the novelty of having a female on the bus (other than Mom) or what, but everyone stared for a moment, which obviously made Honor uncomfortable.

  “Hi,” she said, breaking the silence.

  Her eyes searched the faces in front of her before finally stopping on mine.

  “Hi,” I said back.

  “Well, mystery solved,” Baylor mumbled, causing Honor’s brow to furrow. “Hey, T.J.? I believe you and Parker owe my brother some funds.”

  The two groaned as they handed Dex their cash, and they all started moving again.

  “Easy money,” Dex said. “I knew he wouldn’t do it.”

  I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard Chase mutter, “I didn’t” under his breath. My eyes stayed glued to Honor who still hadn’t moved. Behind her, Mom came up the steps followed by Bear. A few of the other assistant coaches were already seated.

  “Good to see you, Honor,” Mom said with a smile.

  “You, too,” Honor said. “Thanks for letting me tag along, Coach O’Brien.”

  “It was no problem at all. Ready to get some more of those interviews done?”

  “I hope so.”

  Bear grunted. “Not to be rude, but can we move this along? It’s the crack of dawn, we got a long ride ahead of us, and my ass is freezing.”
<
br />   Honor jumped then moved farther onto the bus. “Oh sorry! I didn’t realize I was blocking the way.”

  “Ignore him,” Mom said. “He’s just mad because his beauty sleep was cut short. Bear’s always a little cranky in the morning.”

  Bear grunted again while the rest of us who were close enough to hear scoffed. Beauty sleep? Yeah, right. Cranky was Bear’s number one emotion right next to grumpy, disagreeable and irritated. He was a heck of an assistant coach, but look up “curmudgeon” in the dictionary, and you’d find a big old picture of Bear Green.

  Situating himself in the first row as always, Bear hunkered down, and Mom sat next to him.

  “Take any seat you want, Honor,” she said. “We should get going here in a second.”

  Honor nodded and made her way down the aisle. My gaze followed her the whole way. She looked nervous, eyes flitting from one side to the other. I didn’t understand what that was about. After the kiss we’d shared, I fully expected her to sit next to me. My team was awesome, but Honor sitting next to any of the guys for a prolonged amount of time when there was a perfectly good seat next to me? Not happening. But it wasn’t until she was closer that I realized, for that to happen, the space would have to be open. And it was currently occupied.

  “Move,” I said to Baylor. “You’re in her seat.”

  He grinned. “Didn’t realize it was reserved.”

  “Well, it is,” I mumbled. Honor was almost even with us now. “So move.”

  “Okay, okay.” Baylor stood. “No need to get all hostile. I’m going.”

  Honor looked at me then, but to my horror, it was at the same moment Baylor said, “Hey Honor, sit here! I’m moving, and Archer says he saved you a seat.”

  My eyes closed on reflex. I was going to kill him.

  “That’s nice,” Honor laughed nervously, “but I don’t want you to have to move.”

  “Ah come on,” Baylor said, running a hand through his hair like a little punk. I knew that move. He used it to attract girls, and nine times out of ten, it worked like a charm. “I know it’s a little grade school, saving you a seat on the bus and all, but it’s kind of cute. Don’t you think?”

  Strike that. I was still going to kill him, but slowly.

  “I’d planned to start my interviews anyway.”

  “Interviews?” Baylor asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, her eyes moving to me then away, “I really need to concentrate and get them done. You O’Briens are a hot item in the campus paper.”

  Baylor’s eyes were showing far too much interest. “You don’t say? So, you’ll be interviewing each of us?”

  “That’s right.”

  I cleared my throat. “If you want, you can start with me. I read the article you did on Mom. It was really good.”

  She blinked. “You read it?”

  “Yeah, and I’d love to keep”—my gaze went to her lips—”talking with you. About what we were discussing before…”

  “Actually,” she said, “I think I see an open seat. Maybe later?”

  As she hustled down the aisle, leaving both Baylor and me staring after her, I watched her say something to Chase. The next thing I know, he’d stood up to let her in, giving her the seat next to the window. At my frown, his eyes widened, and he held up his hands as if to say, “Hey, don’t look at me. It’s not my fault.”

  And, as I lowered back into my seat, I knew he was right. I came on too strong. And Honor ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction. But why did she run? And why hadn’t she wanted to sit with me? I wondered.

  The bus started, and we’d gone about five minutes before I heard her laugh. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw her talking animatedly with Chase about something and frowned. It didn’t look like they were getting much interviewing done.

  Baylor, who’d ended up seated next to me, shook his head. “Archer, whatever you do, do not keep looking back there.”

  I shifted my scowl to him.

  “What? Don’t give me that look,” he said. “Trust me on this. I aced Psychology last semester. You don’t want your mind to start playing tricks, coming up with all these scenarios of what they might be talking about. You’ll only be torturing yourself. And over what? It’s not like Chase is going to make a move to steal your girl.”

  As Honor’s laugh floated up again, I gave into the impulse and looked back, despite Baylor’s warning. Chase and Honor really did look cozy back there. I wondered what they were saying, wondered if she could feel my gaze on her like I always felt hers on me. I wondered if she regretted not sitting next to me in the first place or if she was happy with her choice.

  Baylor was right about one thing.

  It was torture, the not knowing.

  But no worries, I reassured myself. This was Chase and Honor, my younger brother and the girl I was falling for. At least they didn’t have much in common—besides a love of books, solid work ethic, quirky personalities that would compliment each other a thousand times better than ours ever would…

  Damn.

  On second thought, maybe I should be more worried.

  “I still can’t believe you’re reading that,” I said.

  “Re-reading,” Chase corrected. “I told you it’s really good. I only ever re-read the great ones.”

  “It’s just too strange,” I said, digging into my bag.

  “What’s strange? Anyone who doesn’t like Jamie and Claire’s story was born without a heart. Outlander has to be one of the best books written this century.”

  I smiled. “Hey, no arguments here, Sassenach.” I held up one of the paperbacks I’d brought along to read on the long bus ride. The deep blue cover was an exact match to the one Chase held in his hands. “What’s weird is we had the exact same idea.”

  Chase’s lips tilted up in a grin. “You know what they say about great minds.”

  “They like to devour great books,” I said.

  This was so surreal. I’d come back here to avoid Archer and the pull I’d felt since meeting him, the one that only got stronger every time we spoke—or kissed. My brain was still mushy around the edges, addled by our encounter, my feelings all over the place. Archer O’Brien’s kisses really should’ve been illegal.

  Baylor’s teasing hadn’t helped, but the way Archer had stood next to him, looking so completely unruffled, so unlike me…I knew I needed a little more time before we talked again. After weighing my options, I’d decided to sit next to Chase. He’d always struck me as the least intimidating of all the O’Briens, and today was no different. Unlike Dex, who’d been sitting at the back of the bus, staring at me hard as I walked up the aisle, as if daring me to sit next to him, Chase was head down, reading a book.

  There was no choice really.

  Of course, I’d asked Chase if I could sit next to him. I just hadn’t expected us to be reading the exact same thing. The realization had drawn a laugh from my lips and made me immediately comfortable all at once.

  “So, I’m doing a few interviews for The Howler,” I began, flipping open the notebook I’d pulled out along with my paperback. “And I was hoping to interview you.”

  “Me?” Chase said, inserting a bookmark and closing his book. His brow furrowed. “Why would you want to do that?”

  I shrugged. “You are the star pitcher of the Wolves.”

  “Yeah…”

  “And you’re also the golden boy with the golden arm who’s lead your team to three consecutive championships. Not to mention, you’re the third oldest O’Brien brother—and obviously the one with the best taste in books.”

  Chase tried to hide it, but I saw the grin he bit back. “I get it from my Aunt Genevieve. She’s a total bibliophile. Emmy has pretty good taste, too.”

  “I’ll have to check out her shelves sometime when I’m back home,” I said, making a note in my mind to do just that.

  He tilted his head. “And you sitting here, starting with me…it has nothing to do with whatever’s going on between you and Archer?”r />
  My throat tightened. Was I really that obvious?

  I must’ve been because Chase nodded a second later. “That’s what I thought,” he said. “You know, he can’t stop looking back here.”

  “Really?” I said, eyes wide, not daring to look.

  “Yeah, he’s bound to have a crick in his neck at this rate. Well Honor, if we lose the game, you’ll know it was all your fault.”

  That startled another laugh out of me. “And a sense of humor, too?”

  Chase grinned outright.

  “Oh now, I can’t wait to interview you,” I said.

  “I don’t want to disappoint,” he said, “but I should probably tell you. I’m not all that interesting.”

  I shook my head at how wrong (and humble) he was. “We’ll let the readers be the judge of that, hm?”

  Chase nodded. “Alright.”

  “I just have a few questions. Fair warning, some are pretty personal because I got them directly from the readers’ comments on the site. Your fans are kinda nosey. I hope that’s okay?”

  “Like I said, I’m boring,” he laughed, gesturing with his hand for me to continue. “Ask me anything. I’ll try to be as open as possible.”

  Lifting my pen, I asked the first question, “What do you love about baseball?”

  “How much time do you have?” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I love being on the mound, the power that runs through my arm as I release the ball, the satisfaction I get from every good pitch. There’s nothing else like it. I love being a part of a team, knowing that I’ve got their back and they’ve got mine. Having my family there with me is a huge bonus.”

  I smiled while taking notes. “Think you’ll go pro someday?”

  Chase shrugged. “That’s the dream. Not sure if it’ll happen, but I’ve never been afraid of hard work.”

  “Great answer.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay, here’s where it gets personal,” I said. “Do you have a girlfriend?”