by Baylin Crow
"It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything…" Phoenix shook his head. "I have to go." He turned to leave but paused with his hand on the curtain, glancing back at me. His mouth curled into a softer smile. "I'm glad you came tonight, Archer West."
A surge of relief flooded through me that his smile was back. “Me too, Phoenix fill-in-the-blank.”
"Ryan." His lips twitched, as if fighting a grin. “Phoenix Ryan.”
Phoenix Ryan. I liked the sound of it and it suited him. I nodded in approval and his grin widened before he sucked on his bottom lip.
"You're kind of weird." Phoenix quirked a brow. “But I think I like it.” He winked and then he was gone, leaving a sense of emptiness in his wake.
I stared at the empty space as I attempted to let my body calm down, but my heart still thudded erratically.
A thought struck me suddenly, and I pushed off the couch. I hadn't tipped Phoenix at all. Was that one of the rules he was talking about breaking? Crap.
I raced out into the hall and caught sight of him just before he went through a back door. "Phoenix!"
He paused and looked back at me. "Yeah?"
I pulled out my wallet. "I didn’t…"
He retraced his steps back to me, eating up the distance quickly, and I drank in the sight of his inked skin in the light.
Grabbing my wallet, he reached around and shoved it back in my pocket. His hand slid slowly over my ass and he whispered. "Happy birthday, Arch."
Long seconds after he spun around, I watched until he slipped through the door and then I took several calming breaths. For someone often accused of being unshakable, I was rattled to my core. My entire world had been tilted off its axis, and I needed a moment to set it right again.
Once my hands stopped trembling, I wound my way back to our table where I found CJ and Caleb scrolling through their phones. Both sets of eyes snapped up as I slouched back into my chair.
Avoiding their eyes, I scanned the stage, knowing Phoenix would be making his way down there.
"Well?" CJ asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
When I turned to him, with what I hoped was an indifferent appearance, they both leaned in—ice blue eyes boring into mine, as if I had some dirty secret to share.
I had the secret. But I wasn’t sharing.
Adopting a confused expression, I wrinkled my nose and fought not to shift nervously in my seat. "Well, what?"
Caleb's mouth stretched into a broad grin. "How was it? Did you bust a nut?"
"Jesus, Caleb," CJ muttered before he cocked a brow at me. "Well, did you?"
I huffed in exasperation. "No. And you are both in trouble for setting it up in the first place.”
My cheeks flushed hot all over again as I thought about what had happened with Phoenix.
Caleb scoffed. "You didn't look too upset when you let him drag you away caveman style. I'm sort of bummed you came back with no relief. Blue balls then?"
"Caleb," I snapped and glanced around, wondering if anyone had overheard him. "Stop."
“Did you at least have fun?" CJ cut in with a hopeful tone. I tried to bite back a smile, failing completely as my gaze ducked to my lap. His loud laugh followed. "I knew it! Damn, I'm a good friend."
I rolled my eyes. "You're something."
"Up high," Caleb said, ignoring me, and they high-fived.
My mouth was parched, so I grabbed my bottled water and chugged half of it. "Whatever. Can we just go now?"
"Yep, our job here is done. Mission Give Archer a Boner for his Birthday is complete," Caleb said proudly and they stood. "Lead the way."
Sighing, I climbed to my feet. We stuck together as we worked our way to the stairs and then down to the main floor. Just as we reached the bottom step, the speaker system turned on, and we all paused to listen as a hush settled over the club.
“If you’ve been here before," the voice boomed through the speakers, "then you know what you’re in for. If this is your first visit, I guarantee it won't be your last. Get ready for a treat." He paused. "Nix, get your sexy ass out here!”
Hoots and hollers rose from the crowd, and tingles rushed over my skin as the stage lit with purple light.
Phoenix stepped out, and my stomach flipped. He wasn't dressed as a cop or fireman. Unlike anything I expected, he strolled onto the stage as a cocky tattooed businessman in a dark sleek suit and tie. I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for office jobs.
A sultry song enveloped the room as his inked fingers tugged at the tie around his neck. Captivated, I couldn’t look away as he started loosening the knot in one excruciatingly slow pull.
Someone tugged my arm, sending me off balance. I caught myself on the rail as CJ started laughing, still gripping my arm. "Let's go before you leave a puddle of drool."
"I am not drooling." I scowled, but relented and followed the twins to the exit. At the door, I glanced at the stage one last time and was startled when I locked eyes with Phoenix.
It was only a beat before he turned away, and I swallowed hard and then forced myself to follow them out of the club.
2
Archer
Two weeks later
Our dorm room had been stripped bare of our personal belongings, and all that sat in place was the standard bland furniture.
The sound of students out in the hall created a constant buzz as everyone prepared to leave for the summer. I took one last look around the space that had been home to me and CJ all semester, making sure we weren't leaving anything behind.
Before we'd started packing, my side of the room had been kept neat with bare essentials, aside from the desk that had housed all of my art supplies. CJ’s side had been a disorganized mess, with Hawthorne Pirates Basketball memorabilia scattered around and piles of dirty clothes lying in heaps wherever he decided to toss them.
I couldn't say I'd miss the overbearing smell of sweaty gym socks and uniforms that somehow never made it into the broken laundry basket, but I had grown used to the chaotic clutter.
"You sure you got everything?" CJ asked from the doorway where he'd been talking to a guy from their team for the last five minutes.
I glanced at the bulging trash bags stuffed full of bedding and clothes and cardboard boxes with the rest of our stuff stacked against the wall. The top one had two gleaming trophies from CJ's winning seasons sticking out. Vanity ran strong with the twins when it came to their sport, so rather than leaving them home, he'd likely haul them right back for the fall semester.
I nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Where's Caleb?"
"I'm right here." Caleb shouldered past CJ and lifted two boxes. The top one rattled, and CJ cursed.
"Can you be careful? I don't want my shit broken." He glared before picking up the other two boxes.
We'd already loaded Caleb's things from the dorm across from ours into the rented trailer. What had started with my single room and the twins sharing a space freshman year, quickly changed due to the parade of girls Caleb had snuck into his room, despite the rules.
According to CJ, if he had to listen to his twin have sex with one more girl, or be invited to a twin sandwich, his dick would never work again. So, I gained a roommate, and Caleb was free to play baby mama roulette. CJ's words.
I scooped up the bags and then, weaving through the crowded hall, led the way to the elevator.
The twins stood at my side as we stopped outside the door, waiting for the car. When it arrived, we stepped inside and scooted toward the back to make room for a group of girls chattering about their summer plans.
One paused and glanced over her shoulder towards Caleb, and her cheeks bloomed red as she scanned him up and down. I glanced over at him and rolled my eyes at the arrogant smirk on his face as he soaked up the attention. Her gaze briefly switched to me then on to CJ where she lingered. Unlike Caleb, his bored expression met her interested one. Night and day, the twins were alike in so many ways, yet different at the same time. The doors slid closed and began its descen
t.
Ignoring them, CJ knocked into my shoulder. "You sure you want to stay with your uncle? You can always just come stay with us. The pool house is clean and no one really uses it."
He'd been trying to persuade me all week. "I told my uncle I'd come help at the shop, and he has the room set up already. I can't back out."
Truthfully, I wouldn't even if I could. With parents who turned a blind eye to what went on at their house while they left for frequent vacations, the twins regularly threw parties.
I didn't mind attending now and then, but summer for me was more about relaxing and writing—not surrounding myself with endless noise.
"You’d better stop by and visit. It's only a twenty-minute drive so no excuses," CJ said as he shifted the boxes' weight in his arms.
The ding of the elevator signaled we'd reached the ground floor, and we waited our turn to get out.
"And you have to promise to come to at least one party." Caleb nudged me as we stepped into the chaotic lobby. "We'll come kidnap you if we have to."
"Instead of threatening to commit a felony, you should watch where you're going." My caution came too late and he ran into a waist-high trash can. The top box he carried full of CJ's basketball trophies and medals crashed to the floor.
"No!" CJ yelled and they both quickly set their boxes down and scrambled around to gather up his stuff. Dropping my bags, I collected a few medals that had rolled toward me.
"Hey stop," CJ told people as he darted around, grabbing the last of it. As he began repacking the box, he glared at Caleb. "You asshole."
If Caleb's awards hadn't already been loaded, there was no question his things would have accidently met the same fate.
"Sorry, damn, it was an accident." Caleb glared back.
I picked my bags up as everyone who'd paused to watch moved on. "Break it up, guys."
With a sigh, CJ jerked the box away from Caleb, deciding to switch with him, and we resumed our path outside to our designated spot. The morning air was heavy with humidity and the heat was quickly rising. We were almost out of time allotted for us to load up, so we hurried to put our things in the trailer that was hooked to CJ's Jeep, making sure my stuff stayed nearest to the gate.
"We'll follow you to your uncle's." CJ jingled his keys and jumped into the driver's seat of his Jeep and Caleb claimed the passenger side.
I looked back at the dorm, square and squat, with one grimy window for each room. The old white brick had grown dingy over the years, but it felt like home. However, this was Georgia. The lush, green foliage of huge live oak trees and bushes that bloomed with colorful flowers dotted the manicured lawns, saving the appearance of the otherwise drab campus. I snapped the image like a photograph in my mind to draw when I got the opportunity.
"Okay, give me a minute," I agreed and then headed for the parking lot. After climbing into my reliable dark blue sedan, I drove to where they'd parked, waiting for me. I pulled out ahead of them and followed the streets toward the highway.
I rarely visited my uncle's house because he spent most of his time at his downtown tattoo parlor. When we'd meet up for lunch, it was always somewhere near the campus or his shop. But I still easily navigated the quick fifteen-minute drive toward his place on the outskirts of the city.
We entered a neighborhood completely different from the upscale one my mom and I had moved into ten years ago. In a way, it was like coming home. Before my stepdad came into the picture, Mom and I had lived in a similar one a few towns away. Then, while working as a waitress, she'd met Paul while he was in town on business. She'd relocated us to his home in Florida, and the mom I'd always worshipped turned into someone I barely recognized. Money and grooming had not only changed her appearance, but she’d grown cold and distant. Just like him.
Pushing away the disappointment, I scanned the houses that had seen their prime thirty years ago. The roads were lined with towering trees reaching toward the sky, and though aged, the houses were in good shape and the yards tidy.
An older woman sat on a swing on her front porch and waved as I drove by. Further down, a younger boy had shed his shirt, leaving it hanging out of his back pocket as he pushed a mower across the front lawn. Kids played outside and dogs barked behind fences.
I hooked a right on the next street and slowed in front of my uncle's two-story home. Divorced and living alone, the simple gray brick with white trim exterior lacked shrubbery of any kind. The inside was just as bare. In contrast, his tattoo shop was decked out with bold paint, shiny new equipment and modern furnishings.
When I pulled into my uncle's driveway next to his prized ‘67 Chevelle, black paint so shiny I could see my car’s reflection, CJ and Caleb parked along the curb.
I hopped out just as the front door swung open, and a man in his forties with a wide smile, half hidden by a salt and pepper mustache and beard, stepped onto the wood porch and began walking toward me. He wore faded jeans, a well-worn Pantera t-shirt, and black motorcycle boots. "About fuckin' time. I thought you'd changed your mind."
He engulfed me in a giant bear hug, and I squeezed back. "Hey, Uncle Isaac."
"Hey, kiddo." He released me only to ruffle my hair—the same auburn shade he'd had before it faded from his strands at an early age. "Who are these guys?"
My uncle folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his brown eyes as he studied the twins who leaned against the Jeep.
"CJ and Caleb, my friends, so play nice," I warned with a grin.
He scratched his chin. "How do you tell them apart?"
I snorted. "It's easy after you get to know them. The first one to say something vulgar is Caleb. You two would probably get along."
He snorted—a family trait I supposed. "Well, let's get your shit inside. In the back, right?" He headed for the trailer.
Caleb lifted the gate. "No, we rented this thing but went ahead and stuffed everything in our cars." He smirked. "Also, you can tell us apart because my dick is bigger."
"The fuck it is," CJ snapped back with a scowl at his brother.
Isaac let out a booming laugh and patted Caleb's shoulder. "Well, I don't plan on checking but I'll just assume you’re Caleb."
"Guess you'll never know," Caleb volleyed back, and I looked at CJ as we shared an exasperated groan.
There wasn't much to unload, but most was taken to the garage for storing until the fall semester began. After thanking the twins, I watched as they drove off before I followed my uncle into the house.
We passed through a sparsely furnished living room with a large stone fireplace that saw little use, aside from the rare days of biting cold winter. I briefly paused in front of it and scanned over a familiar picture of my Mom and me before she met my stepdad. A pang of hurt stung in my chest. Two other frames bookended the mantel, one of my cousin, Allison, in a lacy white wedding dress and another of a younger me with a toothy smile perched on my uncle's shoulders.
Moving on, we headed up the beige carpeted stairs. He led me down the right side of the hall as we carried my things to my temporary room. My uncle flicked on the light and then stepped aside for me to enter.
He set the boxes by the closet and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's not much, but it's yours for however long you need it."
I glanced around the room that had sat empty since his daughter, my cousin, grew up and moved to New York with her husband.
The walls were newly painted a shade or two darker than the carpet, and a full size bed covered with a black comforter and white pillows took up the majority of the room. A flat screen TV was mounted on the opposite wall. The rest of the space was filled with a small black dresser and matching desk crammed on either side of the bed.
"This is perfect," I said and meant it. I'd take it any day over my ridiculously lavish room in Florida.
"Figured I better get rid of all that pink shit Allison had in here before you showed up." He looked around. "You can do whatever you want with it."
I sat in the rolling chair by the desk. "It
's fine the way it is. Thank you for letting me stay." I sighed. "My stepdad—"
"Is a fuckin' prick. No better than that bastard who ran out on you when you were just a kid," my uncle finished with a bitter tone and his expression twisted in distaste.
I couldn't blame him. The reason I was staying with Uncle Isaac was because it was clear I wasn’t welcome at my stepdad’s home. My stepdad had never really approved of me simply because I wasn't his. I was merely baggage that came with my mom. And my biological dad—I didn’t remember him, but he hadn’t wanted me either.
My uncle was still scowling. "There's no way I'm sending you to that pretentious asshole's house for the summer. You're welcome right the fuck here."
"All the same, thanks." The room was simple and neat. The desk was perfect for writing and drawing while the bed looked comfortable. My gaze was drawn to the sliding glass door I knew led onto a balcony where I imagined I'd work on my book most.
"You gonna be all right here?" Isaac asked and I switched my attention back to him. "I stayed home to get you settled, but the shop has picked up some clients I can't afford to lose. I need to head out soon."
I waved him off. "I'll be fine."
He walked over and gripped my shoulder, giving it a little shake. "I hope you know how much you're really welcome here. I've been looking forward to having you around. There are snacks and drinks in the kitchen so help yourself. Get settled and tomorrow you can ride with me to work."
Looking up at him, I grinned. "Sounds good."
He closed the door behind him and whistled the tune of a rock song I remembered always blaring through the stereo when I'd visit as a kid. The familiarity settled over me like a warm blanket.
I passed the day unpacking my clothes, showering and lounging around with my sketchbook, detailing an action scene in the story I'd been working on for months. Focusing on facial features and emphasizing movement, I was lost in the drawing for hours.
For dinner, I raided the refrigerator then freezer and smiled when I found a boxed ice cream cake with a sticky note on it.
