7
ARCHER
PRESENT
Being in the house withAcewas a bigger struggle thanIhad originally thought.IfIwere being honest with myself,Iwasn’t over her.Iwanted a second chance.Iwanted her back in my life in the worst way, butIgot the distinct impression those feelings were not mutual.Whichmade it that much harder to see her walk around my house like she belonged there.
Seeing her in my kitchen this morning getting a cup of coffee in her pajama pants and tank top that revealed just how cold she was in my house led me to taking my second cold shower in less than twelve hours.
The first had been the day before, when she went running with her trainer.She’dcome down wearing only a sports bra and the shortest goddamn shortsIhad ever seen in my life.Hertrainer had worn equally short shorts—though she had a shirt on—but her shorts hadn’t given me the same reactionAce’shad.Thatreaction had my dick getting instantly hard.
When her trainer had arrived,I’dgone to the door to let her in, just asAcehad come around the corner from upstairs.I’dhad to strategically hide behind the open front door so neither woman saw my excitement bulging out within my pants.
Introductions had been made, andI’dgiven them the best—and safest—route for them on the property.Ithad taken them around my lot, over toVince’s, and then down through the trail and pond atJack’shouse before circling back around.I’dtextedJackto be on the lookout—subtly, of course—as they ran by, to make sure everything was good.Vincehad also stopped by his house to check on the progress there.Thewomen had thought they’d had freedom and peace to run the entire place, but they’d also been watched carefully, just in case.
Sara, her trainer, was nice.She’dasked a lot of questions about security and safety—IassumedAcehad mentioned the same story to her about having a stalker.Sarawas in great shape and had mentioned that she taughtKravMagaclasses on the side—yet another reason to feel good about her abilities—andIappreciated thatAcehad yet another highly skilled person to look out for her.
After they’d come back from their run, they’d gone into my small makeshift workout room, andI’dgone to take a cold shower.Ithad helped…until the next morning, whenIcould see her hard nipples through her white tank top in my kitchen.NipplesthatI’dhad my mouth on years ago.
That thought had me leaving the kitchen abruptly, tellingAcewe were leaving in one hour and heading for another cold shower.
Now we were driving to go curling with her coworkers, thankfully with a lot more clothes on.Itwasn’t cold outside, but we were headed to an ice rink, and the company had told us to dress in warm layers.
Axel had invited himself along for this learn-to-curl class they had all signed up for.Ididn’t think we needed extra support for this particular event since it was small, but he was thrilled to get to do something from back home.
I, too, had done some curling whenIwas younger.I’dgrown up inParkCity,Utah, and winter sports were a big part of life there.Skiingand snowboarding were bigger, butI’dalso tried my hand at hockey, snowshoeing, and curling.Iwasn’t great at it, butIknew the basics and could hold my own at the event today.Thankfully, they had a few spots left in this instructional class, soAxelandIsigned up.
We pulled up to the warehouse-looking building and got out of the car.Wemade our way inside, and immediatelyIscanned the building for any potential threats, despite knowingAxelhad planned to get here early to do the same thing.Heinformed me there were twenty-four people total—including us—in this class.
As we entered the building,Acewalked right over to two people standing off to the side.Axelsaw us arrive and walked over to us.
“Archer, you already metTalia,”Acesaid, pointing at the beautiful womanI’dmet at theTVstation dinner party.
“Good to see you again,”Isaid toTalia, who smiled back at me.
Ace turned toAxelnext. “Axel, this is my coworker,TaliaDavidson.She’sour weekend meteorologist.”
“It’s nice to meet you,”Axelsaid with his slight accent. “I’venever met anyone who studies meteors.”
Talia smiled at him. “Thename is confusing, butIstudy the weather.Ihandle weather forecasting and science coverage for theTVstation.”
Axel nodded in return, likely cataloguing another thing for hisIhate theEnglishlanguagelist.
“And this isDanStanley, our sports reporter extraordinaire,”Aceintroduced the man in front of me. “Dan, this isArcherPapadopoulosand his friendAxelSkarsgård.”
I knew she had told her friends thatIwas a bodyguard, but apparently she didn’t want them to knowAxelwas one too.
Axel also exchanged pleasantries with both of them. “Haveeither of you played curling before?”Axelasked the group.
“I’m fromMinnesota, soIwas on the ice beforeIcould barely walk,”Danresponded. “Wepractically come out of the womb knowing how to be on ice.Thoughit’s been several years sinceI’vecurled.”
“Technically,Igrew up inBoston, but my family is from theCaribbean,”Taliasaid.
A few strands of black hair poking out from under her thick knit hat, brushing against her dark tawny skin—skin that had a lot less makeup on it than she had whenIhad seen her a few days ago.
“Warm-water sports are more my thing than frozen-water sports.Withthat said,I’ma quick learner and fully prepared to crush all of you today.”
We all laughed.Maybeshe’d do well, thoughIwasn’t sure she would be able to crush us.
