Page 20 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
He smiled as he shoved the magazine back into the gun and cocked it. “Okay, this time I want you to aim for the head but place your gun a bit higher than you’d expect.”
“So, aim just over his head?”
“More like at the top of his scalp. Try that, and let’s see what happens.”
Thank fuck this thing’s facing the ocean. “All right, I’ll give it a shot.”
And when I did just that, I nailed that fucking target right in the head.
“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed.
Archer clapped his hands. “Now, use that same technique, but for the heart. Aim, let’s say, around the lower collarbone area. Let’s see where it lands.”
And damn it, I was right on target with a chest shot using Archer’s technique.
“We got ourselves a natural over here!” he exclaimed.
I felt powerful as I stood there with that gun in my hand. As he walked back over to my side, I raised my gun and took out both of the targets kneecaps as well. There were a few times where Archer repositioned my body, but I didn’t mind.
Especially since his hands were so warm.
“All right, I’d like to do one last test with you,” he murmured in my ear.
I shivered as I turned around. “What’s that?”
His eyes danced along my face. “I want to trade out the gun you have for a dummy gun, and I want to blindfold you and attack you.”
I blinked. “Sorry, what?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Sometimes, you’ll never see these attacks coming. Not until you’re on the floor. And I want to make sure you can get to your gun, depending on where we hide it.”
I swallowed hard. “And you want to blindfold me?”
“Yes. If you’re okay with that. How does that make you feel?”
I didn’t like the tears brewing behind my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. I don’t mind that one bit.”
“Josie, be honest with me.”
My palms started to sweat. “Just go get the shit you need for this, okay?”
“Josie, look me in the eye and tell me it’s okay.”
But I couldn’t.
The mere idea of being blindfolded and tackled to the ground dredged up memories I never wanted to speak about. Ever. My hands trembled and I couldn't catch my breath. The world faded in and out and I bent forward to try and root myself. Archer moved behind me and threaded his arms around my body.
Causing me to tense as his lips fell to the shell of my ear. “Stand up, hands to the sky. Come on. You can do it.”
A tear streaked my cheek as I reached up for the sky. “I’m okay. I can do this. I’m just fine, I swear.”
His hands slowly ran up my arms, as if he were stretching with me. “It’s okay to not be okay, Josie. You need to understand that first.”
My lower lip quivered. “Totally okay. Yeah, I’m okay. I swear.”
My tears gave me away, though. The trembling of my body gave me away, too. And when I collapsed into a pile of tears, Archer was there to catch me. He sank to the ground with me and held me tightly, the gun at our side as I crawled into his lap. I sobbed against his chest, my face adding to the pain I already felt deep within my soul. Then, Archer spoke a truth I’d have to deal with sooner rather than later.
And later was just fine with me.
“You’re not a weak woman. I need you to understand that I know that, okay?” he asked softly.
I sniffled. “Oh—okay.”
He sighed against my hair. “But everyone has pain deep down. Everyone has pain that isn’t simply topical. And it’s when that deep-down pain goes unaddressed is when it starts to get bad. Just know that, at some point in time, you’ll have to acknowledge it in order for it to go away. Okay?”
I drew in a broken breath. “Oh-oh-okuh—okay.”
And as he ran his fingers through my hair, I cried against his chest. I cried for my body, for my parents, for the childhood I’d never have. I cried for Astrid, and the life she had been thrust into. Hell, I even cried for myself and what I was about to get myself into as well.
Then, I simply cried.
Nine
Archer
It seemed like the more I held her, the worse she cried. And as I felt some of the guys staring out the window at us, I knew I needed to get her out of here. If she stood any chance of the guys being on her side with some bullshit like this, then they couldn't see her break down the way she currently broke down.
“How about we go for a little ride on my bike?” I offered.
Josie drew in broken breaths. “I—I don’t know if—I—uh—”
I buried my nose into her hair. “We have to get you to calm down. Some fresh air might do you some good.”
