Page 10 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
What the hell was his problem?
What did he expect me to do? I worked at one of the better strip clubs in Santa Cruz. Any other place already treated their dancers like sleazeballs, and I had worked hard to gain the skill to work in a place like the one I worked at. I took endless amounts of bullshit and overcame so many fucking issues just to get there, both physically and mentally. And he wanted me to throw it away because the new owners were assholes?
Yeah, they were assholes. But there were laws governing this sort of thing. One anonymous report and the police would come down on them hard.
That was all it would take for dickweeds like them.
I waited for Archer to come back, and after a few minutes my door cracked open. I picked up my bowl of soup and polished it off, then reached for yet another piece of toast. And when he slipped into my bedroom, I gathered everything onto the tray and held it up for him.
“Thank you. That was great,” I said.
He sighed as he took the tray from my hands and stood there. “My apologies for my reaction.”
I shrugged. “You’re good.”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “No, I’m not good. I just—seeing you in the condition you’re in and then actually talking about going back to work at that place… it makes me a bit sick in my stomach.”
I studied his face. “You had someone in your life get hurt like this, didn’t you?”
He snickered. “Some days I wish it was only like this.”
My heart hurt for him. “I’m sorry.”
He stood back to his feet. “It is what it is.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He made his way for my bedroom door. “I’m going out for a ride. You can make yourself comfortable and do anything you’d like around here, but I’m telling you that it’s a bad idea right now to leave. Okay?”
“So, you don’t want to talk about it?”
He shot me a cold, hard look. “No leaving. I don’t want to come home and find you dead on the sidewalk because you did something stupid.”
I shrugged. “I’ll make sure to hide away, then. Make it a bit of a game if you wish to find me.”
He glared at me. “No leaving. Got it?”
I hunkered down beneath the covers. “Yeah, I got it.”
I didn’t know who pissed in his Cheerios, but if he thought he could control me he had another fucking thing coming. I sure as hell wasn’t going to take orders from some sort of Ice King that wanted to appear softer to me in an attempt to get information. I didn’t respond well to people like that. All he needed to be was genuine, and it was clear to me that he was simply putting on an act. To what end? I didn’t know. But judging by his questions, he was digging for information.
“We’ll see how that works for you tonight,” I murmured to myself.
His bike engine revved beneath me and I closed my eyes. The warm soup and rich toast settled in my stomach and caused my eyelids to flutter closed. The bed was so big and soft. It cradled me like a cloud as I slowly slipped into an effortless slumber. Archer’s bike revving off into the distance was the last thing I heard before darkness overcame me, but it didn’t stop my mind from rushing a thousand miles a second.
And the last thing I remembered thinking made me feel like I was weak and out of control again.
What did I say to make him hate me so quickly?
Five
Archer
The warm summer breeze rip-roaring around me set off the serotonin in my brain. I relaxed with each sharp turn and every yellow light I soared through at lightning speed. I hated walking out on Josie like that, and even my own reaction frustrated me. But every time someone even remotely hinted at my past, it triggered a flight response.
I never wanted to relive those days as long as I lived.
The one thing I learned about the life I had chosen for myself was this: if anyone figured out someone’s real, bonafide fears, they could be exploited for all sorts of purposes. I had watched it happen a couple of times with Hyde back when the man was still alive. Other crews would roll up knowing all sorts of shit about him and come knocking on our doors thinking they could hold it over our heads and get what they wanted.
Which simply led to more bloodshed just to keep those threats at bay.
I didn’t want to be like that. I didn’t want anyone to know my deepest, darkest secrets. And I sure as hell wouldn’t indulge my fears in some ordinary conversation. It came with too great of a risk and impacted more than just myself.
