Chapter Twenty-Five

Archer is actually being really odd today. Not in a bad way, but he's even more chipper than he usually is, which I didn't think was possible.

We get through sound check fast enough, but Archer seems to be bouncing up and down on his heels the whole time like a kid waiting to meet Santa.

"You okay over there?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at him.

"I'm good. Better than good actually. Perfect. I'm perfect," he answers in one breath.

That boy needs to calm down. I'm glad he's happy and all, but his sudden burst of energy is stressing me out for some reason. I try to calm myself down and focus on my songs so that I'm ready for tonight. At least I know he'll bring the energy at the show which means I can back off a bit and give myself a chance to rest.

Before I know it, I'm under the stage waiting to be lifted up to start the show. My hand starts to ache from how hard I'm clutching onto my microphone. I slowly relax my hands. I know being tense is only going to make the pain worse later so I try to stretch my hands out and focus on releasing the tension from my body.

"Hey, Ali," I hear a deep voice whisper into my ear. Shivers run up my back.

I slowly turn around. His eyes are sparkling from the small lights on down here. His smile . . . well . . . the only way I could describe it is a smirk that you see on the dark-haired, mysterious, morally gray, vampire brother. I'm not sure I've seen a sexier smile. It honestly knocks me speechless.

"Ali?" Archer's smile starts to drop a bit.

"Yeah, sorry. What's up?" I finally get out.

"Don't leave right after the show."

"Okay?" I give him a sideways look.

"Lately, you've been ditching out as soon as the show ends. Which is fine and all, but I want to talk to you about something."

My heart rate starts to kick up a bit. "Can you just tell me now?"

He looks down at his watch. "Nope, not enough time. You'll just have to wait."

"Fine, but the suspense might literally kill me up on stage. In front of that huge crowd. Are you ready to take the blame for that?" I put my hand over my heart, faking pain.

"So, what I'm hearing is that you'll be thinking about me the whole time you're up there performing? I'm not seeing the problem here." That sexy smirk is back. My heart skips a beat.

"No, wait, no, that's not what I was saying," I start but Archer is already walking away from me. "Archer!"

He turns around, gives me a slow wink, and then continues walking. I let out a breath of air causing my bangs to fly up. This boy is going to be the death of me.

The second I know I'm out of sight of the crowd, I head towards where Archer typically waits after the show. I do a quick scan, but I don't see him anywhere. I head to my dressing room, asking everyone that I see on the way, but no one seems to know where he is right now.

Wasn't he the one that asked me to hang around afterwards?

I grab my phone from my dressing room and type out a quick text.

Where are you?

I tap my fingers on the vanity in front of me. I'm about thirty seconds from giving up and leaving, but I'm dying to know what he wants to talk about. He's usually not so mysterious about things. I could usually get him to talk about anything.

I can't sit anymore. I walk out of the room and lean against the wall facing away from the hustle and bustle of the after show cleanup.

I look down at my phone and see the little bubbles that means he's typing. Thank goodness.

Meet me at midnight.

"Are you kidding me? Where? Why?" I say to myself.

"Because, I asked you nicely," Archer's voice comes from behind me causing my stomach to do a somersault. That's happening a lot lately.

I jump. "Seriously!" I shout as I turn and smack Archer's chest. "Stop doing that would you!"

"Why are you so jumpy?" Archer asks, lifting half of his mouth up in a smirk.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because someone keeps sneaking up behind me and whispering in my ear," I hiss at him.

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing to me." He wiggles his eyebrows.

What is up with him today? If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was flirting with me, but there's no way that's what's happening. Is there?

"Do you really want me to meet you at midnight?" I push.

"Well, I was going to say yes, but with that look on your face, I'm going to go with no?"

"It's just . . . so late," I start.

"I know, I know. But humor me would you? We have an off day tomorrow so you can sleep in. I'll be outside your room with my car."

I put my hand on my chin. "Hmmmmmm . . ." I'm planning on dragging this out. "And how exactly would this benefit me? I mean, laying in bed watching my favorite movie and eating pizza sounds like a way better option to me."

"Playing hard to get, I see."

I shrug.

"I can play this game." He leans over until his mouth is a few inches from my ear. "Can I go with my previous answer? Because I asked you nicely."

"Hmmm, not enough."

He leans in closer. "Because you get to spend time with me."

"Still no."

He leans in even closer to the point where his lips are almost touching my ear."Because you know you want to say yes."

I feel goosebumps on my arms. This is the second time tonight he's made me feel this way. What is going on with me? And what's going on with him? I've never seen this side of him before.

"Bold of you to assume."

He takes a step back and that smirk I love is on his face. "Oh, baby, it wasn't an assumption."

And yet again for the second time tonight, he's walking away from me, leaving me in complete shock.