Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ipull away from Archer in shock. I look up into his eyes, hesitating for a second. Then my mouth is crashing back on his.

The kiss starts off slow. Gentle. Almost like he's afraid that I'll break if he's not careful. I wrap my hands around his neck and deepen the kiss. He takes this as the go ahead and matches the pace of my lips. He shifts his weight so that his entire body is facing me, never breaking our kiss. His hands roam down and stop at my waist.

After what feels like not nearly enough time, Archer pulls back, breaking our contact. He looks at me as if he's trying to read my face. He's clearly trying to hold back a smile.

"Well that was . . ." I start, but then stop, having no idea where I was going with that.

"Amazing. Fantastic. Magical. Enchanting. Otherworldly," Archer says, letting that smirk come full force. "And any other synonyms to any of those words."

I feel the blood rushing into my cheeks, turning them what I'm sure is a dark shade of maroon.

"I should call you Scarlet," he laughs as he reaches his hands towards me and swipes the back of it along my cheek.

Shivers run up my spine at his touch. Thinking it's from the cold, he pulls the blanket that fell down during our kiss up and around my shoulders.

"It's getting cold. I should get you back home," he states, as he starts to stand, grabbing my hands and pulling me up with him.

I just nod. I know I need to say something. Anything. But my brain has currently decided not to function properly. For someone who always seems to know what to say in songs, I'm sure at a loss for words right now.

I quietly follow along with him while my mind tries to process what just happened. While it tries to process something I've never felt in my entire life.

Once we're in the car, Archer reaches over and blasts the heat. I let out an unintentional sigh. I can already feel my body coming back to life. I'm just not sure if I was frozen from the cold or from the kiss. Archer turns on the radio, and we are greeted with the sound of my voice.

I look at Archer and we both start laughing. I reach towards the dial to turn it down. Archer throws his hand on top of mine, stopping me.

"You better be turning that up," he laughs as he reaches past my hand and spins the dial. He grabs my hand, wraps his fingers around mine, and rests our entwined hands on the center console.

Archer looks at me, gives me a wink, and then throws the car into reverse as he starts singing along to my song as loud as he possibly can. I stare at him for a second and then join in. By the time the song ends, tears are streaming down my face from laughter.

"Tell me everything!" Willow shouts the second I walk through my door.

"Hey," I pause looking around the room. "How did you get in here?"

"Don't worry about that! Just tell me what happened! You're smiling. A goofy smile. That means it went good, right?"

I can't help but smile even wider.

"Omg, not good, it went great! Tell me everything!" Willow is bouncing up and down on my bed like an excited puppy. "Don't even think about leaving out any details!"

I do as she says only stopping to answer questions she has along the way.

"And then, he kissed me again at the door before he left and that was that."

"So, what are you thinking?" she asks.

"I'm not sure. I mean obviously, it was great. He's great." I try to keep the swoon out of my voice. "I just have so much on my mind right now. And so much going on. I just don't want to complicate anything for him or for me."

"Ali, I love you, but you overthink everything. He knows exactly how much you have going on right now, and it seems like he honestly doesn't care. It's not stopping him. Clearly." She wiggles her eyebrows at that.

"Well, I mean, he doesn't know everything, does he?" I say, digging my toes into a worn spot in the carpet.

"You didn't tell him?" she questions, tilting her head to the side.

"No. I thought about it, but it just didn't feel right. Everything was so perfect, I didn't want to ruin it." I let out a breath, then throw my hand against my forehead. "I don't know why it's so hard for me to tell people about this."

"Because it's tearing down your walls. Something, in my not so humble opinion, you're not very good at."

"Hey!" I shout, ready to defend myself, but I know she's right.

She throws her hands up in surrender. "Listen, I understand why. Your career doesn't leave much privacy for you. This isn't the public though. This is Archer Stiles. The gorgeous talented boy that one hundred percent has a thing for you. And the boy that you one hundred percent have a thing for?"

I look up at her with a straight face, then quickly turn my head.

"Mhm, just like I thought."

I run through what she is saying in my mind for a few seconds. She's right. About everything.

I look up at her. "He just pays attention too, you know? Like he somehow just knows stuff about me. He's observant. Like he caught on that I don't go in the sun often. That's got to mean something, right?"

Willow looks uneasy for a second. "Okay, I have to tell you something, but you need to promise not to get mad."

"That's never a great way to start a sentence."

"Well, it's not that big of a deal. I don't think. But I feel like you should know. Archer came to me at the beginning. When you were still very much anti-Archer. He wanted my help to get on your good side. And I agreed."

I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Just let me finish. I told him I would help because I thought it was what was best for both of you. You just couldn't see it yet. He came to me for advice and information to help in certain situations. It was never anything personal. Not anything most of the public doesn't already know about you. Just enough to get in your good graces."

I narrow my eyes at her. "So, all of this with him was fake then?"

"No! Absolutely not. I wouldn't do that to you. It was just little things. Like your favorite food and condiment. Things like that. Things I knew you'd be okay with him knowing."

"And the sun then? You told him to take me out at night to avoid the sun?" My stomach drops as I wait for the answer. As stupid as this may sound, him noticing that was one of the most meaningful things. Now it's all about to be destroyed by Willow's next words.

"No," she simply states.

I look up at her.

"That wasn't me. I've never told him anything that could connect back to your health. That was all him. Listen Ali, I know this kind of seems bad but I've been getting to know him. He is exactly the guy you thought he was when you walked in this room. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think that."

Her eyes are sincere. I know my best friend, and she's right. Everything she does has always been in my best interest. There's no reason this would be any different.

"I need you to believe me," her voice cracks a bit at the end.

I pull her in for a hug. "I do believe you. And thank you. Thank you for always being there for me."

She squeezes me back. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

"I think, for once in my life, I do."