Stripped Love (Guys Next Door #1) - Baylin Crow Page 0,55

dating my neighbor slash tattoo artist's nephew was awkward. But worth it.

"Thanks," I called out as I made my way to the door. Juggling the boxes and drink carrier, I struggled with the key, wondering why I hadn't just made multiple trips. Once inside, I set everything on the counter and then headed back outside to get Archer’s book. Isaac met me at the door first. He didn't hassle me when he handed the book over. But his stupid smile was still in place.

"Don't say a word." I snatched the book, and his grin broadened before I shut the door in his face. His laughter followed by “whipped” boomed on the other side of the thick wood. Asshole.

Archer had gotten up and was coming out of the bathroom when he noticed me. His eyes lit up when he spotted the cake. "Oh my god, you're the best."

Breakfast forgotten, he popped a kiss to my lips and all but dove into the box. l watched as he moved around the kitchen with ease, wondering why I liked it so much that he knew his way around my space. Snagging a fork from the tray, he set it on the cake box and then stacked his book on top next to it.

"Coming?" he asked, and I bit back a smile.

"After you." I grabbed the muffins and a coffee before trailing him back to the bedroom.

Archer eased onto the bed, settling on the rumpled sheets and tugged the comforter to cover his legs. Once he was comfortable, he flipped open the lid and dug in, moaning around the first bite. My cock took notice of the sound, and I squeezed my eyes closed as I stripped down to my boxers. I’d never been into mixing food with sex, but I supposed there was a first time for everything.

I joined him in bed and grabbed the remote, switching on the TV that was mounted on the wall across the room. "What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care." He shrugged and licked a smear of ice cream from his lips. "I don't watch a lot of TV."

I scrolled through the channels, then the DVR, before I landed on a movie I'd recorded but hadn't watched yet. With Archer's agreement, I hit play.

Archer stuffed himself with sugary dessert as I tore into a strawberry muffin that melted on my tongue.

On the screen, a group of kids were trapped in the center of a giant maze that housed deadly creatures, preventing them from escaping.

"This movie is giving me so many ideas for stories," Archer said twenty minutes into the show as he set the box—missing an entire quarter of the whole cake—aside on the nightstand.

I paused the movie and tapped the hardcover on the bed between us. "You have to finish this book first."

His attention dropped to the unfinished work and he huffed. "I know."

I flipped on my side and propped myself on my elbow. "So? Who's going to win?"

He shook his head, dark auburn hair sweeping over his forehead. "Maybe the sirens? They are only following their natural instincts, you know? While the pirates are purely running on revenge…"

"Or, maybe the pirates because they are so driven by hate," I thought aloud and his eyes narrowed. My brows shot up. "What?"

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. "You could have just agreed with me, you know. Now, I really don't know what to do."

"Damn," I muttered and his lip quirked.

"I'll figure it out eventually."

He moved the book and sidled up next to me, wrapping an arm over my waist and resting his head on my chest. I breathed him in with a hint of primal satisfaction that my scent covered him.

Restarting the movie, we watched the rest in silence. Then it ended on a serious cliffhanger—I fucking hated cliffhangers.

We both decided to stay on our asses all day, binging the entire trilogy, with breaks only to order pizza. And then needing to rewind when our mouths and tongues ended up tangled together.

When the credits rolled on the last movie, Archer cracked open his book.

While he concentrated on filling in the dialogue to the completed parts of the graphics, I retrieved my notebook. Eyeing him as he delved into the story, my thoughts drifted to last night. I brought my pencil down on the page.

‘Unguarded moments stolen in the dark

Layer by layer we came apart.’

14

Archer

Phoenix and I had spent every night together for the last several days. When we had to separate for work, we traded text