since the night before, but his friend’s words were like ice water on the volcanic simmer just under his skin. He backed up to the bench and sat down hard, passing a hand down his face.
“He knows where I am?”
“He knows you took off with someone, and he’s…less than happy.”
Archer shuffled lower on the bench and tilted his head up to the sky. “He hasn’t tried to call.”
“I convinced him not to,” Shen answered easily. “You owe me for this, by the way.”
“I know,” Archer said from behind a faint groan. “I really am sorry. I hope he’s not being too much of a dick.”
“He…” Shen paused for a breath. “He’s not. It’s fine.”
Archer had the distinct impression it wasn’t fine, and he felt another wave of guilt that he’d shuffled Rex off onto a friend he hadn’t kept in touch with often after only a handful of days back in the States. “Can I do anything right now?”
“You can tell me why you called, because I know it’s not about your brother. Did someone recognize you?”
“No, thank god,” Archer said, though he wasn’t convinced some of the cousins hadn’t started to put the pieces together.
He’d overheard one of them saying that Ashton’s sister had interned at the Governor’s office the year before, but unless she had access to Rex’s phone, she wouldn’t have seen more than the handful of childhood photos Rex kept in frames on his desk. All the same, he couldn’t hide forever, and he wouldn’t remain anonymous forever.
“You obviously called for a reason. What’s going on?”
Archer rubbed at his eyes, then stared across the street at Bryce’s car. He hadn’t meant to let himself get talked into the morning on the intracoastal, but Bryce had an arm looped through his and he’d seen Julian’s mom watching him with narrowed eyes and a soft smirk like she was just waiting for him to make a scene.
So, he didn’t. He pasted on his best smirk and told himself Bryce was like every single one of the undergraduate assholes who treated him like scum when he first arrived in Paris. He’d learned to navigate their subtle comments and blatant attempts to get under his skin.
Bryce started the morning by insulting every visible part of Julian. Nothing was sacred—no wound, no scar, no tender spot. But Julian wasn’t there to hear it, so Archer allowed himself to absorb the tiny hurts and he was more than willing to keep doing it as long as he could. The week wouldn’t last forever, and he knew Julian planned to mostly cut himself off from his family after that.
“What is it?” Shen asked again, dragging him from his thoughts.
“I think I like him.”
There was a long pause, the Shen let out a howling laugh which sounded like it was muffled by his pillow. “You dumb fuck.”
“I know,” Archer said with a groan. “I just didn’t expect him to be…”
“Hot?” Shen asked. “I saw the pics, so it has to be hot because his situation is too fucking tragic for him to have a good personality.”
“Well, fuck you, for one,” Archer snapped, “because he’s sweet. I don’t even think he realizes it, either. He’s a goddamn martyr—a willing one for the people he loves. You should hear the way his family talks to him. His own mother…” he stopped and sighed. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s almost over.”
“Are you going to tell him?” Shen asked.
“No.”
“Are you at least going to fuck him?”
At that, Archer’s entire body gave a needy shudder because he wanted to. God, he wanted to. He wanted to feel Julian press him into the bed, feel the hard length of his cock press up inside him. He wanted Julian’s brooding, quiet presence to fucking devour him, and it was getting worse the more he got to know the man.
He had never believed in love—certainly not love at first sight. Definitely not love after forty-eight hours. But he was feeling something tight right around the space his heart occupied, and it only got worse every time he heard Julian’s name, or the rumble of his voice, or felt the tender way Julian’s fingers pressed into his skin.
“You know why I can’t,” he finally said. “It doesn’t matter what I want.” He heard footsteps coming from his right, and he said a small prayer off to the universe that he hadn’t been in earshot. “I have to go.”
“Okay, babe. Just keep in touch and I’ll keep Rex distracted. You know I love you,