The Otherkind Book One:Heart

~*~ 12 ~*~

"You do?" He flashed another one of his incredibly breathtaking smiles. "You know, this is going to be very interesting." He was still smiling.

"What will?"

He chuckled at his own private humor and then he seemed to want to put me at ease. "Don't worry. You know them too."

"I do?" I was confused and suddenly apprehensive.

He laughed outright then. "Mm-hm."

I hadn't been paying attention where we were walking. We were at the front door of a very cheerful looking house all decked out with twinkling lights on all the trees and around the windows. It looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine.

Opening the door he pulled me through the doorway behind him. He was standing in front of me blocking my view. I was more than a bit anxious now, there was suddenly a cage full of butterflies taking wing in my stomach, and my arms got all prickly.

"Hi everyone!" he called out cheerfully, in a playful manner. "We have company!"

"Really? Who Archer?"

He pulled me around from behind him, grinning like a kid. Bettina who had been dusting flour off her hands instantly froze looking very much like a deer trapped in oncoming headlights. "Oh Archer!" She looked apprehensively behind her towards whoever was coming in from the other room.

"Who's here Archer? Tina? What's wrong?" He sounded curious "What did Archer do now?" He came around the corner into the living room which had grown eerily quiet.

"Now?" quipped Archer. "Me? Really!"

I knew who it was, as soon as I heard his voice I knew. The cage of butterflies in me became a heart-stopping storm.

"Rowan!" he looked stunned and then instantly I saw his expression change. "Why Archer?" Anger suddenly blazed up in his eyes.

His voice made my heart speed up. I wanted to die, for the floor to open up and just swallow me. It was just my dumb bad luck to end up at Bryce or his girlfriend's house. I wanted to turn and run out the door.

Archer must have felt that because he reached down, grabbing my hand firmly in his large one. "Looks like we have us a reunion here tonight!" There was humor in his voice.

Bryce looked towards me, his expression now inscrutable, but he definitely was not happy.

That made two of us.

Archer, still holding my hand, was now tugging me further into the living room. "Come in Rowan!" Pulling me into the living room he shut the door behind him. "No one is going to bite you or anything!" He turned his attention to Bryce again. "Rowan needs to use the phone so we don't have the National Guard called out to find her!"

Bryce's eyebrows rose and he turned that glare onto me. "What are you doing here? What did you do?"

Oh he did not just glare at me! I was in no mood for this on top of everything else tonight! "I didn't do anything!" I resented him at this moment. "If you must know what I am doing, I'm looking for answers!"

He looked at me perplexedly, like my answer had confused him. Somehow that made him angrier.

Archer saw his expression. "Easy Gra—- Bryce!"

Bryce looked at Archer as if he wanted to annihilate him right where he stood.

Bettina sighed shaking her head, she passed Archer a look I couldn't understand. He seemed to agree with her unspoken thought. Suddenly both he and Bettina walked out of the living room. Leaving me alone. With him!