Avoiding The Bad Boy

Chapter Eight

Archer’s POV

I sat at my desk, staring at the pen that I had grasped in my hand, reading the name written along the top half.

Reaching for my computer, I wiggled the mouse, waking the screen before pulling up a search engine and typing the hotel name into the box.

A seedy hotel that came up made me recoil, had Graciela been here? It was the kind of place you paid for by the hour and was in one of the less attractive areas of Atlantic City, why would she have a pen from here?

Clicking off the page, I spun the pen absentmindedly between my fingers, trying to decide if I should go after her or not. She would probably still be here waiting for Janet, I could just walk out of my office and down to admin to get some more pens. It would be a total coincidence to bump into her again.

‘Yeah and she’ll also believe that the sky is green and the grass is blue asshole’ my brain scoffed at me.

Groaning, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing the balls of my palms into my eyes as our conversation ran through my head. How had I gotten that so damn wrong? It’s like Gabriela Frost had the power to just wipe my ability to form coherent sentences. One look at those pretty plump lips that glistened with the faintest hint of lip gloss like she’d been nibbling on them all day, wearing it away. I wonder if she was biting on them because some asshole was hitting on her, I scowled at the thought. No-one better lay a hand on her or I’ll make sure they are eating through a straw for the rest of the semester! No-one touches my Gracie . . .

Woah! OK, what the hell? That’s Gracie, little Gracie Frost, the kid I used to let come with me and her sister when we went for ice cream, the girl who wanted me to watch cartoons with her! I’m obviously suffering with some over protective instincts here, that’s it, it’s like a big brother thing because of Everleigh.

I gulped as Everleigh’s face swam into my mind, head thrown back, laughing at something I’d said. I could almost hear the sound of her voice as giggles erupted from her lips, the same lips that had been in front of me ten minutes ago in a face so similar it made my heart hurt.

Shaking my head, I pushed away from the desk, standing up and pacing the room. Jesus, I needed to get out of here! I was losing my damn mind!

Grabbing my coat from the hook beside my office door, I pulled it open and peeked down the corridor, finding it empty.

Letting out a breath of relief, I wandered down toward the entrance, Janet glancing up at me as I passed her desk.

‘Just going out for some fresh air’ I called out with a wave, ‘so stuffy in the office, I think you’re right, I need some décor.’

‘I did tell you’ Janet replied with a triumphant grin, waving back at me before returning to her computer.

Pushing the door open, I stepped out into the afternoon air, tugging my coat on and buttoning it up as the cool weather made itself known.

Following the path, I ambled my way absentmindedly toward the school and the dorm buildings.

Ahead I heard a raised voice, slowing my steps, I moved cautiously until two people came into sight. The long curly hair that swung around the female’s face told me immediately that it was Gabriella and she furious.

Wrenching her arm out of the grip of the boy whose back was to me, she shouted, ‘is that how I come across? As the girl who wears rollers in her hair to try and start a new trend? Do I LOOK like a trend setter? Is Versace battering down my door just wishing for a crumb of my artistic licence to put on the catwalk?’

She closed the distance between them, her voice dropping so I couldn’t hear what else she said before turning abruptly and racing away, leaving the guy she was talking to standing alone, calling out her name.

Rage bubbled inside me as I stormed toward him, ‘HEY!’ I growled, gripping his arm and spinning him around.

‘What the hell man!’ the guy replied before blinking and taking a step back, ‘oh Archer, it’s you’ he said in relief as I glared across at Trey Masters, he had been the second string quarter back, sitting on the bench to take over from me if I got injured or the coach wanted me to rest for a bigger game. He’d joined the team last year when he started as a freshman and since my time of College ball was up, he’d taken my place as the starting Quarter back for the pythons.

‘What did you do to Gracie?’ I snapped, drawing myself to my full height even if Trey did have an extra inch of height on me.

‘What? Nothing!’ Trey protested, his gaze flicking to where Graciela had just disappeared. ‘Wait, you know her?’ he added in surprise.

I curled my fists by my side, unsure where to go with this, I didn’t want my demons passed around the school and I had no idea if Gracie had told anyone here about her sister.

‘I uh . . I know her from high school’ I replied evasively, hoping the guy was too stupid to work out the age difference. ‘She’s a . . . friend of the family.’

‘Oh, Ok man’ the teenager replied, his shoulders sagging. ‘I didn’t mean to upset her, I uh . . I met her a few days ago and then we shared a class and my friends . . you know what the team is like . . .’

I sneered as an anger I’d never felt before thundered through my veins, ‘she wasn’t good enough for you to be seen talking too’ I surmised. What a jackass, he would be lucky to land a girl like Graciela, not that he was good enough for her, I thought to myself.

As Trey cringed, I pushed past him, ignoring any of his further mumblings, my body taking over, walking with purpose, searching for the brunette.

‘Why are you looking for her?’ my mind whispered, ‘you haven’t seen her in over six years . . ‘

‘I’m just making sure she’s OK, she looked upset’ I growled to myself defensively, ‘I owe it to Everleigh, I wasn’t there when she needed me, I won’t do that a second time.’

Searching the campus, I came up empty and with a defeated huff, turned back toward my office to continue my work. I figured that Graciela had gone back to her dorm room and as I had no idea which of the buildings she was in nor did I have the ability to gain entry to find her, I had no choice but to give up.

Walking back toward the administration building, giggling caught my attention, turning my head as a girl with blonde hair that was dyed pink at the ends latched herself onto my arm.

‘Hey sir, you are way to young and good looking, how are you a professor?’ she purred, fluttering her eyelashes at me whilst I stared down at her in confusion.

‘I’m not a teacher’ I replied, just standing there like the dumb ass I am.

The blonde giggled louder, ‘but you are dressed like a teacher’ she replied as though that was definitive proof that I must be a professor.

‘I work in the administration building’ I muttered, finally realising that she was still firmly attached to my limb, had the girls at this college always been like this? I extracted myself from her and took a step back, placing some space between us.

Blondie pouted for a second before brightening again, ‘well in that case, we’re having a party at my sorority, do you want to come? It’s at Xi Sigma Kappa, the big white building on the north of the campus?’

I blinked, ‘umm, I’m faculty . . ‘ I repeated.

The blonde shrugged, her pert breasts bouncing from the movement, ‘but you are not a professor so you can come hang out’ she explained, giving me a look that told me she thought I was being an i***t.

‘But I’m still a member of staff’ I sighed, scratching the back of my neck as I tried not to be rude.

The girl tilted her head, studying me for a second before smiling widely, ‘well you know where we are if you change your mind’ she gushed, ‘it’s on Saturday, party starts at six, and will keep going till the last guy drops. It’s like a get to know you party so everyone is invited! We thought we’d beat everyone else out for recruiting pledges for this semester.’

Not giving me a chance to argue with her, she waved her fingers in my direction and sauntered back to her friends who had been staring at us avidly, the group closing ranks around her as they whispered frantically to her.

Shaking my head in bemusement, I continued back toward my office, pushing through the door to find Janet collecting her things together behind her desk.

‘You leaving?’ I asked in surprise.

Janet nodded as she smiled at me, ‘early finish’ she replied, ‘got a medical appointment so I booked the rest of the afternoon off.’

Sighing, I forced a grin, ‘well I’ll see you tomorrow then’ I said before turning back toward my office and walking inside, shutting the door behind me.

Settling into my chair, I picked up the pen that I’d abandoned earlier, rolling it through my fingers as my brow creased in confusion.

What the hell was going on with me, why was I so disappointed that I couldn’t find Graciela, so angry that another guy had upset her?

‘You need to hand her case over to someone else’ I muttered determinedly, ‘you have too much past, she needs someone else, someone she likes at least!’

Nodding firmly to myself, I flipped open the folder in front of me, intent on dealing with my other cases, ones that didn’t come with all the baggage that I’d tried to bury away in the furthest recesses of my mind.