Unlikely Places

Chapter 18 Under Your Skin

"I don't know where to start," I finally confessed after a few moments.

"Hmm," Archer hummed, the vibrations strangely comforting. "Okay. Answer one of these; Who? What? When? How? Or why?"

I twisted my lips. That had definitely made it easier. It had also made it harder. Taking a deep breath, I jumped in with both feet despite toe dipping being my usual preference when testing waters.

"Pierce," I murmured.

There was a brief pause before Archer started nodding his head as if he had expected my response.

I waited quietly for the exclamation. I expected a reading of the Pierce Lucciano warning label. I expected the yellow caution flag along with a bunch of spewed foul language that would have made Pierce angry considering his aversion to cussing. But I didn't get any of that.

To my surprise, Archer just kept nodding and said, "I thought it might be because of him."

I glanced up sideways.

"How?"

"You weren't obvious the other day Jackson, but you defended him to us. You were uncomfortable but you risked pissing one of us off and I knew it wasn't all because he had taken care of Cissero."

I nodded. I also remembered the other thing he had said to me as he left that day.

"So, um... I might be gay," I murmured.

Archer shrugged which completely surprised me. I had expected a stronger reaction.

I sat up and turned to look at him to gauge his expression. Archer tended to be a-what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of person. I wanted to see.

He wiggled his brows at me and smiled. I cocked my head in question. So far nothing about this conversation was going as I had expected.

"You might be," he acknowledged. "I take it that is you confirming to me that you are physically attracted to Pierce?"

I gave little nods of my head in response and flushed.

Now this part was going a bit more like I had expected.

"I... he..." I hesitated over what to say. I wasn't quite sure how to express the feelings I felt with Pierce.

Archer smiled and pushed me back so that I once again sat back into his body with his arm around me. This time I was able to relax more and I leaned my head onto his shoulder, finding the thickness of muscle and tendon surprisingly comfortable.

"You physically respond to him," Archer stated.

I nodded.

"Since the first night," I admitted quietly. "I get this weird electrical like feeling. It makes me shiver. Sometimes it's a light feeling and sometimes it's stronger. It... he makes," I hesitated before finally whispering, "me tingle."

Archer chuckled but I didn't feel like he was laughing at me. I felt like he was completely understanding me as if he could relate.

"I take it you understand what I'm talking about?" I ask.

Archer chuckled even more. "I haven't stopped feeling tingly since I met Percy. I know exactly what you mean Jackson. Exactly."

I felt him glance down at me before lifting his head to stare off.

"It was scary for me, Jackson. I mean, I had been attracted to other people and even had a few lovers but nothing and no one had ever made me feel like that before. It's a bit overwhelming."