Unintended Consequences

Chapter 31 - Archer's POV

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It took every ounce of my self-control to stop this little vixen in front of me. She had no fucking clue how tempting she was. From the second she had walked down her stairs earlier, I could barely breathe. She literally took my breath away. At that moment I didn't think she could get any more beautiful, but now it was only a few hours later and I was proven wrong.

She sat on the table in front of me taking deep breaths to calm down. Several curls had fallen out throughout the night, leaving her looking wild and wind-blown. Her pale skin was flushed with excitement and her swollen lips were just begging me to kiss her again.

I walked a few steps down the hallway trying to inconspicuously adjust my erection in my tight dress pants. I needed to stay in control for Charlotte. This was all new and exciting for her, but I was determined not to take from her—not to be selfish.

Once we were both more presentable we went back into the ballroom and joined the people milling around. Charlotte giggled as I casually tried to steer us into the crowd as though we'd been there all along.

"Hey, there you guys are!" Oliver came saddling up next to me. I cringed as the overwhelming smell of liquor burned my nose. "Could you see the fireworks from back here?"

Charlotte looked like a guppy as she grappled to find an answer. Her eyes widened into perfect circles and those tantalizing lips popped open, but no sound came out. Note to self: Charlotte would suck in a secret mission.

"I could. I think your sister struggled a bit to see over the crowd," I laughed to Oliver. Luckily he was way too out of it to notice any weird behaviour.

We wandered back to our families who were saying goodbye to the other party guests. My mom usually insisted we stay at this thing until the Averys left, which meant we didn't go until the last guest had been bid off. Frustration boiled in my stomach as I noticed for the millionth time this holiday season that my dad was missing.

Don't get me wrong, I loved not having him around. It's just so sketchy how he's always disappearing. I've been home for a week and I think the most I've seen him at any given time is forty-five minutes—and that was on Christmas morning. I've asked my mom about it but she just waves me off as usual and says not to worry about it.

"Where's Bryan?" Mr. Avery asked as the last of the guests cleared out.

"Oh... you know I think he went home already. He wasn't feeling great." Mom said with an airiness to her voice I'd learned not to trust.

We all stood in the lobby of the hotel putting on our jackets and getting ready to leave. Annie couldn't find hers so Mom ran back into the ballroom to try and find it.

"Oh!" Annie exclaimed excitedly as she walked over to a closet door. "I 'member! I put it in here!" There was a moment of pure shock and silence after Annie swung the door open, and then all hell broke loose.

White-hot rage flooded my veins as a cloud of red cast over my pupils. I was vaguely aware of a woman shouting but I didn't care. All I could focus on was my father and killing him.

"You piece of shit," I seethed as I grabbed the collar of his jacket and pinned him to the wall. The shouting woman seemed to have found her clothes because I cringed away as I felt her brush past us. "You couldn't keep it in your fucking pants for one night." I slammed his head back into the wall eliciting a groan from my disgusting father. Good.

The image of my father with some random chick wrapped around him would now forever be engrained in my brain. I wanted to puke when I saw her saliva still wet on his mouth.