Half of My Heart ✔️

34 | test of time

The next day, I find myself unusually excited to hang out with Archer. After my conversation with Levi, my eyes feel swollen and thoughts of dance fog my thoughts as I drive to my brother's dorm.

I knock on the door and even text Archer that I'm here for good measure. Even so, I stand at the door for a good five minutes, my impatience growing by the second. Just before I'm about to leave, I give three more forceful knocks on the door, wondering if Archer is asleep or showering.

A deep muffled voice from inside shouts, "Hang on a second."

When the door swings open, I'm prepared to give Archer a piece of my mind, but I'm rendered speechless, which seems to be a common occurrence when I come by my brother's dorm. "Uh, hi," I say, biting back the mouthful I was about to give Archer. "Is Archer here?"

Jack stares back at me for a few seconds. His hair is dripping wet along with the rest of his body. There's a white towel wrapped around his lower body, and from the sheer volume from water running down his skin, I'm guessing he rushed out of the shower to answer the door.

"He actually left about an hour ago," Jack finally says. "Did you guys have plans?"

"Yeah, or at least I thought we did," I mumble, unsure of myself now.

Jack rubs the back of his neck, just as uncomfortable as I am. "Want me to call him for you?"

I shake my head. "No, I got it," I assure him. I step inside the room and pull out my phone. As I hold the phone to my ear while the phone rings, I watch Jack walk back into the bathroom and shut the door, probably to finish the shower I interrupted. I hear the shower turn on again just as Archer picks up.

"What's up?"

"We had plans. Remember?" I say, letting the aggravation seep through my voice. "Mom transfered money into my account for us to go to lunch today."

It's hard to hear his voice above the numerous feminine voices that seem to drown him out. "I didn't hear anything about that," he says. I hear him laugh at something on the other end.

"Didn't Mom tell you about it?"

"Nope," he says. "Hey, I'll make it up to you. Lunch tomorrow. Wherever you want. Sound good?"

I sigh, deciding that it's not worth fighting with him right now. "Yeah, that's fine. Pick me up then?"

"Yup." I hear a chorus of laughs on his end of the line. He must be having a fantastic time wherever he is. "Listen, Scar, I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too." And I hang up. Then I text Mom to ask if she ever told Archer about our plans for lunch today. She texts me back a few minutes later. Apparently, she told Dani to text Archer. So I text Dani, asking if she did what Mom asked her to do.

I forgot

whoops

lol sorry

I roll my eyes and slide my phone back into my pocket. Well, that explains a lot. The bathroom door opens, and Jack steps out. He looks a lot drier as if he had more time to towel off before coming out, but the towel is still wrapped around his hips. The material is draped just low enough to accentuate the deep ridge of muscle forming a V-shape toward his . . .

I stare at the dresser to keep my eyes off him.

"Archer seems to be at some sort of mid-day party," I inform him, standing up. "We're just gonna get lunch tomorrow. So I'll just . . . get going."

He nods and opens his closet. "Any other plans for today?" He asks, making small talk even though I'm leaving.

"No," I say. I wish I did have plans just so I wouldn't sound so pathetic. "Maybe I'll invite Mya over to watch a movie or something back at my place."