Bargains, Bets, and Blackmail

Mothers, Blessings, and Beauties

Cover change! Thanks to the lovely westafricxn, I have a nice new cover that'll be here to stay. 

Chapter 22: Mothers, Blessings, and Beauties

"Archer!"

Dammit. His hand twitched against the handle of the car door, and he wondered briefly if he should just pretend he hadn't heard that annoyingly familiar voice coming from behind him. Hypothetically, he could hop in, drive on home, and be blissfully unaware of whatever the hell Serena Matthews wanted from him. He pondered that option for longer than he should've.

"Archer!" More insistent this time, and closer. So much for ignoring her. With a sigh, he turned around, leaning up against the cool metal of the car door. "Yes, Matthews?"

She had obviously run across the parking lot -- her breathing was labored, her hair a wind-whipped mess. She seemed to be bracing herself as she tucked her arms further into her sweater, stepping forward. "We have to talk." Something about her tone made his skin itch with nerves.

"We are talking."

"Don't be a smartass, please. It's your mom." She bit her lip, looking up at him expectantly. "Did you see...?"

He could definitely tell something was wrong now. The uncomfortable feeling against his skin increased, and he couldn't tell if it was from the wind or the cold or the way Matthew's was looking at him, as if she was afraid. "What about her?" He tried to keep his voice casual, but the edge was unmistakable.

She bit her lip harder. He watched, momentarily distracted, as white teeth needled against pink skin. "Just...just look. I don't want to say it, you'll just yell at me or something." She fumbled with her phone for a moment.

Did she really think of him as having that short of a fuse? He guessed he couldn't blame her. He ducked down to look at the tiny screen as she shifted next to him.

Pictures. It was those fucking pictures. He let out a low, pained groan as she swiped, revealing the one of him kissing her on the cheek. He had been a fucking idiot to do that and think that someone as gossipy and social as his mother would keep it to herself.

"She tagged us in it. I don't know how she found us, I guess through mutual friends, and I already removed the tags, but..." She slid her phone, along with the incriminating photos, into her pocket -- "a lot of people have already seen it. Katie's seen it." Archer didn't even have to look down to tell that she was on the verge of tears; the break in her voice gave her away.

To get mad at Matthews for something she hadn't done was, for some odd reason, suddenly unappealing. It felt like kicking a puppy, to yell at her when she was so obviously upset. So instead he did the only thing he could think to do -- step into his car and begin plotting the murder of his mother.

He took a brief moment to collect himself. "I appreciate you letting me know and untagging us and all that." His voice sounded foreign in his own ears. "Just...go home Matthews, okay? That's an order. I'm gonna go settle this." He jammed his keys into the ignition and the car roared to life.

He examined his options on the short ride home. Poisoning was always a good one, but that seemed like a pussy way to kill someone. Maybe he'd just go full out murder mystery, leave people guessing. But no, he didn't have the ingenuity to do that. Maybe he'd just get Matthews to do the dirty work for him. There was nothing in their stupid bet rules that prohibited murder, right?

His mother's van was parked out front, just as he'd hoped. Her and the little brat had moved in most of their crap as of this afternoon, a fact that had both annoyed and disturbed Archer. Secretly, he had harbored a small hope that the whole thing would've fallen through by now, and his mom would be out of his life once more. But no dice.