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She rested her chin on her knees, giving up on the filter she’d attempted before. Who cares. It was confession time, and she wanted some answers. “The tattoo artist. A friend or…did it ever turn to anything more?”
Archer placed his wrists on the table, then proceeded to open and close his fists, like he was squeezing two invisible stress balls. “Just a friend, Tea.”
Tea exhaled.
“But she did introduce me to Janelle.”
Her heart sank in her chest.
“Janelle and I dated for two years, but she broke things off in January.”
She cleared her throat, keeping her eyes on him as she spoke. “I’m sorry.”
He grabbed his fork and tossed it in his empty bowl. “One of her astrology friends told her that our stars didn’t align anymore, or whatever bull shit she was fed. So she moved in with her parents, then remained there as things shut down.”
She moved her legs to sit crisscross, then clasped her hands and placed them in her lap. “And now?”
“I packed my things, dropped off boxes to her parents when she wasn’t there, then moved up here.”
“So you left Minneapolis?”
“Temporarily. I’ll move back…eventually. Things are too weird right now.”
She nodded her head. “That makes sense.”
Archer crossed his arms, his biceps flexing with the motion. “Okay, your turn. Spill.”
“Spill what?”
“Date anyone?”
She flushed, feeling perplexed that Archer Vincent was sitting across the table, asking about her love life. It was too weird.
“N-no,” she finally replied. “No one.”
His eyebrows shot northward. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I focused on school and spent a lot of time with Mom. We moved out of Morristown and I lived with her in a two-bedroom in New Brunswick while I was in undergrad, close to the hospital and to Rutgers, then moved to Chicago for grad school. We spent a lot of our summers in New York.”
He cocked his head again, and the way it reminded her of the Archer of before made her smile. He may be covered in tattoos and give off a cool demeanor, but he still looked like the boy she once knew. Endlessly curious and playful. Always looking for a way to tease her.
“Why do I not believe you? You’re telling me you’ve dated no one?”
“No one. I had…flings, I guess? But when things got too serious I cut it off.”
The red that was streaked along his neck now climbed up to his cheeks.
“I…sorry,” she rushed out.
He stood up, the chair screeching against the wood floor behind him. “Maybe we get back to work?”
She didn’t say anything as she watched him quickly shove his mask into his pocket, then snatched his hat and placed it backward on his head as he left the cabin.
Chapter 10
Archer
Archer carried two folded beach chairs to the circle he set up in the middle of the lawn, flinging them open and placing them down. Then he counted again, making sure he had enough chairs for the owners. The Richards. The Cortezes. The Brambles. The Jansens. The Vanderbergs. His parents. Then him, and Tea. He used his feet to measure out the space between each pair, then turned to where he would be sitting. Tea’s chair seemed too close for comfort, but apparently they were past social distancing from one another now. Even though every bone in his body told him to run.
