[6] Archer's Girlfriend

B A D

B O Y ' S

G A M E

"One chocolate milkshake with a side of you," Archer orders confidently Friday evening at the diner I work at located a few miles away from school.

I give a short laugh, a short one because he's started off our conversation with a cheesy line.

"Sorry, but I'm not on the menu," I reply with a bittersweet smile.

Archer slumps back in his barstool in front of the diner's counter where we first spoke.

"I'll sweet talk you though," I say with a small smile.

He shrugs and moves his face closer to mine, not at all bothered by intimacy.

I find his ear and whisper into it some of my best sweet nothings once more, "Cannoli, Tres Leche, Scones, Macaroons-"

He moves his head to the point his lips are almost against mine, our breaths intertwining.

"We've got about a centimeter in-between us, I wouldn't be a smart ass if I was you. One slip up and our lips could touch."

I move myself a little back, backing away slowly from him. I prepare his milkshake and come out from around the counter to deliver it and seat a group of new customers at the door.

Once I'm in the close distance he wraps an arm around my waist, I jump at his touch. He catches the milkshake before it can fall out of my hands.

"Sorry, my arm moved on its own," he says as if it wasn't obvious that he was trying to get under my skin.

I smack him gently and he makes a fake pained expression.

I chuckle and subsequently seat a group of boys around my age.

The moment I greet them their eyes pop out a bit. They had to be younger than me because they're acting like I'm the first girl they've seen. The boys were girl crazy and looked with lustful eyes.

The boys follow me to the counter and I seat them a mere seat away from Archer. Archer sips his milkshake and makes a few glances at the boys.

I make my way back around the counter and give the teen boys a couple menus.

"What can I get you to drink?" I ask one of them.

He shuffles quickly to the drinks page of the menu.

"Cherry Coke," he rushes out, giving me a smirk.

His flirtation is so incredibly forced that I'm almost laughing.

Archer whistles for me, I excuse myself from the boys and slide over to him.

"Yeah?" I ask, not a fan of catcalling and similar calls for attention.

He glances at the boys before quietly saying, "Tell them off."

I raise an eyebrow.

"For what? Being hormonal teenage boys." I reply, a bit confused.

He shoos me off.

I continue getting orders from the boys, feeling a few hands meet mine as I put down glasses and such.

I see Archer get up and walk up behind the boys, placing his arms around two as if they're arm rests. He asserts his supposed superiority in the moment.

"You boys aren't trying to steal my girl right?" he asks them.

Cherry coke boy stutters out, "Your girl?"

"She's beautiful isn't she?" he replies.

I smile a bit, asshole called me beautiful.

"She is- I mean no, she's your girlfriend so of course not."

Archer's girlfriend.

The sound of that is funny.

"Babe, see you tonight. Right?" Archer questions, winking at me and dropping a five on the counter.

I pick up the five and put it in my apron pocket.

"I'll have to check my schedule?" I counter back, giving him a real smirk.

* * *

Once I get over with my shift I walk out front to see Archer and his motorcycle parked. Archer's leaning against his bike.

"Good evening, Miss Grey."

I take a helmet from him, ready to go wherever he would take me, myself not apprehensive of him. Archer could be a jerk, but he wouldn't put me in danger.

"Good evening, asshole," I say daintily, hopping on the bike behind him.

"You're as charming as ever," he says with a dashingly fake smile.

I just smile back and he gets onto the bike as well.

"Where are we going?" I ask, Archer starting the engine.

"A party," he replies, placing my hands around his waist.

I furrowed my eyebrows, myself not necessarily fond of the party scene. The taste of alcohol burning down my throat wasn't favorable.

Archer drives the bike out of the parking space and onto the street, the drive is a surprisingly short one and he parks us in front of a bright-lighted building.

Archer and I park in front of a kids arcade and party place.

I raise an eyebrow in the dark of night, genuinely confused due to our surroundings.

"It's my little cousins birthday, I promised I would come at least for the cake," he explains, leading me into the building.

We shuffle past groups of screaming children and make our way towards a large table of adults assorted with children.

Archer makes his way towards an older lady and kisses her on the cheeks.

"Good evening, Nana." he says in a soft tone, one that's not as rough or cocky as his usual.

The old woman messes with his hair and then her eyes move onto me.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend, let me have a look at the lucky girl," she exclaims with a grin following.

I awkwardly walk over and give a wave, not expecting to meet Archer's family tonight.

"We're no-" I begin just to be cut off by Archer.

"We're now dating, I asked her to be my girlfriend earlier tonight. That's why I was late," he says with a smile, deceiving his grandmother.

I don't say anything and just smile, remembering that Archer I were in fact supposed to be fake dating.

"Archer!" a little boy yells, jumping into Archer's arms like I jumped into Liam's.

"Woah, you've gotten big," Archer announces, almost struggling to hold the boy.

The boy is wearing a special hat with the number eight on it, the party hat indicating that he's the cousin Archer came for.

"Happy birthday," I say to the boy, the boy looking over at me with a peculiar look on his face.

He gives me a toothless grin and jumps out of Archer's arms, still energetic at eight.

"I'm Luca, who are you?" he asks rather bluntly.

"Elliot," I tell him.

He shakes his head.

"No, your name is Archer's girlfriend right?" he asks.

"That's right!" Archer says, tickling the little boy a bit before continuing, "I've gotten myself a girlfriend and now you can stop asking."

I laugh a little, finding the fact that Luca had bugged Archer about having a girlfriend funny.

I suddenly feel a thump against my leg and look down to see a small toddler clinging to it.

"Sofia," a lady probably in her mid-thirties says with a sigh.

She's got a large baby bump and looks genuinely exhausted.

Archer picks up the little girl and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

"Sofia, be good to your mother," he says, as if the young girl would listen.

The mother walks over and hugs Archer, the woman appearing to be Archer's aunt due to their resemblance.

"Sofia would love it if you would watch her, she loves her cousins very much. I could use some help once the little boy's due date draws closer too," she says with a small hopeful smile, one hand on her protruding stomach.

Archer just simply nods and hands Sofia back, Sofia pouting as she leaves Archer's grasp.

I turn around to the sound of heavy crying from a few tables away, Archer pulling my attention back to his direction. He leads me to a small table in the corner in which we take a seat at.

"Sorry for all the noise," he says, apologizing for one of the first times.

Family seemed to bring out the best in Archer.

"It's fine, I'm just not used to all the excitement," I reply, not having a large family.

He laughs, I change the subject.

"So, we're dating?" I ask.

He stops laughing and shrugs.

"Well we're fake dating, same thing," he says, brushing the subject off lightly.

"I know we planned to fake date, but I didn't think I would meet your family. Archer, you're lying to your family. They're nice people from what I can see and I don't want them to get the wrong idea," I state, glancing at his happy family.

He raises an eyebrow before saying, "We're lying to a few people, it's all right."

I'm silent and give him a wary look.

"Come on, Grey. Leave the heavy thinking for one in the morning and dance with me to the Kids Bop that is playing," he says, extending a hand out in which I sigh and accept.

He takes me to an open space of the place and puts his hands on my waist.

"We're dancing, not getting married. Lighten up," he says, giving a slight tap to me against my waist.

I put my hands around his neck.

"It's hard to relax when I'm with you. You confuse me," I say softly.

"Why is that?"

"You're an asshole one moment and then you're a gentlemen the next," I say, breaking my hands away from his neck.

I walk over to where his family is without him and take a seat next to Sofia's mother, not wanting to get into a complex conversation with Archer.

Luca starts to open up his gifts while Archer is stuck where I've left him, he moves after a few minutes and then joins his family. He places a small box into the large gift pile, contributing something to the festivities.

Luca finishes opening presents fifteen minutes later and everybody begins to leave, including Archer and I.

"It was nice meeting you, Elliot," his grandmother says to me.

"You too, Clarisse," I say with a genuine smile.

Earlier tonight I heard somebody call her Clarisse so I just followed in their footsteps.

"No, call me Nana," she says, giving me a hug.

After Archer hugs her we're back outside, the weather a bit cooler than when we arrived.

I feel a coat be put over my shoulders.

"Wouldn't want my fake girlfriend to catch a cold," Archer says, a smirk on his face.

I give him a small smile of gratitude.

"You're going to be an asshole tomorrow aren't you?" I ask him, hoping he won't revert to his old ways.

"No promises, sweetheart," he replies, hopping onto his bike.

The both of us head off to my house, Archer dropping me off swiftly.

"Thank you for making my grandmother smile, I think she was beginning to give up on me." he yells out to me, staying on his bike.

I shake my head.

"I don't think anybody could give up on you," I reply genuinely.

He scoffs, his bad boy persona coming back out.

"I'm quite a problem," he replies, looking down.

"Any problem can be fixed," I say truthfully, believing that every problem has a solution.

He lifts his head and gives me a curt wave, backing the motorcycle out of my driveway.

"Don't fall for me too quickly," he shouts as he departs.

I smile a little at his comment and walk into the house.

I wouldn't dare fall for him.

I wouldn't dare.