Hushed by Kelley York Read Free Book Online

last week, either. Which meant any evening she was out while staying with him, she’d been with Mick. Talking things over . Whatever.
    “I don’t remember the last time I saw her. Last Monday, maybe?” Roxy told him, even though he hadn’t asked. Over a week ago—if his memory served him right, that was the night Evan had stopped by. “You haven’t talked to her?”
    Archer dropped his backpack on the ground and took up his usual seat. No one else ever took it, they knew better. He’d just make them move. Evan seemed to have staked out his own permanent seat, too, right across from his. Archer didn’t greet him beyond a small nod. It was more than he offered anyone else.
    “Nope,” he said, and turned his gaze to the ocean, watching the water pull in and out. Calming him. “She’s probably wrapped up with Mick .”
    Roxy nearly choked on her drink. She set the glass down on the table with a little more force than necessary, twisting around to stare at him. “Are you kidding me? She and Mickey got back together?”
    Vivian hadn’t told them? Whoops. “She left a few nights ago. I haven’t heard from her since.” When he looked at Roxy, he caught Evan watching him, something akin to sympathy on his face. What the hell was that for?
    “ Oh my God. I can’t believe her…”
    Jordy stepped up behind her chair. “What? Believe who?”
    “Vivian!” Roxy twisted around to look at him. “She and Mick got back together. Geez, Archer—couldn’t you have talked her out of it?”
    Archer’s jaw clenched. “Thank you for thinking I didn’t try.”
    “She didn’t mean it like that,” Jordy protested. “Guess that’s why we haven’t seen Mick-douchebag around, either. Not like he talks to anyone even when he is here.”
    “Too busy trying to get Viv to himself,” Melissa mumbled, glancing around like she was worried Viv or Mick would suddenly appear and overhear. “She could do so much better.”
    Archer exchanged looks with Roxy, who remained quiet. After a few minutes of everyone’s back and forth, Archer couldn’t listen to it anymore. Never mind that he’d only just gotten there. He already wanted to leave.
    And he did. He shoved back his chair, stood, shouldered his backpack and instead of heading inside, hopped right off the deck and into the sand to walk along the beach. No one noticed him leave.
    Hypocritical idiots.
    They could talk about Mick all they wanted, but the second Mickey showed up, everyone would be smiles and jokes again. He and Roxy were the only two who treated Mick with icy civility, and it was only for Vivian’s sake.
    He tromped through the sand a ways up the beach, following the line of the water. Now and again, he ventured too close and it nipped at his shoes. Eventually he took them off and walked barefoot.
    Someone had followed him. He dumped his bag to the ground and sank down beside it, letting the ocean lick at his toes. Whoever it was stopped a few feet away. There was something in the lingering silence filling the space between them that told him who it was before Evan even opened his mouth.
    “Do you want some company?”
    No one else would’ve been stupid enough to follow. When Archer moped, it was smartest to leave him alone. Evan didn’t know those rules yet. The ones everyone else followed without even realizing it.
    “It’s a public beach.” He stared at the water. Evan sat beside him so close their hips almost touched. Archer refused to let on it made him uncomfortable, so he didn’t move away.
    “You all right? All this stuff going on with Vivian and all…” Evan trailed off, seeming stuck with his words. What did Evan know about him and Viv? What did he think he knew? “I mean, I could be totally off-base, but I thought maybe you two were…I don’t know.”
    “We weren’t together, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Archer sighed. “She’s my best friend.” All they’d ever been were friends. He didn’t foresee that changing, no