~ Archer ~

I hit the steering wheel in frustration.

Kaitie McBarrow is stubborn as fuck and is a literal pain in the ass. 

Even if she was stranded, with no backup and no way to contact anyone, she still wouldn't go anywhere with me.

What would it have cost her to get in my damn car? For the record, I am not the type of guy whose car is littered with leftover takeout and condom wrappers. I get this baby cleaned out every darn week.

Wasn't it obvious? Kaitie McBarrow hates me, period. Or at least, that is what she has taught herself in that fucked up head of hers. 

I growl and step down on the accelerator. 

And, she got herself a shiny new boyfriend.

My hands clench around the wheel. 

Tristan. I remember the guy. He used to be that annoying fly buzzing around her head, going wherever she went. Like a lovesick puppy. He was a guy so friend-zoned that he had almost become a brother figure.

I should've known. 

Not going to lie, but the fact that he just got promoted to the status of her boyfriend was like a well-aimed punch to the gut. I just couldn't stop picturing the two of them. The thought of his grabby hands on her makes me nauseous. 

Oh shit, I'm going to hurl.

After she was forced to let me stay at her apartment at her birthday bash, I could see that Kaitie was heartbroken. I mean, yeah, I wasn't exactly her knight in shining armor. But when she broke down, he was her rock. He was the one hugging her, comforting her, kissing her. It took all of me not to strangle the bastard right there, in the middle of all those people.

I should be the one kissing those lips.

Sirens wail. I glance at the rear view mirror, and there they are, for the fourth time this week. I slow down, moving to the side of the road, the police car right on my heels.

I remember the way Kaitie backed off when she confirmed that it was indeed me in the car. Like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

As the officer writes me a ticket, I replay our entire conversation. There was something wrong. She had gone pale as a paper when she heard my music. Her answers were weak, rehearsed. 

Like she had seen it all before.

'Is there a problem, Mister?' The officer asks, his eyes narrowed. I realize that I had been smiling like a goof, once I had connected the dots.

'Nothing, officer.' I say, taking the ticket. I get the engine running, and move into the roads.

She was flustered. She was afraid. She couldn't believe her own eyes. 

I grin again, feeling truly happy for the first time in twenty three years. Finally.

Kaitie McBarrow had begun to dream.

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