One True Thing (10 page)

least something very similar. And I knew she was

right. In my head, I knew. But she hadn’t been

there; she hadn’t felt that draw between us, that

crazy, magnetic pull. Knowing I should say no was

one thing. Actually being able to do it if he ever

did call… well, that was something else entirely.

IT TURNED out I didn’t have to wait very long to

have my answer. Two days later my phone rang,

and it was Archer’s number. I answered with a

wary “hello” and was instantly angry with myself

for how my stomach jumped at the very sound of

his voice.

“Hey, sexy. What you been up to? I’ve had a

crazy couple of weeks, but I’ve been thinking

about you.”

I tried not to let myself react to that. How

much could he have been thinking about me if it’d

taken him almost three weeks to call?

“How about we go out again?” Archer went

on before I could say anything. “I’ve got Friday

night free.”

Michelle’s words echoed in my head. I knew

I should tell him to permanently lose my number,

but even that knowledge couldn’t temper my

excitement. That feeling I’d had at The Banana

Leaf? Maybe it made me a fool, but I wanted to

experience it again. I needed to see if it was real

or just all in my stupid head, and I couldn’t do that

unless I saw him at least one more time. Still….

“What about the other day?” I asked. “I saw

you at The Banana Leaf with that girl.”

Archer was quiet for a moment. “What do you

mean? What girl?”

“The blonde?” I reminded him. “Nice chest.

Looked kinda like a Barbie?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I

didn’t see you anywhere, and I don’t hang out with

any blondes of the female persuasion.”

I blinked, my mouth twisting in confusion.

Either Archer was telling the truth, or he was a

damn good liar because he sounded totally baffled.

“So you’re not bi?” I asked. “You don’t have a

girlfriend?”

“Hell no,” Archer replied with a laugh. “I am

110 percent gold-star gay. Trust me. I’ve never

even touched a boob. Don’t want to.”

I couldn’t think of a response for that. I’d seen

him at that café, I knew I had, and he’d seen me.

But he was talking like that entire incident had

never happened. Maybe he really was just that

good a liar. We were in California, after all, the

state with the highest concentration of actors

anywhere. How was I to know he wasn’t one of

them playing a game with me?

Archer’s voice cut into my thoughts. “So do

you want to go out on Friday or not? I know this

awesome little Indian place. And maybe after we

can go dancing.”

Say no
, I told myself sternly.
Say no.
“Sure,”

I said instead, and just barely resisted the urge to

slap myself in the forehead, even as my mouth kept

running. “Sounds great.”

Asher

“HELLO?” I picked up my phone. I knew the

number. Why Archer’s boss had my number was a

different story. A story called my brother, who

didn’t answer his phone when he didn’t feel like it.

“Hey, Ash. I’m sorry to bug you. Can you go

get your brother out of bed? He’s late again.”

“Ryan, I was up really late last night working.

You owe me.” Archer’s manager and I had this

sort of half friendship thing going, mostly because

we talked so often. He sent me gift cards to the

store all the time. I had a big enough collection that

I could’ve walked out with most of the fall line. If

I ever got around to it.

“Please just go wake him up. I need his ass in

here. I’m doing inventory tonight, and I can’t cover

his shift.”

“Fine,” I grumbled and hung up. I tossed some

sweats on and stomped over to Archer’s room,

annoyed that I was missing sleep to—
What the

hell?

The shit wasn’t even in there. His bed was in

its usual unmade state, there were clothes flung

haphazardly over every available surface, but

there was no Archer. My phone was still in my

hand, so I tried to call him, but it went straight to

voice mail.
Son of a bitch.

There was no way I was going to spend my

day chasing after my errant brother when he

couldn’t be bothered to go to work. I was just

going to have to step up my game or… God, I

didn’t even know what.

I was about to turn and walk out of the room

when I noticed a pile of envelopes squished under

a pair of shoes on his dresser. Yeah, I knew it was

bad to snoop. I really wasn’t planning on snooping.

But why did Arch have all those envelopes? I

didn’t see that much mail for him usually, unless he

just never threw it away.

Against my better judgment, I reached out to

move the shoes so I could look at the pile. The top

envelope was a bill, for a credit card at a store. So

was the second, and the third…
oh my God
. I slid

the papers out of one of them. The card was maxed

out. Same with the next one. I couldn’t stand to

look at any more.

Archer was twenty-six years old, and I

wasn’t his parent. I could barely take care of

myself, let alone him as well. I had no idea where

to go from there other than out. And out was

somewhere I wasn’t quite ready for.

I made the call to Archer’s manager, telling

him that once again we’d managed to lose one

stubborn, flighty person who had the knack of

screwing things up for both of us. After the call, I

flopped back into my bed, ready to pull my covers

over my head and disappear. I hated that I felt so

responsible for Archer. He’d always been the fun

to my serious, the social to my quiet. It’s what

made people still love him even when he was

being pissy and difficult. I just wished he could

temper that fun with a little growing up.

I did manage to sleep for another hour or two.

I wasn’t
worried
about Arch per se. He’d taken off

for fun times with a friend enough that I wasn’t

going to freak out if he didn’t show up. I wasn’t

happy about the bills, though, or the fact that he

was probably going to get fired from yet another

job. But it wasn’t enough to keep me from sleep.

Not when I’d been up all night editing photo shoot

proofs that I needed to get to the client as soon as

possible.

Must’ve been fate that, when I did wake, it

was to my phone ringing incessantly. And it was

Mom calling. I hadn’t been so happy to see her

name on my caller ID since we’d first moved away

and I’d been feeling homesick.

“Hey, Ma.” My voice was gravelly from

sleep.

“Hi, sweetie. I didn’t wake you, did I?” She

still knew me so well. I’d spent a lot of time with

my parents, growing up. Other kids had always

seemed like the wrong fit.

“It’s okay. I need to get up anyway. I didn’t

mean to sleep this long, but I was up late working

on a photo set.”

“Oh, what for?”

I’d never admitted to my mom what I did. The

woman taught kindergarten, for Christ’s sake. I

was pretty sure her son shooting pictures of

women’s naked tits didn’t fit into the world view

of someone who wore puffy-paint sweatshirts and

baked pies on the weekends.

“Just a magazine, Ma. Nothing big.”

“I wish you’d send me some of the pictures

you take, honey. I never have anything to show my

friends, and you’re so talented.”

“I will, Mom.”
When I have something I can

show.
“Hey, listen, I have to talk to you about

something.” I felt like I was cheating somehow,

asking Mom for help with Archer. I just didn’t

know how to get through to him.

“What’s up, hon?”

“It’s Arch. I found a bunch of bills

accidentally today. He’s maxed out a bunch of

credit cards.”

My mom huffed into the phone. I knew that

sound. She loved Archer just as much as the rest of

us, but he’d been difficult at times when we were

kids. My mom had her frustrations with him.

“Have you said anything to your brother?”

“No.” I didn’t want to. “I can’t really say

anything without him knowing I was looking in his

room. I mean, I was just in there because his boss

called, looking for him.”

“He’s skipping work again?”

“Yeah.” I hated the idea of being a tattletale. I

just knew Archer needed help. “I want to help him,

Ma. I always feel like such a nag, though. We’re

supposed to be brothers. I’m not his warden.”

“Then don’t be, baby. You need to live your

own life. You can’t be in charge of your brother

anymore.”

“I wish he’d move home.”
Then I could move

on and not worry about him constantly.

“We both know that will never happen.”

“Yeah. It won’t.” I sighed into the phone,

feeling every one of my twenty-six years weighing

down on me like they were a hundred.

“No more Archer. What’s happening with

you? Have you seen anyone since you and Charles

broke up?”

“I ran into this guy—” I realized it would

sound crazy.
I’ve seen him twice, but both times I

froze, and I’ve still not managed to talk to him.

Because I’m an idiot.

“And?”

“And nothing yet. I didn’t get his number. But

I think he lives around here. I’ve seen him twice.”

“And do you think he’s… you know?

Interested?”

I laughed. That was mom’s way of checking

my gaydar. “Yeah, Mom. Pretty sure.”

“Well, go out and find this boy! Have fun.

Make love under the moon or something.”

“M-Mom!” I sputtered. Sometimes the things

that came out of her mouth shocked the hell out of

me.

She chuckled. “Sometimes I worry more

about you than Archer, love. Just have fun. I don’t

want you to waste your youth being so serious.”

“Me neither.”

I hung up the phone in an odd mood. My mom

had given me permission to ignore Archer’s

problems and try to find my own happiness. I

supposed I didn’t need her permission, but it felt

good to have it all the same.

Now I just had to follow through.

Chapter Five

Dusty

“HEY, Dusty, did you want me to—oh… are you

going out somewhere?”

I paused in the middle of slicking on some lip

gloss and glanced at Rue in the mirror mounted

above my dresser. He stood in the doorway of my

bedroom dressed in a black cami and a pair of

black shorts smattered with rainbow-colored

hearts, his dark hair tucked under a purple

kerchief, green eyes a bit wide with surprise.

“We were about to fire up the grill,” he went

on after a moment. “Will you be around for

dinner?”

I shook my head and recapped the lip gloss,

tossing it into my makeup drawer. “No, I’m

meeting up with Archer, actually. We’re having

Indian food.”

“Oh.” Rue’s eyes got a little wider. “I thought

you hadn’t heard from him since that first time….”

I shrugged lightly. “He called earlier this

week. I’m gonna give it another shot, see how

things go.”

Rue was silent for a few seconds. “That’s

cool,” he said eventually. “You look good, by the

way. Is that a new shirt?”

I grinned and turned to face him. “Yeah.”