Archer

ARCHER BROTHERS OF HAWTHORNE HALL LEILA JAMES CONTENTS Credits PLAYLIST ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE THIRTY-FOUR THIRTY-FIVE THIRTY-SIX Also by Leila James Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright © 2023 by LEILA JAMES All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum CREDITS Editing: Krista Dapkey www.kdproofreading.com Photography: Michelle Lancaster @lanefotograf Cover Design: Lori Jackson www.lorijacksondesign.com Interior Formatting: Shauna Mairéad @shaunamairead_author Model: Anthony Patamisi @anthonypatamisi PLAYLIST “Sleepless” Dutch Melrose “Not Enough” Elvis Drew, Avivian “Tonight” R3YAN, BLVKES “Apartment” Bobi Andonov “Drinking with Cupid” Voilá “Thriller - Stripped” Jessie Villa “You?” Two Feet “Before I Lose My Mind - Stripped” Etham “Into It” Chase Atlantic “Slow Down” Chase Atlantic “100 Rounds” Tayler Holder “The Best I Ever Had” Limi “Numb to the Feeling” Chase Atlantic “Medicine” Syd “Can’t Help Falling in Love - Dark” Tommee Profitt, Brooke Griffith ONE KINGSTON It comes as no surprise our initiate is right back to being the rule breaker she’d been when she first arrived at Hawthorne Hall. Eyeing the message Elliot sent to our group chat a moment ago, I grit my teeth because I can’t help but be irritated that she left on her own. In the beginning, it had been about controlling her. Requiring her to abide our rules. But it’s not like that anymore. She knows damn well we only want to make sure she gets to her destination safely. So, why would she do this? I huff out a frustrated groan that has the girl sitting beside me inching away. Dammit, she should have waited for one of us to come get her, especially if she wasn’t feeling well. The fact that she couldn’t make it through the final twenty minutes of her class is concerning. Had she lied yesterday about feeling well enough to participate in The Games? If that’s the case, I feel like shit for being the one to okay it because as head of the house, I didn’t have to. Probably shouldn’t have. But Elliot does inexplicable shit to my head. I would do anything for her. Give her whatever she needs. There’s this new, different side of me that wants to see her happy—to make her happy. I haven’t allowed myself to feel this way about someone since I lost Juliette. Sisters are different than other girls, for sure, but I still can’t imagine loving someone and losing them—which is why the way I feel for Elliot is shocking to my system. It’s also so fucking right I can’t see straight when I think about her, much less when we’re in the same damn room. I glance down at the time on my phone. Half past ten. My jaw works back and forth as I ponder the significance. Is it possible Elliot knew we’d have a harder time leaving class to chase her down if she waited to tell us she’d gone until we were halfway through our lectures? She’s smart. But what reason would she have to purposely do something like that? All I know right now is that something feels fuckin’ off, and the more I think about it, the more I don’t like the odd sensation in my gut. Drawing in a breath, I drum my fingers on the edge of my desk, considering whether I should wait it out or take off after her now. There’re not a whole lot of people I’d leave a lecture on the Holy Roman Empire for, but Elliot is one of them. Without another moment’s hesitation, I slap my laptop shut, making everyone around me jump and Professor Darby falter mid-sentence. But I have no fuckin’ time to worry about what anyone else thinks or the professor’s ego, so I shove the computer into my bag before shuffling to my feet. A moment later, I bound down the stairs and out the door at the front of the classroom, giving our professor an apologetic smile and a salute on my way out. Sorry, man. I sling my bag over my shoulder while walking toward the exit of Cabot Hall, and glance at her text again before shooting my own to the group. Elliot Hey. Have a headache. Heading back to sleep it off. I wish you’d have said something. Where are you? I’ll pick you up in the SUV. I’m on my way. Archer Will follow as soon as I can on foot. Cannon Ditto. A few minutes later, I pause my sprint to the parking lot to double-check whether she’s responded. She hasn’t. Fuck. I was hoping— Her silence only pushes me to run faster. Once I get to the SUV and slide behind the wheel, my brain goes on autopilot, and I let myself drift back to how she’d seemed a little out of sorts when she’d come downstairs. I’d chalked it up to her being put through the wringer during the game last night. And fuck, maybe I’ve been more than a little preoccupied with what’d happened between Archer and me. By the time we were in the Escalade and en route to campus, she’d been joking with Archer and sharing songs back and forth with Cannon. I thought she was good to go—happy and prepared to be returning to her regular classes. My eyes wander the sidewalk along the road leading out of campus and scan for her the entire way back to the house. Nothing. She’s nowhere. Once I arrive at our driveway without seeing a single sign of her, I know I was correct in my suspicion. Something isn’t right. Worry crashes through me. She didn’t want us following or stopping her. But why?