Beside Him

Chapter 3// Impossible Love

I blinked.

Once. Twice.

Then I burst out laughing, to which he simply raised an eyebrow.

I sobered up almost immediately when I realised he really wasn't joking.

Sh*t.

"Listen, buddy. I'm wearing puppy pyjamas. Ok? I'm really not your girl." I said, indicating my outfit with my hands as I did.

His smirk turned to a grin as he looked me up and down, starting to circle me.

"You see, the problem is that I need Archer to win this race. Unfortunately, he doesn't have enough motivation yet and Fyn, that's the guy he's going against, is most likely to give you a little sexy time with his eyes when he sees you. I just need you to make your boyfriend jealous. And I'll give him double his money." He says as a compromise.

I purse my lips. "He's not my boyfriend and he won't get jealous." I state simply.

He smirks. "So you'll do it?"

"Sure but I don't know what I'm supposed to wear. I mean, I'm wearing frikking puppy shirts."

"Don't you worry about that, princess. Just go to that girl over there and she'll sort you out." He says and guides me over to a girl.

Tall, blonde, pretty. Clearly his sister.

They share a few words before she gives me a once over and takes my hand, leading to a little tunnel thing that the players usually come out from.

She hands me a some denim blue short shorts, a tank top and a red flannel.

I raise a brow.

She indicates with her hands for me to get changed and turns around.

I frown. Then I think, 'what the hell? Who can say that the old River Harrison is dead?'

This is the type of thing the old me would do. Stupid things.

So I quickly strip out of my clothes and put on the thing that she gives me.

The shorts are a little too short, barely covering my bum.

But damn I know I look good the second I step out into the stadium.

The crowd immediately burst into cheer, wolf whistles coming at me left right and centre.

I wink, twirling my hair around my finger.

I walk with a strut in my steps, somehow managing to make my beige vans sexy.

I'm a legend, I know.

I make it to the two cars and my gaze lands on Archer. He's glaring straight ahead at me, his jaw locked and his eyes dark.

I smirk and move my gaze to the other guy who seems to be undressing the minimal clothing I have on with his eyes.

I roll my eyes, holding the unloaded gun up with my arm straight.

The other guy, Fyn or whatever hollers, "Go on sexy. Do your thing. Let me win this race and I'll take you home as a trophy."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, instead looking to Archie. His left eye twitched, his grip on the wheel becoming deadly.

Just as I'm about to press the gun, the intercom screeches to life again.

"Let's make a deal boys." The voice, which I know recognise as Luca, exclaims. "Whoever wins this race, gets to take this sexy hotness home."

My jaw drops. Ok, this I never agreed to. Just as I'm about to speak out, Fyn shout out 'deal.'

I tentatively look over to Archie whose eyes are lit with anger.

He simply nods and I grit my teeth.

Well, if the other guy wins I'll just use my teleportation skills to get away from him.

"Ready?" The intercom says and I raise my hand once more.

"Set..."

Five seconds later I shoot the gun, both cars speeding ahead of me just as I do.

The adrenaline that I just felt. F*ck.

I turned on my heel as the cars drove past, my eyes trained on the black one that contained Archie. He was losing at the moment, but I had a feeling it was part of the plan.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a hand on my wrist and I looked up at Luca with a scowl.

"I'm not a f*king chocolate cake. Don't bet on me like I am. If Archer loses there is no chance in mercury that I am going home with the other nonce." I said angrily and Luca burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he did. I raised an eyebrow.

"God, you are so cute. I'm not surprised you've got Archer wrapped around your little finger. Especially with that sexy British accent." He said with a wink and I roles my eyes.

His grip on my wrist tightened as he pulled me away.

I looked at him in anger. "Why did you move me?" I ask and just as I get to the e of me, both cars speed past, this time with Archie in front, his expression looking ready to kill.

I laugh nervously, turning to face Luca as he raises an amused eyebrow, crossing his arms. "That's why." He says with a smirk and I nod, pursing my lips.

"Taa." I say and he full out laughs, causing me to smile.

"God,that was such a British was of saying thank you. When did you move here anyway?" He asked once he'd finished laughing.

"I moved permanently about 8 years ago. But I've been coming and going since I was born." I say with a shrug and he nods.

"Right, I need to go. The race is almost--" he gets interrupted by the cars going past us again, this time with both Archie and Sir-creep-a-lot at the same position."--over. One more lap and you're off with one of the boys." He says and I glare.

There is no way in hell that I am going home with the nonce.

"By the way, you should give me a ring. Here's my number." And with that, he hands me a card, turns around and walks off.

I stare at the card before grinning and stuffing it in my back pocket. The cars zoom past me once more but before I can see who won, they go ahead with Archie behind the nonce.

My heart drops. No, Archie couldn't have lost. That's not possible. Archie would win. He would win for me. He has to.

"And the winner of both the race and the girl is," Luca says over the intercom and pauses for dramatic effect because he's a prick."Archer King!"

I let out a huge sigh of relief, my hands resting on my knees. Then I full out sprint to the cars to see Fyn staring daggers at both me and Archie and Archie glowing, his face with a very prominent and 'in your face loser' smirk.

I grinned before running into his arms, causing him to stumble back in shock but he caught me quickly, his arms going around my waste as he spun me around.

I screeched in excitement as he chuckled quietly, the sound making me even happier.

"You won! You won! I knew it!" I shouted once he'd put me down, jumping up and down as I did.

"I'll get you next time, sexy." Fyn called over his shoulder as him and his friends laughed.

Archie's excitement immediately died,his eyes turning angry.

"What the f*ck were you thinking?" He growled and I blinked, shocked at his sudden change in attitude.

"Whaa?" I said, completely incapable of forming proper words, not just from how absolutely and undeniably hot he looked when angry but also from how close we were standing.

"Do you realise that if Luca wasn't standing right beside you, some i***t from the bleachers would have come and had his way with you. Whether you wanted to or not? Do you f*****g realise that if I'd lost that race, Fyn would have taken you home and done god knows what with you, probably ensuring that you never return home to your parent's again?-" he was about to continue before I cut him off.

"You would've never lost to Sir-nonce-a-lot. And Luca was with me, so it's cool." I said with a shrug and the anger in his eyes immediately vanished, a small, ever so slight, smile taking his features instead.

I gasped unintentionally, biting my lip once I closed my mouth again. My eyes were zoned into his lips, where a smile, not a smirk, a smile lay.

"Sir-nonce-a-lot?" He asked with amusement in his eyes and I couldn't stop staring at him.

He was so f*****g gorgeous.

His sharp jaw, his high cheek bones, his faint stubble, his mossy green eyes, even his straight nose was beautiful. He was perfect in the looks department. Completely. Perfect.

And I had a strange feeling that the 'imperfections' in his personality were things that I'd always loved. Ever since I first saw him, as a little 5 year old boy, sitting next to a (get ready for irony) lake, not river, where he threw pebbles.

I was not in love with Archer King. I couldn't be.

They said it was impossible to fall in love with him since he showed so little of his personality. I'd known him since I was 5 years old, and could confirm that fact myself.

But in that moment, seeing his smile, his eyes lit up...In that moment I knew. I knew that it wasn't impossible at all.

It was very much possible, and very much likely.