No, Arvil wanted to say. I had good reasons to keep it. It’s yours. How can I get rid of things that remind me of you?
“I always hoped you’d come back,” he said instead, offering a shrug. “Not as my fiancée necessarily. And I wanted to return it to you. It’s yours, after all.”
Daisy looked up at him, a small smile beginning to form slowly. She nudged him playfully and stepped into the archery room. “Well, thank you. I’m glad you didn’t get rid of it.” And that you wanted me to come back, even as just a friend.
Arvil merely grinned back at her as he followed her into the room. “I like how you know your way around the building now,” he chuckled.
“I’ve only been here a million time now,” Daisy joked, chuckling as she walked over to the wall of bows. As Arvil had promised, hers was still there, her name still written on it. She smiled as she took it down. “Okay, you might have to remind me the proper stance and how to hold it again…”
Arvil nodded, instructing her slowly. He held her softly, nudging her foot with his own to have her spread her legs a little more. His hand pressed against her lower back to have her straighten it. And when she pulled back the string and the arrow, he lifted her elbow higher. “There,” he whispered against her ear. “Find your aim and fire.”
Daisy fought to keep her breathing slow and even, and she did manage to do so. Mostly, anyway. Enough that it was believable.
But then his voice… He was so close, right behind her. And his voice was right in her ear.
She barely suppressed a shudder as she pulled the string back. When she released the arrow, she released a breath. And the arrow embedded itself into the space beside the bullseye but didn’t get close enough to count as one. She sighed and lowered the bow, though she was smiling. It felt good to do that, to shoot the bow and actually hit the target, even if it wasn’t the center.
Arvil didn’t know how he was able to concentrate properly when he was so close to the woman he liked. Her vanilla scent filled his nostrils, clouding his thoughts and better judgement. It took everything out of him to focus on keeping his voice steady—and he succeeded—and making sure his mouth wouldn’t latch on to her neck. Despite how welcoming and delicious it looked, he could not kiss it. That would be wrong.
So he instructed her calmly, keeping his thoughts to himself, and his hunger in its cage. He could do that much. And then she was firing the arrow and it struck the board, narrowly missing the center. Still, it was something. He was proud of that, too.
“Perfect,” he whispered, still close to her. He reached for another arrow, handing it to her. “Two more to go, yeah?”
Daisy nodded silently as she nocked the next arrow, not trusting her voice at the moment. Heck, she hardly trusted her own breathing at the moment. Her traitorous heart pounded in her chest, and she was surprised he hadn’t picked up on that or the heat that radiated between them.
She blinked before pulling the arrow back, her thumb at her cheekbone to guide it. Letting out another breath, she released it.
And got just above the last arrow.
Arvil couldn’t handle it anymore. Either it was stepping away from her, or turning her around and kissing her breathless. He had those two options. He chose the first one.
Arvil took a few steps away from her, appearing calm and composed, smiling at her.
“Good job,” it was a good thing he was used to keeping his emotions in check. If he was like an animal in heat, more specifically like other males, he would have stuttered and stumbled over his words. But he was Arvil Davis. He hardly got flustered. “Now try it one last tome. You’ll make it, I’m sure. If you don’t, maybe I’ll give you a kiss as a reward.”
Daisy snorted and shook her head. “What do I get if I do make it?” she asked, turning around to give him a curious look.
Arvil pretended to think over it before giving Daisy a look. “Whatever you want, I suppose,” he offered a shrug. “Within reason. If you lose, though, I’ll just assume it’s because you want a kiss.”
“And if I really couldn’t do it?” Daisy wondered, turning to nock another arrow before she felt the heat creeping up on her cheeks.
“Well, then I guess we’ll never know, huh?” Arvil winked at her, noticing the redness on her cheeks. “Fire away, love.”
Daisy huffed breath and pulled back on her arrow. She squinted at the target, aimed just to the right of her last shots, and released the arrow with a breath. It dug in just to the right of the center, closer than the others but not a bullseye her. She still needed some practice, it seemed.
Arvil smirked at her, though he really was joking when he said he’d kiss her if she missed. It was just him teasing her. “Well, you missed,” he patted her on the head soothingly. “That’s all right. You were closer this time.”
Daisy shrugged, crinkling her nose slightly before turning to look at him. “Are you going to try, too? Or just stare at me while I do?”
Arvil looked at her before chuckling. He walked over to the bow section and pulled out a longer one. He walked over to the other target and smiled at Daisy. “If I hit the center, will I get a kiss?”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Daisy asked with an amused smile. “After… You know…”
Arvil shrugged. “I was just kidding,” he murmured, turning his attention back to the target. He got into position, straightened his back and nocked the arrow. Raising his elbow, he pulled the string back—and let go of the arrow, watching as it sizzled past and hit the target. A little off from the center, but still close. “Ah, I missed.”
“I know you were… Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Daisy sighed, shaking her head. She watched him shoot his first arrow and miss, humming as she did so. “Well, I think you got closer than I did!”
Arvil ignored her first statement, head already filled with the magnificent taste of her lips. The feeling of her mouth against his, pressing harder. The way she had climbed onto his lap and straddled his waist. Her fingers, which had woven into his hair, tugging, heat pouring out them. He could still remember the soft sounds that had escaped her throat.
Arvil blinked, removing any traces of where his mind had led him to off of his expression. Instead, he turned to give Daisy a lazy smile. “Of course I did.”
Daisy snorted. “Modest, I see. At least that hasn’t changed in the past month.”
“It’s only been a month, love,” Arvil chuckled, taking another arrow and turning his attention back to the target. He nocked it and pulled the string back, aiming well and fired. It hit the center. Arvil smirked. “Bullseye.”
“Yes, but you never know how much something or someone could change in a month,” Daisy said with a shrug. He hit the target, and she nodded slowly. “Nice job.”
Arvil set his bow away, sighing. He had changed. Terribly so. The whole month without this crazy woman had driven him insane. He could barely sleep without the feeling of her pressed up against him. He had turned into a maniac. Even Noah had stopped with his dry remarks. If she knew just how much her absence had affected him… what would she do?
“Fair enough,” he murmured. “You haven’t changed, either. Still the same.”