Honestly, she really wasn’t sure why she let Archie have this kind of effect on her. Sure, Veronica had something of a reputation for having a short temper and also having the vocabulary of a sailor to boot, but usually she never stooped this low. Stomping on a dude’s foot? Was she 7 years old??
But as the brunette navigated, well more like danced her way through the crowd (clearly, the copious amounts of liquor she had just consumed was having its way with her) and she thought about the idiot she’d left behind, a heat that had nothing to do the crowded dance floor began to spread through her. He just… he just did things to her that she could’t explain and she hated it. Really, she hated it a whole stinking lot.
She’d managed to make her way to the very middle of the dance floor and was quite enjoying dancing by herself when someone pressed themselves up against her and the alcohol in her system wouldn’t let her do anything but dance along. Soon enough, she was dancing with him, probably leaning back into him just a little more than she should have been considering she didn’t even know the dude. But a second later, the guy behind her was gone and as Ronnie turned around to see just who was grabbing her waist, her eyes met Archie’s and she hated the fact that her body’s initial response to his hand on her w wasn’t to cringe away.
As he leaned in closer to her again, she rolled her eyes, preparing for him to say something snotty about how dancing with a complete stranger was pretty slutty. But instead he brought up Tommy and wasn’t actually being a total asshole and she leaned back just a little as if to get a better look at him and confirm that it really was Archibald Payne standing there with this hand on her waist, and not just the alcohol talking.
In the next instant someone from behind her was bumping into her and pushing her towards Archie and Ronnie was grabbing onto his arm, steadying herself against him. God, why did his biceps have to be so muscle-y? And as she looked up at him, she somehow found herself saying, “But if I don’t prove it to him… he wins.”
Archie found himself frowning at her words, not knowing if he should be surprised by them or not. In the years he'd known Veronica, almost everything was a challenge, and of course Archie could only play along because he was stubborn as hell. But the rest of the world? He could only imagine what it was like to be in a relationship with a woman who not only made everything into a bet but also one he knew would always win.
It was frustrating. But at the same time...
Archie shook his head down at her, his blue eyes narrowing before he leaned over once more. "You already let him practically handpick your career, you don't need to sign over everything else."
He didn't know when his other hand had fell to her waist (probably sometime around the time she stumbled forward against his chest); didn't really know when they had stopped dancing, but he was aware of his gaze falling back to hers, briefly aware of one of his hands moving the length of her forearm to find her hand, and then almost vividly aware of his hand wrapping around her tinier one, whether it be in alarm that this was something he definitely didn't need to be doing or the fact that he was, in fact, dancing with the devil.
"Come on," he spoke softer, wondering if she'd even be able to hear him over the loud thumping of the music. But considering their current state and just how close in proximity they were to one another, that might not have been much of an issue. "Can we g--"
Archie stopped short when he spotted the infamous ex-boyfriend himself dancing and weaving through the crowd with his blonde girlfriend in tow, his annoyance bristling all over again. Veronica might have been the queen of making bad bets, but despite the fact that Archie had very little to do with this one in particular, he couldn't help but feel a bit defensive. He was gonna go ahead and blame the liquor, not the fact that he was stubborn as hell and still slightly bruised at the dig at his hockey career.
His irritation only multiplied the closer they moved their direction, and before Archie could even really get a grip, the hand he had on her waist moved to wrap tightly around her instead; the hand he held in her own moving to her neck, getting tangled in her hair in the process. In his very last feeble attempt to gain any control of the escalation of the situation, Archie lamely blurted: "Don't hit me," right before his lips came colliding down atop of hers.
germansingergirl
vaporwave
2087
