Page 128 of A Million To Fall

“Of course.” There’s something in her voice that sounds dangerously like anticipation. I don’t allow myself to read into it.

I take a step back. Then another. Finally, I turn around. No point hanging around making things weirder than they already are.

But the second I do, she calls after me. “Boss?”

My feet stop as if someone pulled the emergency brake.

When I turn back, Skye’s standing in exactly the same spot, her clipboard hugged against her chest. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine,” I say automatically.

And Skye just… looks at me, her expression unchanged. Disbelieving.

I try to look away. Toward the parking lot. Toward my car. Anywhere but those bluest of blue eyes.

And then, before I can stop myself, the truth slips out. “I just got done looking for an apartment.”

Her whole posture changes in an instant, face brightening. “How’d it go?”

How I wish I could share good news.

I rake my hand through my hair. “It didn’t.”

“You didn’t find anything good?”

I rub a hand over my face. “Oh, I did. Found the perfect place. Nice little two-bedroom townhouse. In Cassie and Bronx’s school district. There’s even a playground, and they have this after-school center.”

My chest tightens all over again. The place really was perfect.

“That sounds amazing, Boss. Why didn’t it work out?”

I grit my teeth, jaw working. “Credit check.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Her nose wrinkles. “That doesn’t make sense,” she says gently. “Is your score low?”

I’d smile at the innocence in that question if the truth wasn’t so damn depressing.

I shake my head. “More like non-existent. I don’t have a credit history. Like… none. When you’re homeless at seventeen, nobody’s adding you to a credit card or co-signing a loan.”

“What about your car?”

“I bought it with cash. It was really the only way I could do it.”

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “It takes years to build credit. I never had those years. And now I’m stuck in this loop where I can’t get a credit card or a loan because I don’t have an address… but I can’t get an address because I don’t have credit.”

“Boss, I… I never even thought about any of this. I’m so sorry—”

“Skye,” I cut her off gently. “None of this is your fault.”

She goes quiet for a moment.

“But, there are options for people without credit, right?” she asks carefully. “Like housing help? I know my mom has a whole—”

“Yeah, there are,” I cut in. “But those are usually temporary or heavily subsidized.”