Page 166 of A Million To Fall

I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept at all.

It’s Sunday. He’s off work. It’s the day he sets aside for his family… and me. We were supposed to see each other today. To spend some time on the couch not watching a movie. It’s all I wanted yesterday. And now?

Now I pull into the lot outside his building and sit in my car, hands gripping the steering wheel. The engine clicks softly as it cools. I haven’t touched my phone. I haven’t checked social media. I haven’t thought about breakfast. I just got myself ready and left.

I still don’t know what I’m going to say, how I’m going to break the news to him. I’ve gone over a hundred different versions of this conversation, but none of them feel right. And in none of them am I able to predict his reaction.

Finally, I step out of my car and walk to his apartment. I knock softly once. Then again. I have to admit that a part of me hopes he’s still asleep, or under the shower—that he can’t hear me.

But I hear movement from inside the apartment, then the click of the door unlocking.

It opens.

I smile at Boston—his beautiful gray eyes, the scruffy shadow on his chin and cheeks, the fitted navy t-shirt hugging his shoulders and chest. But my smile slips with the look on his face. He already knows. I came here to tell him, but it’s too late.

His gaze drops to my left hand, to the ring.

I have to explain—I have to do something. I step inside the apartment. The air is cooler than I expect, the apartment dim and quiet, like it knows what’s coming.

Boston says nothing at first, just closes the door gently behind us.

The silence is thick, even with my heart hammering in my throat, my chest, my wrists.

“Why do you have to do that?” his voice is low, raw.

I turn to face him, brow furrowed, confused. “Do what?”

His eyes meet mine—sharp and aching. “Why do you have to show up looking so damn perfect when we both know you’re about to hurt me?”

The words knock the breath from my chest. “Boss, I…” The rest of the sentence catches in my throat. What could I even say that wouldn’t make this worse?

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I couldn’t say no. Not last night. There were so many people—cameras, our parents, the announcement…”

Boston cuts in, stepping closer. “Are you going to marry him?”

I flinch. Swallow hard.

“Are you, Skye?” he presses. “Are you going to marry him?”

My voice shakes when I try to answer. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I want you to tell me the truth.”

“I don’t know. I’ll try to buy time. Delay things however I can, but—”

“But what?”

“But ending things with Archer isn’t simple. Not anymore.”

“Why not?” His tone is so sharp it cuts right into me, leaving me reeling. My brain feels like static.

“Because…” The words catch in my throat. “Because it would destroy everything. Your mom’s diversion—”

He groans—guttural—hands raking through his hair desperately.

“I made a deal,” I say, chest tightening. “You know I did.”

“What if I told you I don’t care about that,” he says, voice fraying.