Page 172 of A Million To Fall

“You think I’m a fucking idiot?” he spits, nostrils flaring. “You think I don’t notice the way you look at her?”

This makes no sense.

I can’t recall ever meeting his mother when Archer was around. Fuck, I didn’t even know who I was dealing with during girls’ night until Skye randomly said something.

But then it clicks.

Archer isn’t talking about his mother.

This is about Skye.

His voice cracks, just for a second, before hardening again. “The way you were always around last summer. Always fucking there.”

My jaw tightens, but I stay quiet. Stay down.

A humorless laugh rips out of him. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

Jake frowns. “Archer—”

“She’s mine,” Archer shouts, something sharp and dangerous breaking loose in his voice. “You don’t get to touch what’s mine.”

His hand drags through his hair as he paces—like he’s trying to burn it out of his system.

But he can’t.

“Did you fuck her?” he asks, voice so tight it might snap. “Did you… did Skye let you fuck her?”

I know better than to respond.

But my body betrays me anyway. Because for one stupid, reckless second, all I can see is Skye beneath me—ocean eyes, auburn hair, freckled skin. The sound of my name breaking from her lips. The way she looked at me and told me she loved me.

Whatever flickers in my eyes, Archer sees it, the color draining from his face.

“No,” he breathes, like he was counting on my denial. “No.”

Jake reaches for his shoulder. “Arch, come on—”

Archer’s expression crumples. “You did.”

He takes one stumbling step toward me, rage boiling beneath every word. “You fucked her.”

That’s all it takes.

He reaches into his jacket.

A flash of shiny black.

“No!” Jake yells.

A single gunshot cracks through the night.

And everything fractures.

The sound echoes off the apartment buildings before silence crashes down around us.

The world feels frozen.

No shouting. No movement.