Page 163 of A Million To Fall

I don’t have to do anything else. Cheering and clapping crash over us like a Poseidon wave, drowning me. Archer jumps up and slips the ring onto my left ring finger. He pulls me against his solid body, takes my face into his hands, and kisses me deeply.

Oh my god.

I’m engaged to Archer Longfellow.

forty-seven

Boston

My key sticks for a second, but then the lock gives, and I step into the quiet. The apartment’s dark, still faintly warm from the late sun that seeped in through the blinds. I don’t usually run the A/C. It’s a luxury I haven’t gotten used to yet.

I close the door behind me, deadbolt it, and let out a deep breath, floating in the silence. There’s no one here to worry about but me.

I toe off my shoes and line them up neatly next to the only other pair of shoes I own. My keys go on the nail in the wall, my wallet onto the kitchen counter.

Then I walk into my bedroom. The thought hits me all over again—what it means to have this. Four walls, a lock that works, a bathroom no one else uses, a real fucking bed that doesn’t come with strings attached.

This is mine. My home. I can build from here, create a future. For me, for my siblings… maybe for—

My phone buzzes in my pocket, dragging me out of my head. Probably a good thing, since I was two seconds from spiraling into thoughts of Skye again. Which, given everything that’s happened, is dangerous territory. Especially when I’m alone.

I glance at the screen and answer. “Hey, man.”

“Hey, Boss,” Jake says. “What’re you up to?”

“Nothing. Literally,” I say with a quiet laugh, sinking onto my mattress. It’s impossibly comfortable. “Just got home from work. You? All done with the Longfellow soiree?”

“Nah, the thing’s still going. I just stepped away for a minute. There are, like, three hundred people here. At least.”

I let out a low whistle.

“Yeah. Archer’s dad announced he’s running for Minnesota Attorney General, so it’s a whole thing. Donors, press, schmooze city.”

“Sounds fun.” It doesn’t. It sounds like the seventh circle of hell.

Jake doesn’t laugh. “So, I have some… not-so-great news.”

My muscles tense. “Okay?”

He hesitates. I can hear in his breath how hard it is for him to say whatever’s coming. That’s not a good sign. All I can think is that my mom’s name came up? Maybe Mr. Longfellow used her as an example of how he’s going to fight crime or something like that?

Jake exhales. “Archer just proposed to Skye.” He pauses, like he’s giving me a second to breathe before he adds, “And she said yes.”

Silence.

I stare at the blank bedroom wall, letting the words settle like dust. They don’t make sense at first. They just… hang there.

“Oh.”

It’s all I can manage while the reality of what he just said begins to crash into me like a building collapsing around me.

Skye said yes.

She’s marrying him.

She’s going to be Archer’s wife.

Which means years. A lifetime. Rings and homes and kids and anniversaries and all the things that come with that word.