Page 138 of Three Reckless Words

Not me.

Never me.

And there’s that ‘never’ again, digging deeper every time with sharp, gnawing teeth.

We get back to Archer’s place after nine, just as the sun sinks below the horizon.

“Want to do anything else this evening? A movie?” he suggests as he pulls into the garage.

“Thanks, but I think I overate.” I put a hand on my stomach and force a dead laugh. “Your mom really took Juniper’s baking advice to heart, huh?”

“She cooks for ten people when it’s only three.” His laugh sounds a lot more genuine than mine. “Are you just wanting to head upstairs, then?”

“If that’s okay.”

He gives me a strange look.

“Of course.”

Great, now I’m being weird.

But the longer I’m with him, the harder it is to pretend everything’s fine and dandy.

I just need space.

Time to process the unchanging fact that this whole arrangement has an expiration date.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say as we head inside. This time, I don’t kiss him and just head upstairs, leaving him standing in the hall staring after me.

For Colt’s sake, we’ve tried to sleep in different rooms in the early mornings, though of course in reality we’ve been in the same bed most nights.

This time, I head straight to my guest room.

As soon as I’m there, I pull out my phone and call Lyssie.

“Hey, babe. How are you holding up?” she says when she answers, bright and cheerful and everything I’m missing.

My eyes fill with tears I blink away.

“Those silly TikToks of wedding meltdowns you keep sending are definitely helping.”

“Hey, it’s important you see how bad it could’ve been. You got off light.” She laughs to herself. “Anyway, what’s new?”

“Besides running away and ruining my life? How do you know there’s anything else?”

“I’ve been your friend forever, Winnie. I know when you’re BSing me.” She sniffs loudly. “And I can smell it now.”

“I don’t know why I even bother talking to you.”

“Because you love me?”

My laugh sounds brittle because it’s true. “Okay, fine. So basically, there’s this guy—”

“I knew it!” she says jubilantly. “Landlord Daddy? The guy you were telling me about before?”

“Maybe.”

“Bingo. Two for two.” There’s a pause, and I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as I listen. “And you have a crush on him.”

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