Page 201 of Three Reckless Words

I’m just glad I noticed that boot print before I turned off toward the distant buzzing.

When I radioed my findings back to the command center, the sheriff in charge told me it looked old, stamped into the ground for days.

Thank God I followed my instincts instead.

Winnie stirs again.

Her auburn hair hangs damp with sweat.

“Am I dead?” she asks.

“No,” I tell her as gently as possible. “You’re in heaven.”

“H-heaven? This feels like a dream.”

“You’re awake, sweetheart. You’re alive and well.” I risk a look at her to see she’s gazing up at me, her eyes unfocused. She sees me, yes, but she’s not registering that I’m really here holding her.

She reaches up to trace my jaw under my beard, the palms of her hands burning.

“You’re so handsome,” she whispers. “Why lie to me? You… you can’t be here.”

“No lie,” I tell her again, but it’s no use.

She’s trapped inside her fever and whatever hallucinations started before I swept her up.

Hot tears are swimming in her eyes.

I want to wipe every single one of them away.

Her voice cracks as she speaks.

“I… I love you, Archer. If I got to spend the rest of my life with you, if I could marry you, if I wasn’t dying… I would. I’m sorry,” she whispers.

It floors me.

Absolutely short-circuits my brain.

Shit.

If I wasn’t hauling her to safety as fast as I can without tripping, I’d have to stop and stare into space to process what she’s saying. It’s too fucking enormous.

The rest of her life.

Not just a few weeks, a month, a year.

Not just the hottest, strangest summer of our lives, bursting with stolen kisses and fatalistic pleasure.

Her wholelife.

Fuck me.

The sweat pouring down my face in this heat must be getting in my eyes. They sting like hell.

“If my dad would just buzz off,” she slurs, “and if my life wasn’t a wreck, I would choose you. Always. Every time.”

“Winnie.” My voice breaks.

This wasn’t where I planned on making a big declaration of love—hell, I hadn’t planned on any declaration at all—but the words throttle my lungs and I need to get them out.

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