Page 117 of All Your Firsts

Our time together exceeded all expectations, and I am in awe of your remarkable soul.

I made a deal with your brother so you could be free. My hope is that you cross off the rest of your firsts, add more, many more, and most of all, be happy. No one is more deserving than you.

Fly free, princess.

-Rush Victor Whilcott

My tears mingle with his words until they swim, and I can no longer read the writing.

“Lex, I need your keys,” I yell down the hall.

“They’re on the... Are you okay?”

“No.” I hand the letter to her.

She reads it over, her eyebrows raised in shock before her eyes get misty around the corners. “He just offered himself on a platter to Gage for you to be free.”

I grab the letter from her and hold it to my chest. “He can’t. I can’t let that happen, Lex.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I need to talk to Gage.”

“My keys are in my bag. Do you want me to come?”

I shake my head. I need to do this on my own. “I’ll be back.”

I race to Gage’s, mere miles from Alexa’s place, storm into his house without knocking, and find him in his office.

“Is this true?” I say, holding up my letter.

“Is what true?”

“Vic sacrificed himself for me to be free.”

“Sacrificed himself sounds dramatic, but yes. He works for me now,” he says, making my heart clench in my chest.

“Why would he do this for me?”

“You know why.”

My chin trembles as a tear escapes my lid.

“Take it back. I want him to be free. You can marry me off to whoever you want.”

Gage shakes his head. “What’s done is done.”

“I can’t believe this. How can you do this to him?”

“He did this to him.”

Twenty-Eight

Vic

Sitting with my feet dangling above the dark water, I’m consumed by the eerie stillness of the night, intensifying my somber state of mind. The night sky is empty, lacking even a single star, as if they, too, decided to stay hidden tonight.

The decision I made to let Rosie go brings me a conflicting mix of unease and tranquility. Contrary to popular belief, the experience of being selfless does not live up to the hype and is not as fulfilling as people make it out to be.

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