“As I’ll ever be.” I grab my purse and one smaller bag.
We load the car in silence. I take one last look at our apartment building as Skyler starts the engine. The place we first moved in together. Where he proposed, down on one knee in the park, promising a lifetime of love and adventure. Where I said yes, believing nothing could come between us.
Now we’re heading straight into the heart of the one thing that might.
Skyler reaches across the console, taking my hand. I squeeze back, perhaps too hard, but he doesn’t complain. We pull away from the curb, both of us silent, lost in our own thoughts about what lies ahead.
Two months. Sixty days. One thousand, four hundred and sixty hours in the Thompson mansion.
I can do this. I have to do this.
For us. For our future. For the home we’ll return to.
If we survive.
Chapter 4
Skyler
My knuckles turn white as I grip the steering wheel, the leather warm beneath my fingers. Rain taps against the windshield, a steady rhythm matching the pounding in my chest. Beside me, Harley stares out the passenger window, her reflection ghostlike against the darkening landscape. I’ve driven this route to my parents’ place countless times, but never with this weight pressing down on my shoulders. Two months. We just need to survive two months in my childhood home, with my parents, with their expectations and judgments and subtle disapproval of the woman I love.
I can protect her this time. I will protect her.
I’m not the boy who let my father talk me out of my own dreams anymore. I’m a man who chose his wife, a man with a ring on his finger and a life built on his own terms. That has to count for something. Before, I was just a son seeking approval;now, I’ve got my own life and ambitions. I’ll be the buffer. I’ll filter my mother’s barbs and manage my father’s silence before it ever reaches Harley. As long as I stay between them—as long as I’m the one navigating the conversation—the poison won’t touch her. I only have to be the diplomat we need to keep the peace.
I rehearse the words in my head again, the speech I’ve been crafting since we packed our bags. Mother, Father, I need to make something clear. Harley is going to be my wife. Your comments and insinuations stop now. We’re grateful for your hospitality, but not at the expense of our dignity.
Strong words. Clear boundaries. The kind of statement a man makes when defending the woman he loves.
But will they actually leave my mouth when the moment comes?
I reach over, covering her hand with mine. “You okay?”
Harley turns to me, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Tired. It’s been a day.”
A day. Such a simple word.
The windshield wipers squeak across the glass, dragging me back to a memory I’ve tried to forget. Eleven years old, standing in my father’s study with my report card clutched in trembling hands. Five A’s and one B+. Just one grade short of pure perfection.
“A B+ in algebra?” My father’s voice wasn’t raised, but then, Robert Thompson never shouted. His disappointment came in tones that cut deeper than any shout. He said it in that condescending way of his. “Thompson men excel, Skyler. We don’t accept mediocrity.”
“I tried my best,” I whispered.
He set the report card on his mahogany desk. “Clearly not.”
My mother stood beside him, her pearl necklace catching the light. “Perhaps we should hire a tutor. The Peterson boy has one, and he’s at the top of his class.”
I nodded, eager for any solution that would soften the disappointment in their eyes.
The next term I brought home straight A’s. Only then did I receive what I craved—my father’s hand on my shoulder, my mother’s warm smile, the rare words of praise that I collected like precious stones. Steven was never like that. If he disappointed our parents, it only made him pull away harder.
“Sky?” Harley’s voice pulls me back. Her hand rests gently on my arm.
I force my fingers to relax, flex them against the leather. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
“About your parents?”
“No, about us.” I reach for her hand, entwining our fingers. Her skin is warm, anchoring me to the present. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted to bring you into my family home.”
