“But—”
“You’re gonna push me away until you can be sure this week won’t ever happen again.” And yet, I hold her tighter. Nearer. “You’re gonna retreat into that woman I first met, the one who doesn’t need anybody, the one who refused to show emotion or weakness.”
“Archer—”
“I’m gonna get a version of you typically reserved for random strangers in the street. Polite detachment, professional indifference. If I let up for even a second, you’re going to shove more and more space between us, because this week reminded you vulnerability is sometimes repaid with absolute fuckingagony, and the fear of experiencing it again is almost too much to bear. It’s terrifying.”
Her eyes dance with unshed tears, glittering under the summer sun. “Did you read a psych book in your spare time this week?”
I choke out a pathetic, watery laugh. “No. But I studyyouevery chance I can get. I know it hurt, baby, and I know that pain doesn’t disappear just because we’re back in the same space again. I know your body remembers, and your nervous system is shot to shit. I know we can swim and kiss and hug and everything canappearto be back to normal, but inside, your brain will still torment you.”
She blinks, blinks, blinks, squeezing a fresh, heartbreaking tear onto her cheek. “I don’t know how to turn it off.”
“You can’t.” I inch forward and collect her fallen tear on the tip of my tongue. “That’s gonna be my job.”
Her breath comes out in a shuddering exhale.
“You thought I was obsessed with you before?” I wrap my fingers around the back of her neck, tilting my head to the side and studying her beautiful eyes, even behind the gloss of tears she tries so hard to hold back. “That’s nothing compared to how I’m gonna be from now on. You wanna sit? You’ll sit on my lap.”
She chokes out a sobbing snicker.
“You wanna eat? I’ll feed you.”
“Archer—”
“You wanna fucking breathe? I’ll be right there, inhaling your secondhand oxygen. I’m gonna be around so much, you’ll wish for space again.”
“So you double down on my addiction?” She sniffles,swiping her nose with the side of her hand. “Then the next time we have a problem, I won’t even survive it.”
“Next time we have problems, I’ll allow you a little space to cool down. But, like…” I flash a taunting smile. “You get two feet and two minutes, then I’m taking your ass back to Jamaica, and we’re staying there till we fix us again.” I drag my palms over her cheeks. “We’re two very grown, very stubborn people. We come from extremely different worlds, with totally different upbringings, and that means we’re gonna have different opinions sometimes. It’s inevitable those opinions will lead to arguments—’cos we’re stubborn, remember?—but we’re gonna work through them.Together.”
“And when you grow tired of us?” Her jaw trembles, wobbling and devastating on such a proud, strong woman’s face. “When my opinion and your opinion just can’t find a compromise? When you’re set on your perspective, and I’m set on mine, and a decisionmustbe made?”
“There’s nothing in this world I want more than I wantyou. So if we’re arguing and shit’s getting heated, I’ll choose your happiness every time.”
“So you’ll sacrifice your own?” she whimpers. “That leads to resentment.”
I draw her to her toes and swallow her breath. “I’m not sacrificing my happiness, silly.Youare my happiness. The rest is just noise.”
“Arch?” Tim stands in the doorway, his eyes flickering between mine and Minka’s. There’s no relief in his expression, no comfort in seeing us together again.
Just a flattening of his lips.
“What?” I swing my eyes around the yard. “What’s wrong?”
“We need you inside.” He takes a step back, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “It’s Soph. She wants to talk.”
“Come on.” I twine our fingers and lock us in, then I drag her forward as adrenaline floods my veins and fear, new, but the fucking same, crushes my heart. Striding through the door and into the kitchen, I’m met with Aubree’s stare and Cato’s glower. Mary and Steve are nowhere to be seen, but Tim’s phone rests on the counter, screen-side up, with a call on speaker. “What’s happening?”
“I’m here, too,” Felix growls down the line. “And Micah.”
“And me, too,” Tiia adds. “Thought maybe I could help.”
“Everything good in Jamaica?” Soph asks seriously. “Resolved?”
Minka’s eyes go straight to her bare feet, her cheeks paling.
I lead her all the way to the counter and perch my ass on an open stool, and like I promised, I pull her down and force her onto my lap. “Everything’s okay,” I murmur. “Healing. What do you wanna tell us, Soph?”
