Skylar
Twelve days.
That’s how long it’s been since the proposal.
Twelve days of pretending everything’s fine while slowly suffocating inside my own life.
Twelve days of evading “congratulations.”
Twelve days of lying to Valerie, to Josh, to myself.
Twelve days of staring at a pile of bills I don’t care about, while caged inside walls that slowly asphyxiate me…trapped in a house that feels more like a mausoleum than a home.
Everything here feels hollow. Cold.
Even the air smells like sorrow and broken promises.
A haunting reminder of arguments that never seem to fade.
The facade of a life that looks good on the outside, but rots on the inside.
I hate the pristine countertops.
I hate the hideous and expensive furniture.
I hate this life.
I hate pretending.
The way the silence seems to whisper, “you chose this.”
My heart pangs with regret.
I miss the sound of his voice when he says my name.
The careful way he watches me.
The safety in his presence.
The way his touch makes every burden—every ache—disappear.
I jolt when my phone rings, but quickly snatch it off the table when I see Storm’s name flashing across my screen.
“Please,” I plead before he can even say hello. “Just tell me if he’s okay.”
There’s a long pause. The kind that makes your heart brace for bad news.
“He’s fine,” Storm finally says. “He’s back at his place.”
The breath I’ve been holding escapes in one shaky exhale. “So, you’ve seen him?”
Another long pause. “Yeah.”
At least someone has.
I’ve been calling Memphis multiple times a day for nearly two weeks…only to be sent to voicemail every single time.
I finally cracked and went to his apartment complex a few days ago…only to be ushered out of the building by a bellman after I banged on his door for three hours.
I begged Chandler to find out where he was for me, but he claimed he had no idea.
“Storm—”
“He’s still breathing, Skylar. That’s all I’m giving you.”
It’s not enough…but it’s a start.
By the time I reach his apartment, the sky is gray and heavy. The threatening rainstorm the weatherman predicted imminent.
After slipping past security—and that asshole bellman—in the lobby, I make my way to the third floor.
When he doesn’t answer the doorbell, I bang my fist against the wood.
“I know you’re in there!” I shout, earning me raised eyebrows from a maid stepping off the elevator. “Stop ignoring me.”
Nothing.
“Memphis,” I choke out, emotion and desperation burning my throat.
Just let me explain.
I freeze when the door opens. My heart temporarily forgetting how to beat before galloping out of my chest.
He looks the same, but there’s a sadness that wasn’t present before.
Like heartbreak has stolen pieces of him.
And it’s all my fault.
I want him to scream at me. Tell me to go away. To fuck all the way off to a different planet.
I’d deserve it.
But he doesn’t say a word…which makes all the ones I came here to say feel inferior.
We just stand there, two statues staring at one another.
Our eyes and hearts doing all the talking for us.
His tell me just how much I’ve hurt him.
Mine beg him for mercy. For a chance to explain that it isn’t what he thinks this time.
That I choose him.
Neither of us moves for what feels like an eternity.
Until all at once, we both do.
I jump into his arms at the same time he picks me up, wrapping my legs around his waist and holding on to him for dear life.
He exhales like I’ve knocked the wind out of him, and I inhale like he’s breathing life back into me.
The moment our lips meet, I fall apart.
All the ache, all the days without one another, collapse in on itself.
He tastes like whiskey and sleepless nights.
While I’m an open wound full of remorse and regret.
My back meets the wall as his hands frame my face—tender, frantic.
Like someone who hasn’t stopped missing me, even though he’s tried to.
My grip on him tightens…like someone who should set him free…but won’t ever be able to let him go.
He reaches for the button on my jeans, just as I reach for the waistband of his sweatpants, shoving them down his hips.
We both laugh when he takes a step and trips over them, causing us to fall on top of his bed in a clumsy heap.
Tugging his t-shirt over his head, I open for him. Ready. Needy. Desperate.
With a low groan, he wedges himself between my thighs. I cry out when he fills me, stretching me as I mold around him.
Our hips meet with every deep thrust.
We move together as if we were always meant to…like our souls are remembering something sacred that was written in the stars.
It’s not about apologies or explanations.
It’s about finding the missing piece of your heart that makes it function the way it always should have.
Every thrust, every kiss, every touch, every moan and ragged breath says what words can’t.
Like the world has been off its axis, and now it’s snapping back into place.
I listen to his heartbeat as we lie together in the afterglow, a mess of tangled bedsheets and limbs.
I’ve never seen the inside of Memphis’s apartment before.
It’s the perfect combination of tidy and lived-in at the same time. The lights aren’t too bright or glaring. The updated appliances are modern without being flashy or too high-tech. The furniture is basic but sleek.
It’s modest and no-frills, just like Memphis.
Aside from his purple silk sheets.
The city hums faintly in the distance, yet somehow it feels a million miles away.
I nuzzle into his chest. “It’s so peaceful here.”
Serene.
“Yeah.”
Sunset filters through the blinds as his fingers trace slow circles down my back, keeping me rooted to the earth.
Guess it decided not to rain after all.
He stares at me for a long time.
I take a deep breath, preparing to tell him the reason I seemingly accepted Josh’s proposal.
However, his next words stop me in my tracks.
“I’m in love with you.”
Not rushed. Not hesitant. Just…certain.
Like he’s accepted this as an unequivocal truth.
The same way he’s accepted that the earth is round, and the sky is blue.
Because it just is.
His quiet, yet seismic admission hangs between us like an invisible, but iron-clad string.
The words I want to say rise in my throat, fighting their way through the surface.
But right before they do, his phone starts ringing.
He groans, rolling toward the nightstand. “Shit. It’s Valerie. I promised I’d pick her up from the airport.”
I adore Valerie but the woman’s timing couldn’t be worse.
Disappointment floods my chest as he starts grabbing for his clothes.
“Wait.” I sit up, clutching the sheet to my chest.
I can’t let him walk out that door until he knows I have no intention of marrying Josh.
Steeling myself, I tell him everything.
About the heroin I found in Josh’s hoodie.
The proposal.
The panic.
He listens. Silent. Processing.
“I only said yes so he’d go to rehab,” I finish, voice trembling. “I swear to you, Memphis. I didn’t choose him. Not this time. Not ever again.”
I fully intend to tell Josh it’s over after he gets out. I’m hopeful he’ll handle it better this time around because he’ll have a counselor, a sponsor…and a support system other than me.
But I suppose that’s a tomorrow—or rather, next month—problem.
He stares at my bare ring finger. I don’t miss the flicker of relief in his eyes. “Okay.”
I blink. “Okay?”
Leaning over, he cups my face in his hands. “I trust you.” He kisses my forehead. “I love you.”
I want to say it back—so badly—but Memphis deserves more than words. He deserves actions.
This way he never has to doubt that he’s my one and only choice.
“I won’t hurt you again.” I hold his stare. “I promise.”
And God help me, I’ll die before I ever break it.
His mouth curves into a smile that feels like walking into a warm, cozy cabin after being stuck out in a blizzard. “You’ll be here when I get back, right?”
I return his smile. “Yeah.”
He gives me a quick, gentle kiss. “Okay.”
“There you go with that word again.”
Laughing, he toes on his shoes and heads for the door…but not before glancing back at me. “I’ll bring you back some food. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I whisper after the door clicks shut.
So damn much.
I sink into sheets that smell like him—Irish Spring soap, oranges, and safety.
For the first time, the ache in my chest isn’t from fear.
It’s because I feel whole.
It’s because my heart made the right choice.
It’s because I finally found home.
And I never want to leave.