Page 95 of For the Plot

“That’s not fair.”

“No?” he seethes. “You want to talk about fair? Because she trusted you. And I—God, Itrustedyou.”

“I didn’t take advantage of her.”

“Maybe not at first,” he says. “But you sure as hell let her fall for you without a single thought about what that would mean.”

“I didn’t ask her to fall for me.”

“But you let her.”

And just like that, we’re both quiet again.

He breathes hard through his nose. His hands curl into fists at his sides.

“I thought you were better than this,” he says. “But you’re just a man who couldn’t keep his hands off someone you had no business looking at.”

He turns toward the door.

“Archer—”

“Don’t.”

He walks out. And I let him. Because chasing him now won’t fix a damn thing. The second the door shuts behind him, the silence claws its way into my chest.

“Fuck!”

I brace my hands on the back of the couch, head bowed, every muscle in my body taut like I’ve just gone ten rounds in a cage fight. And lost. Not because I touched her. Because I let her walk out that door like she meant nothing. I don’t even know whoI’m more ashamed for—me, for saying nothing… or Skye, for believing I ever would.

I sink onto the couch and rake both hands through my hair. And Archer… God, the look on his face. I’ve seen him heartbroken before. But tonight was different. This was betrayal. Not from some girl who changed her mind. Fromme.

I never planned to hurt him. And I sure as hell never wanted to hurt her. But I managed to do both in less than sixty seconds. Because I didn’t speak. Because I stood there like a fucking coward while she scrambled for her coat and Archer threw words like daggers.

I sit back, staring up at the ceiling like it holds the answers I can’t find in my own chest.

Skye didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that. Not by me. Not by him. And especially not by the silence that met her when she looked at me, pleading without saying a word. But I couldn’t stop it.

The moment Archer walked in, everything cracked open. Every repressed fear, every boundary I crossed, every rule I broke… it all came rushing back. And the worst part? She looked at me like she wanted me tofightfor her. And I didn’t move.

Didn’t say a word to defend her. Didn’t call after her. I just watched her go.

Because I didn’t know how to be a fatheranda man in love with the girl I wasn’t supposed to touch. I still don’t. I press the heels of my hands to my eyes.

She gave me everything. Her trust, her body, her secrets, and I repaid her with shame. No amount of justifying changes that. No timeline. No job offer. Nobut we didn’t mean for it to happen. It happened. And now it’s unraveling faster than I can hold it together.

I don’t know how long I sit there. I should get up. Turn off the lights. Shut it all down. But I can’t move. Because all I can hear is Archer’s voice.

You should’ve told me.You let her fall for you.You let her walk out like that.

And he’s right. He’s fucking right.

I let my son walk out that door thinking I’m the kind of man who takes what he wants and lets the rest burn. I watched Skye leave without pulling her back. And now all I’m left with is the charred wreckage of something that felt like it could’ve been real.

I dig my hands into my hair, elbows braced on my knees, and sit there, drowning in it. The guilt. The shame. The impossible fucking truth: I can’t lose either of them.

I can’t lose Archer. He’s the one person I’ve tried to keep safe my entire life. Every decision I’ve made, every sacrifice, was to protect him, give him better than I had. I fought so hard to win him back, to make things right for my absence after his mother died.

And I can’t lose her. Because when I’m near her, I feel something I haven’t felt in decades. Like maybe I could be whole again. Like maybe I’m not past saving.