Page 88 of Fragile Lives

And this is where I let the first tears slip through.

Chapter Twenty-Four

ARCHIE

I blink at the door, still not understanding what just happened. Was she really here, or did I drink myself into a hallucination?

“Fuck, Archie, was that her?” Cherry mumbles from the other side of the table.

“You saw her too?” I look at her hopefully for confirmation that I’m not going crazy.

“Yeah. You didn’t tell me she’s fucking stunning.” Her wide eyes turn to me. “Like stunning, man. I’m crushing so hard.”

I shift my attention back to the door. “Why did she leave?”

“Are you an idiot?” She looks at me, a stunned expression on her face.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“She thought we were doing something here!”

“What do you meandoing?” My brows furrow as I stare at her.

“Like fucking, I dunno.” She shrugs. “Petting. Flirting.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes. “I was sitting on your table,” she points at it, “and you were drinking yourself to death,” then she points at my chair, “with a happy smile on your face. Of course, she thought we had something going on.”

“Why would she think that? You’re Cherry.” It’s so obvious to me drunk, maybe sober me will understand it better tomorrow.

She quirks a brow and crosses her arms. “Does she know that?”

“What?” I blink.

She rolls her eyes and mumbles, “You truly poisoned all your brain cells with alcohol.”

“Cherry!” I cut her off, losing patience.

“She doesn’t know my name!” she yells. “Dumbass! She saw a woman next to your drunk ass. Do you get it now?”

Understanding slowly dawns on me. Fuck.Fuck!

“And besides that,” she starts picking at her cuticles, “you looked guilty as fuck. Like we really were doing something.” After a massive eye roll, she adds, “You’re so dense sometimes.”

“But I was.” I glance back at the table. “I was ashamed she saw me with a bottle again, that’s why I backed away.”

Cherry’s eyes soften. “Oh, my poor Archie.”

Not waiting to hear what she wants to say, I rush through the door, through the parlor, and run outside, but she is nowhere to be found. I run along the sidewalk, looking at the parked cars, but don’t find hers. I take my phone out and start calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail.Fuck! What have I done?

I promised myself that if I ever saw her again, I would ask for another agreement. If she wants a day, I’ll take it. A year—I’lltake it. Anything she’ll give me—I’ll take it. But I would only do that if fate brought us together on its own, and I would not seek her out on purpose because that would be wrong and unfair to her. I can always find her, always, and forcing myself in her life would give her very little choice. The insane chemistry we have is both blissful and toxic at the same time. For someone young like her, it might close off all future possibilities, and I respect and love her too much to do that to her.

I was hoping this day would come eventually but didn’t count on it since I promised myself to never visit Little Hope, so the odds would not be in my favor. What I didn’t anticipate is for her to show up here, at the only other place in the world that used to bring me joy before I met her. But for the past few weeks, it hasn’t brought me anything but disappointment.

Every time I came here looking for relief, I didn’t get any. Every time I expected endorphins to hit when I heard the buzzing of iron, I got none. The more I wanted it, the less I got.

My mind was taken by her. Completely and utterly taken. I’ve never had this feeling before. Ever. I didn’t know I was capable of this depth of obsession with someone.