Page 121 of The Towering Sky

Cord’s expression grew more serious. “I felt terrible the othernight, when you said that you thought I was ashamed of you.” He moved quickly over the word, as if he couldn’t even bear to say it. “I just sometimes get carried away and want to do things, buy you dresses or whatever, because I can—”

“Just because youcando something doesn’t mean that youshould,” Rylin cut in.

Cord let out a breath. “Right. I get it.”

Rylin knew it had taken a lot of bravery for Cord to swallow his pride and say he was sorry. “Thanks for coming down here to apologize.”

“I’m not just here to ask for your forgiveness. I’m here to ask you for one more shot, because I know that what we have is worth fighting for.”

Rylin knew this was the moment where she was supposed to run forward into his arms, but some instinct of self-preservation held her back. Cord had hurt her one too many times. “I don’t know.”

Cord took a step closer and ran his hand down her arm. She shivered.

“You’re telling me you don’t feel the same way?”

“Cord,” she said helplessly, “we still live almost a thousand floors apart. If you stretched that horizontally, it would literally cross state lines.”

“Long-distance dating,” he joked, and Rylin cracked a smile at that. “I’m game to try, if you are. Or we could start as pen pals first, if you don’t want to move too fast.”

“I just worry that we’re doomed to failure. We’ve been down this road before; there are so many reasons that we don’t make sense.”

Cord leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. “Doomedis a pretty strong word. What are all these reasons, if you don’t mind my asking? And don’t say that I nevercome downTower, because I’m here now.”

Rylin’s anger and resentment were crumbling away, falling in useless hollow pieces down into her chest, to settle there, forgotten. She felt her throat clog in a strange hybrid of laughter and tears.

“I have one very big reason that wewillwork. Which is that I love you.” He smiled, his eyes on her, as if he was willing her to smile too. “I love you, and I have this foolish hope that maybe, possibly, despite all my countless dumb mistakes, you might love me too.” He lifted an eyebrow, and suddenly he looked just as cocky and full of himself as he did last year, when Rylin fell for him the first time.

She couldn’t hold back the words anymore.

“I do love you. Against my better judgment, might I add.”

“Let’s hope your better judgment never wins out.” Cord laughed and reached into his back pocket. “I brought a peace offering, by the way.”

It was a miniature packet of Gummy Buddies.

“Remember that night? The first time I kissed you?”

As if Rylin would ever forget. “You mean when Islappedyou and called you a rich, entitled asshole?”

“Yes, exactly,” Cord said evenly. “The night it all began.”

“Maybe one.” Rylin reached for a bright cherry-red Gummy Buddy and bit into it. The miniscule, digestible RFID chip embedded in the gummy registered the impact, causing the candy to begin twitching and screaming. Still laughing a little, Rylin quickly swallowed the other half.

“Those are just as weird as the first time.”

“That’s because you insist on torturing them,” Cord countered, unable to suppress a grin. “Not that I’m complaining. Better them than me.”

“Really? Because I think it’s your turn.” Rylin smiled andtipped her face up to kiss him.

Maybe happy endingswerereal, as long as you understood that they weren’t endings, but steps on the road. Value changes, Cord had called them.

If Rylin had learned anything by now, it was that in real life, you never quite knew what was coming. You had to take the bad with the good. You had to take a chance, hold your breath, and trust people.

After all, the fun of real-life stories is that they’re still being written.

WATT

WATT STOOD ATthe edge of Tennebeth Park in Lower Manhattan, gazing out at the Statue of Liberty in the distance, her torch lifted determinedly into the flurry of gray skies. The snow hadn’t stopped. It caught in the folds of Watt’s jacket, dusted the tops of his boots.