Annie: If you don’t try, then you’ll never find out if you’re perfect for each other. It could crash and burn or you two may live happily ever after. Love is a risk no matter what.
Archer: That’s the thing, sis. I do love her. I love her enough not to even chance breaking her heart and ruining her relationship with her family.
My heart is beating so hard, it nearly rips out of my chest. I shouldn’t be reading his private messages, but I can’t stop now. Not when I’ve got a peek into his heart.
Annie: I think you’re using any excuse to be a coward. You deserve happiness, and you are enough. I know you probably think otherwise because of the past, but I’m being honest. You’re the best guy I know.
Archer: You’re my sister. Of course you’d think that.
Annie: Everleigh thinks it too. Trust me.
I want to reach into his phone and give Annie the biggest hug right now. It’s one thing for me to tell him how amazing he is, but hearing someone else confirm how great we’d be together means this isn’t just my imagination.
It’s real.
Chapter Nineteen
ARCHER
As Everleigh sleeps on me, I text Annie, who’s determined to drive me crazy. You’d think after spending the weekend with me, she’d get off my back about Everleigh, but I’m afraid it’s worse.
Now that she’s seen how Everleigh and I are together, she won’t drop it. I honestly hadn’t realized my attraction was so obvious until now.
“She’s right, you know.” Everleigh sits up, taking me off guard. “You deserve everything you want. You have so much more to offer than you give yourself credit for, and I’ve fallen so hard for you. Each day, I have to talk myself out of why we can’t cross that line, and each day, it gets harder. Listen, I’m scared too, but being together and allowing me to love you could be the best fucking risk we’ve ever taken.”
“Everleigh…” I say quietly, my heart pounding rapidly. I can’t believe she read my messages. “We can’t do this here.”
Being on this plane filled with people is the worst possible place to have this conversation.
She huffs, leaning back into her seat. “She’s also right about you being a coward.”
I stay silent, clenching my jaw with frustration. Everleigh’s the last person I ever want to fight with.
They’re both right, though. I am being a coward, but I’m also scared of losing her. If I screwed things up, she’d be out of my life forever and so would Tyler.
Once we land in Alabama, neither of us speaks. The walk to her car is full of the same silence. As soon as Everleigh starts the engine, I clear my throat.
“Are you seriously giving me the silent treatment?” I ask.
“No. I just don’t have anything to say.”
I snort. “I find that extremely hard to believe. You talk my head off most days, and now suddenly you have nothing to say?”
She shrugs, pinching her lips together as if she’s fighting the urge to tell me off. I don’t push her any further as we drive to Lawton Ridge. Before we get home, we stop by her grandparents’ house to pick up Sassy. She licks my face, and Everleigh breaks out into a smile. Our eyes meet, and she quickly turns and avoids my gaze.
Fuck.
When we get to the house, Everleigh goes to her room. Sassy plops down on the couch, and I unpack. After an hour, I search for Everleigh, but she’s still in her room.
“Everleigh,” I finally say outside her door. When she doesn’t respond, I try the handle, but it’s locked. Next, I pound my fist. “Let me in.”
She whips open the door, pulling out her AirPods as she scans her eyes up and down the length of my body.
“Jesus. Where’s the fire?”
“Well, you weren’t answering.”
She points at her ears. “I was listenin’ to an audiobook. What’s up?”
“We need to talk,” I say.
“Sorry, I don’t think this is the place for that.”
I roll my eyes at her attempt to mock what I said earlier. “Don’t be like that.”
Everleigh crosses her arms, blocking me from entering. “Fine, then what do you want?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and inhale. “How am I supposed to be with you and hide it from your brother? Or worse, tell him and he kicks my ass, then fires me? What good am I if I’m completely jobless, with no future, and dependent on you?”
She drops her arms, and her eyes soften. “Your job and living arrangements don’t make you who you are—your kind heart and genuineness are what makes you the Archer I’ve fallen for. Tyler will get over it. And if he doesn’t, find another job. I’m not saying it’d be easy to be together, but don’t make excuses because you’re scared.”
“I am fucking scared,” I admit. “I’d hate to lose either of you, and you asking me to risk it all puts a ton of pressure on me to make it work. I know how I feel about you and what we could have, but I can’t promise I’ll be what or who you need.”