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He looked around his bedrooht I wanted to hear I didn’t want to be that girl, the one asn’t forthco But I couldn’t tell Travis the truth about what I’d just proposed to hio

“A night?” He clearly had no clue how to respond He probably thought it was a test, but the only thing I wanted was for him to say yes

“Marry me,” I blurted out

His asp I waited lifetimes until his lips curved upward, and he sealed his mouth on mine His kiss screamed a thousand different ehts of relief and panic This was going to work We would getwould be okay

Oh, hell

Damn Shit Fuck

I was getting married

Travis

Abby Abernathy was fa no Tell She could commit a crime and smile like it was any other day, lie without a twitch in her eye Only one person in the world had any chance of learning her Tell, and that one person had to figure it out if he wanted to have any chance with her

Me

Abby had lost her childhood, and I’d lost e, ere the saoal over the past months, I’d arrived at an answer:

Abby’s Tell was not having one It ht not make sense to most people, but it made perfect sense to ave her away The peace in her eyes, the softness in her smile, the relaxation of her shoulders alerted

If I didn’t know her better, I , but she was up to so to board a plane to Vegas, with Abby snuggled into the curve ofher hand, staring at the ring I’d bought her, and sighing Theabout a time when she had her whole life ahead of her She didn’t knohat those sighs really meant, but I had an idea

It was hard to be happy about ere about to do with the cloud of soabove our heads No, really, it was literally above our heads A television on the wall displayed the local news Footage of the fire and the latest updates scrolled across the screen They interviewed Josh Farney He was covered in soot and he looked horrible, but I was glad to see he’d ht Most of the people who came to the Circle either came drunk or worked their way up to a buzz while they waited for an to crawl across the rooh to sober up even the most intoxicated

I wished it hadn’t happened We’d lost soyou’d want your wedding to follow Froedy could beould celebrate year after year would keep it front and center in ourout bodies, and I was acting like this was an annoyance There were parents out there who had no idea they’d never see their kids again

That selfish thought led to guilt, and that guilt led to a lie It was a sheer ht now, anyway But I didn’t want Abby thinking I was anything but super fucking pu her, she’d e her mind So I focused on her, and ere about to do I wanted to be a norroo less It wouldn’t be the first tiet out of led up next to me

On the television screen, the anchorwo outside Keaton Hall held the microphone with both hands, a frown line between her eyebrows “what the fa: who is to blame? Back to you, Kent”

Suddenly the nausea beca to hold soo to prison? Would I? I hugged Abby to me and kissed her hair A woan to speak, andto board soon, I as I felt like I could have ent instructed us about boarding the flight, her voice rising and falling with the scripted announcement she’d probably read a million times She sounded like the teacher in those Peanuts cartoons: bored, monotone, and impossible to understand

The only thing that hts on repeat inside my head: I was about to become the husband of the second woman I’d ever loved

It was almost time Damn Shit, yeah! Fuck, yes!

I was getting married!

CHAPTER TWO

The Way Back

Abby

I stared at the sparkling rock on , newly engaged girl e diaht that hts But not second thoughts We couldn’t stay away from each other What ere about to do was inevitable, and Travis Maddox loved h was filled orry and hope for my stupid plan I wanted Travis to be okay so ible