Page 101 of One Last Encore

A teasing spark danced in his eyes before he gave her the lightest nudge, just enough to tip her back a breath beyond safety. Her head dipped back, hair spilling into the breeze, the city blurring beneath her.

All she could feel were his hands, steady at her waist. The way her breath stalled in her chest. The wind slipping through her hair. And in that sliver of stillness, it was only the two of them, suspended in the hush between falling and flying.

"I won’t let you fall," he said, voice like a promise.

She gripped the railing, but not from fear. Her pulse raced because of him, because of the way he looked at her. The way he always looked at her, as if she were something rare, something worth holding in both hands and never letting go. She wanted to trust that gaze. And the truth was, she already did. She had fallen in love with him. Quietly, completely, without even realizing when.

"Too late," she whispered, her voice barely more than a sigh, carried away by the breeze.

His gaze found hers, deep indigo catching the last streaks of gold as the sun slipped low on the horizon. She had spent so long trusting gravity, control, precision— the steady rhythms she could count on, the rules that anchored her to the world. But with him, gravity had deserted her, silent and sudden, slipping through her fingers like smoke. She was in free-fall, and she hadn’t even noticed until she was already gone.

For a breath, surprise flickered in his eyes, as if he hadn’t let himself believe. Then came that crooked smile, slow, radiant, and devastating. The kind of smile that turned the world soft at the edges, that made her feel like time itself had faltered just to watch him look at her like that.

She gave him a light push and turned, fingers trembling as she reached into her purse. Past coins and crumpled receipts, she found a five-dollar bill. The one he’d teased her about weeksago, the one that had started as a joke but had somehow become something more.

She pressed it gently to his chest, smoothing it over his heart. Then she leaned in and kissed its center, leaving behind a mauve imprint.

When she stepped back, her heart thundered in her ribs. She waited for his laugh, a quip, anything to break the stillness.

But he only stared at her, stunned, as if the moment had knocked the breath clean out of him. Then his smile returned, slower this time, softer. Like he’d known it all along.

Three months ago, he had made a bet. Said she’d fall in love. Said she’d believe. And now she did.

"You win," she whispered.

She pressed the crumpled bill more firmly against his chest, against the steady thud of his heart beneath her fingertips.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

His heartbeat pounded against her palm, a frantic mirror of her own. The vibration surged through her, a current of something bigger than either of them.

"Yeah," he murmured, voice soft but sure, his hand covering hers and crumpling the bill between their fingers. "I did."

And then, before she could take another breath, he kissed her. His lips moved against hers like he needed this, needed her, like she was the only thing keeping him upright.

His hands gripped her waist, pulling her closer, like he was afraid she might vanish. Every movement, every brush of his lips, felt like him whisperingYou’re here. You’re real. This is real.

By the time he pulled back, they were both breathless, foreheads resting together, their breath mingling in the crisp air.

"Thank you," he murmured, so quietly it almost got lost in the wind.

Her brows furrowed slightly. "For what?"

His throat bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes searching hers with a rawness that sent her heart tumbling all over again.

"For showing me what life’s supposed to feel like," he said, voice rough. He hesitated for only a beat before adding, softer this time, "You’re the blood in my veins, the only reason this worthless heart of mine even bothers to beat."

Her chest tightened, emotions surging so fast she could barely keep up with them, wild, crashing things that caught in her throat and curled in her belly like waves against a seawall.

She hadn’t thought it was possible to fall any harder, to feel any deeper. She had already given so much of herself away, piece by careful piece. But this man had lodged himself beneath her skin, settled into the quiet spaces in her life, in the silence she used to mistake for peace. And now she couldn’t remember what it felt like to be untouched by him.

But, it didn’t scare her. She let go, of control, of fear, of every reason she had ever told herself to keep her heart locked up tight. And in that letting go, there wasn’t chaos. There wasn't loss. It was relief. A breath she didn’t know she had been holding. A weight she hadn’t realized she had been carrying. And him, still there, steady, waiting at the bottom.

CHAPTER 29

INGRID. MID DECEMBER, PRESENT

"You’re both my blessing and my curse. The reason I find a smile even when I’m buried six feet deep. I’m drowning in this, and I hope that one day, you’ll miss me."

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