Page 92 of Wild Flower

“Let’s get some wine,” Connor interrupts, grabbing his girlfriend by the arms and turning her toward the refreshments. “You’ve said enough.”

Enough? What exactlyhasshe said? My brain starts whirring, trying to replay the last few moments as Connor steers Arie in the opposite direction.

“Archer?” I grumble. “If you don’t let me go right now, I’m going to scream.”

His arms drop and I spin around to face him. My chest quakes, all the murmurs and whispers of the room echoing like waves.

“Your sister?” I ask, and Archer winces, his expression pained. A balloon expands in my chest making it hard to breathe, and yet, he still says nothing.

“What about your sister?” Finn asks, suddenly to my left. But I don’t acknowledge him, needing answers from my other boyfriend.

“Your sister isn’t the one with the cancer scare, is she?” I ask.

“What?” Finn asks, glancing between us.

“You’rethe one with—” Only, my voice catches, emotion rising. Archer’s eyes are glassy, brimming with a truth I don’t want to accept.

“Wait.” Finn turns to Archer. “Did you tell Becca your sister had cancer instead of you?”

Archer looks between the two of us, his jaw grinding shut. He doesn’t have to say it, the truth has already punched me in the gut.

“Y-you lied to me?” I manage, stepping back, only to bump into whoever’s behind me. Archer reaches out, but I recoil from his touch. “You lied to me and then we—”

My throat closes.

We made love—but for the wrong reason. Because of a lie.

My eyes cut to Finn, realizing this may also be a betrayal to him. Everything inside me starts unraveling. One lie creates another and—my head goes light. And Archer actuallyhascancer?

I’m not breathing. My lungs have been squished by that balloon of emotion threatening to break my ribs. I—I—

There are too many people around me.

I turn and plow through the crowd. All the voices smother me with their chatter. It’s a suffocating mob, surrounded by photos looming large of me and Archer.

I run out of the gallery and into the parking lot where the sky is a searing pink. The sunset bleeds overhead like a giant cloud come to swallow everything. I stumble through the cars, looking for my van, but they’re all a blur like one of Finn’s photographs.

“Becca, wait!”

I clutch my chest. Is that Archer or Finn?

I fumble past cars, bumping into several and setting off alarms. There’s an ocean in my head crashing violently against the shore—anger, passion, dread, and this erupting fear.

Archer has cancer and he lied to me!

“Becca, hey—”

I’m swallowed by arms.

“Becca—”

But all I can do is thrash and sob, and yell into his shirt. Hands stroke my back and neck, but nothing can calm this hurricane exploding in my heart.

He says things I barely hear.

I’m sorry. I love you. I didn’t mean to—

Hands wipe away my tears.

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