And whatever we were building turns to smoke right alongside it.
The rest of the night drags by in silence.
The city hums outside the window, traffic and voices rising and fading, while inside the apartment it feels like someone’s turned the world to static. Leo’s on one side of the couch, head tilted back, phone still in his hand. I’m on the other, arms wrapped around my knees, staring at the muted news ticker rolling across the bottom of the screen.
Every headline feels like a countdown I can’t stop.Surge’s Voss Under Fire.Mystery Woman Named.Who Is Sage Winslow?
I want to tell him to shut it off. I want to tell him to say something. Anything.
Instead, I whisper, “Do you think this will ruin me?”
His eyes flick toward me, guilt flashing quick before he looks away. “No one’s going to ruin you.”
The certainty in his voice doesn’t reach his eyes.
The tension between us tightens again—so fragile it could snap with one wrong word. I fold my arms tighter, trying to keep my voice steady. “You don’t get it. I worked for years to be taken seriously. And now, because of some stupid photo, I’m a headline. A distraction.”
He exhales slowly, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “It’ll pass.”
“How?” I ask. “When the internet never forgets?”
He doesn’t have an answer. Just a long pause that stretches until it hurts.
Finally, he says, “You’re stronger than they think.”
I shake my head. “Then why do I feel like I’m disappearing?”
He reaches over this time, his hand brushing mine—a small, hesitant touch. “Because right now,” he says, voice low, “we’re both losing pieces of ourselves to something we can’t control.”
His words should comfort me, but they don’t. They just make the truth sink deeper.
Neither of us is winning this fight.
Before I can say anything else, both our phones buzz on the table, lighting up at the same time. The sound slices through the quiet.
I grab mine first.
A newPuck Whispereralert.
Chef Winslow: Hockey’s Biggest Distraction?
Byline: Grayson Locke.
My pulse spikes. I look at Leo. His face goes still as he reads the same headline.
Our eyes meet.
And I realize—this isn’t just exposure anymore.
It’s a hit.
Chapter 24
Damage Control
Leo
The headline won’t stop staring backat me.
