It’s not hostile. Not even cold. But the shift in the air is instant.
Tessa sips her wine, gaze skating away. Rayna fusses with her glass, ice clinking loudly. Maddie’s smile doesn’t falter, but it doesn’t reach her eyes anymore either.
“He runs the ranch,” Rayna says finally. Safe. Distant.
“Yeah,” Tessa adds, too quickly. “Keeps busy with that. You know how it is.”
Do I? Not really. But I nod anyway, though the weight of their silence speaks louder than their words.
They don’t want to tell me. Or maybe they can’t.
So I let it drop, filing the hollow space it leaves somewhere deep in my chest.
Instead, I let Maddie pull me into a story about her disastrous attempt to learn to ride one of the more temperamental horses. I laugh when she mimes nearly toppling off, and for a little while, it feels almost normal. Like I could belong here, with them.
The door creaks open behind me, and I don’t even have to turn to know who it is. His presence is that loud, that magnetic.
Colter fills the doorway, broad shoulders blocking half the light from the hall. His gaze sweeps the room, sharp as a blade, and lands on me. Relief flickers there for a second before it’s swallowed up by something harder.
“Peyton,” he says, low and certain, like my name alone is enough to pull me up.
It works. My body reacts before my brain does, heart flipping traitorously in my chest.
The women share a knowing look that borders on amusement, but none of them say a word as I set my glass down and stand.
Colter doesn’t move from the doorway. Doesn’t speak again. He watches me with that unreadable expression that makes my stomach knot.
I cross the last few steps to him, his hand sliding lower against my back. It should be a subtle touch, but with him it feels like a claim.
“Come on,” he murmurs, voice pitched low enough that it doesn’t carry far. “Upstairs.”
It’s not really a request.
I glance back over my shoulder at the women. Tessa quirks a brow, Maddie hides a smirk behind her glass, and Rayna winces like she knows better than to get caught in the middle.
For the first time since I sat down, I don’t want to leave.
“No,” I say, quiet but steady. “I’m good here.”
That gets me three pairs of widened eyes and a stunned silence. I may as well have slapped him, judging by their reactions.
Colter’s thumb pauses where it rests on my hip, the weight of his gaze dragging me back to him. Slowly, his mouth curves into something sharp that is edged with amusement and warning.
“You’re good here?” he repeats, like he’s testing the words on his tongue.
I lift my chin a fraction. “Yeah. I’m having a good time.”
The air in the room changes. The women are statues now, frozen between sympathy and disbelief, like they’re waiting to see if I’ve committed suicide.
Rayna’s eyes dart to Colter and then quickly back to her drink, as though she’s washing her hands of the whole thing. Tessa mouths something that looks suspiciously likegirl, no. Maddie’s the only one who grins, but it’s tight, nervous.
Colter doesn’t argue. Doesn’t raise his voice. That’s not his way.
Instead, he dips his head closer to mine, his breath brushing my temple as he murmurs, “We’ll see about that.”
Before I can process what that means, his arm hooks behind my knees, and he sweeps me up like I weigh nothing.
“Colter!” I yelp, gripping his shoulders instinctively as the room spins.
