The moose snorts again, turns, and saunters back into the woods with his branch, leaving us standing in my driveway covered in snow and breathing hard for entirely different reasons than before.
Ryder starts laughing first—a real, full laugh that I've never heard from him. It's rough and warm and completely unguarded, and the sound hits me harder than it should.
"He's the worst wingman in history," I manage, torn between frustration and hysteria.
"He's got terrible timing," Ryder agrees, still chuckling. "But maybe?—"
"Four games," I interrupt gently. "You need to focus. And I need to stop letting a moose dictate my love life."
"Is that what this is?" His expression goes serious. "Your love life?"
I freeze. The question is huge and terrifying and exactly what I've been avoiding thinking about.
"Ask me in four games," I say instead.
He nods slowly, stepping back. "Four games."
"Now go home and watch game tape or do pushups or whatever hockey players do to focus." I'm already backing toward my cabin before I do something stupid.
"Piper?"
I pause at my door.
"For the record? You definitely didn't win the snowball fight."
"I absolutely did."
"You had worse aim, worse strategy, and you only scored one direct hit."
"Quality over quantity, Lockwood." I'm grinning now, can't help it. "I made you laugh. That counts as winning."
His expression softens. "Yeah. It does."
He's halfway back to his cabin when I call out, "Hey, Ryder?"
He turns.
"Morris says you're still an idiot."
"Morris needs to mind his own business."
I'm still smiling when I close my door, lean against it, and try to remember why waiting four games is a good idea when my lips are still tingling from an almost-kiss that didn't happen.
My phone buzzes. Instagram notification. Another tag.
This time, it's a video. The caption reads: "ASHWOOD FALLS' HOTTEST COUPLE IN EPIC SNOWBALL BATTLE #LocalHero #InfluencerInLove #MorrisTheMatchmaker"
My stomach drops. I click play.
It's us. All of it. The snowball fight, the laughter, that moment where we were standing so close the camera caught the exact second my eyes started to drift closed. And Morris, perfectly timed, interrupting what was clearly about to be a kiss.
The video has 47,000 views and counting.
My phone won't stop buzzing. Comments, shares, tags. My follower count is climbing in real-time—489k, 490k, 491k.
Someone in town recorded us. Posted it. And now it's going viral.
Of course. Of course the one real moment goes viral.
