He exits the Zoom meeting.
Silence settles over the kitchen.
Slowly, I lift my head.
Peyton’s still sitting across from me, holding her coffee mug, watching me.
Her cheeks are pink. Blue eyes wide.
“You know,” she says carefully, “most people usually ask before announcing a relationship.”
I drop my head into my hands.
“Fuck.”
31
PEYTON
For a solid ten seconds after Daltyn’s laptop screen goes black, neither of us says a word. Even the cabin seems to hold its breath.
Daltyn sits at the kitchen island with his head dropped into his hands, shoulders tense, elbows braced on the counter like he’s physically holding himself together.
I’m across from him, both hands wrapped around my coffee mug.
My coffee is probably cold. I haven’t taken a drink in several minutes. Mostly because my brain is still stuck on the three words he blurted out on Zoom.
“She’s with me.”
The way he said it was low, sharp, and final. Like the reporter had crossed some invisible line, and Daltyn’s entire body reacted before his brain could stop him.
I should probably be mad.
Maybe I am. A little.
He did just accidentally announce… something neither of us has actually defined yet. To sports media. On camera. While Iwas sitting ten feet away wearing his sweatshirt and holding coffee he made for me.
So yes, there’s definitely some panic happening.
But also, I caused chaos at Connor and Allie’s when I told his hockey teammates we were in a relationship.
I panicked and it just… came out.
So what Daltyn did… it really isn’t much different.
Right?
It’s totally different,my brain argues.He just launched your relationship publicly.
Our fake relationship.
It’s hard to be mad about it, though.
Because underneath it all? Something warm keeps spreading through my chest.
Because he didn’t hesitate.
The second they brought up Landon, something in him snapped. Not because reporters were asking abouthim. Not because the media was digging into his life.
