“I just…” She tucks her hands deeper into the sleeves of my flannel. “I don’t really know how all of that works.”
God. That shouldn’t be cute.
“There’s family seating near the tunnel,” I explain. “Harper and Allie usually sit there.”
The second the words leave my mouth, I realize my mistake.
Peyton’s expression softens like she noticed something I didn’t mean to say out loud.
Shit.
I keep talking anyway.
“We’ll have to get there early because traffic around the arena gets stupid before games.”
We’ll.
Peyton definitely notices that, too. Her mouth twitches slightly. “You keep saying we.”
I go completely still.
The woods suddenly feel quiet. A leaf drifts slowly between us before landing near Peyton’s boot.
Abort mission.
“I mean?—”
“You don’t have to explain it,” she says softly. But she’s smiling. And somehow that’s worse.
My chest feels too tight.
We continue walking slowly along the trail.
After a minute, Peyton bumps her shoulder lightly against mine again.
“So,” she says casually. “I’m excited to watch you terrorize innocent hockey players.”
A strange warmth spreads through my chest. Because the question sounds less like an obligation and more like she wants to be there.
“You’ll have a good view.” I grab her hand, helping her over a log so she doesn’t hurt herself or her ankle.
“The family section’s near the tunnel,” I tell her. “Close enough that Connor can still be annoying between periods.”
Peyton laughs softly beside me. The sound settles low in my chest in a way that’s becoming dangerously familiar.
A breeze cuts through the trees again, sending red and gold leaves skittering across the trail.
Without thinking, I adjust her scarf.
She looks up at me, her eyes soft. That should probably concern me more than it does.
“So I’d be in the family section with Allie and Harper?” she asks after a second.
I glance down at her. “Yes.” The answer comes naturally. Like I’ve already decided she belongs there.
Peyton notices. I can tell by the way her lips part slightly before she looks away toward the mountains.
“And you’d be okay with that?” she asks quietly.
