“No,” she whispers softly. “They just scared me.”
No, they didn’t just scare her.The correction screams through my head.Panic attacks aren’t nothing. Fear isn’t nothing.
Especially not for her.
Especially after Landon.
My thumb brushes beneath her eyes gently, wiping away the tears.
“I should’ve been there.”
“Daltyn—”
“I left you alone.” The words come out rougher now. “I shut you out, and then this happened.”
Something painful flashes across Peyton’s face.
But instead of agreeing or pulling away, she steps closer until there’s no space left between us at all.
“You were hurting too.”
The words hit like a punch straight to my ribs.
I stare down at her, marveling at the concern in her eyes. At the softness still there even after everything.
And suddenly I understand something terrifying.
Peyton sees the worst parts of me. And she stays anyway.
My throat tightens painfully.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that,” I say quietly.
Her brows pull together slightly. “Like what?”
“Like I’m something good.”
Everything around us goes silent.
Even the coffee shop noise fades, becoming distant and muffled.
Peyton's expression changes, pain and heartbreak written all over her face.
And somehow that feels even worse.
“Daltyn,” she whispers softly, “who made you believe you weren’t?”
59
DALTYN
The drive back to the cabin is quiet.
Not awkward, just... heavy.
Peyton keeps her hand wrapped tightly in mine the entire way home like she’s afraid letting go might crack something fragile between us.
Maybe she’s right.
