Page 211 of Don't Fall for the Goalie

---

The withdrawal.

Oh my God.

Understanding slams into me so hard my lungs stop working for a second.

He didn’t just recognize Ethan.

HewasEthan.

Emotion swells painfully inside me.

Now I understand Daltyn in a way I didn’t before.

Not just the possessiveness or the protectiveness. But the fear underneath it all. The terrified little boy still living somewhere inside him.

The boy nobody protected.

The boy who learned to survive.

My throat closes up.

His behavior last night doesn’t feel cold anymore. It feels scared.

The realization absolutely wrecks me.

I realize he wasn’t pushing me away out of anger.

He was pulling away because he thinks there’s something wrong with him.

Tears sting unexpectedly behind my eyes.

I stare down into my untouched coffee.

And for the first time since meeting Daltyn, I realize something terrifying.

I’m not falling for him despite the darkness inside him.

I’m falling for him because of how hard he fights it every single day.

But the question remains: Will he ever let me in?

Or will he continue to push me away?

57

PEYTON

By noon, the silence inside the cabin starts clawing at my skin.

I try to distract myself.

I clean the kitchen. Organize the clothing in my closet. Scroll social media for exactly thirty seconds before seeing the hockey social media account posting photos of Daltyn from the charity event yesterday. Including one of me standing beside him, smiling up at him like an idiot.

Fantastic.

My chest aches harder after that.

Now all I can think about is the distance between us. The silence.

---