Page 40 of The Prime-Time Experiment

“That would have been less precise.”

The corner of his mouth twitched before he looked back at the screen. “I wanted to check before anything gets posted. You’re alright with it?”

“Yes.” No hesitation. “The representation is accurate.”

Something relaxed in his expression. “Alright then.”

He typed out a response and set the phone aside. The conversation moved on. Riley stepped back into position automatically. Declan mirrored the movement without needing to direct her.

Neither of them commented on how much easier that had become.

They didn’t need to. The evidence was already there.

❈

A few minutes later, the front door opened upstairs.

“Mate, if you’ve burnt the place down, I’m not helping you fix it this time.”

The voice carried easily through the house, loud enough that Riley could hear the grin underneath it. Declan pushed himself off the bench with a quiet huff of amusement. “Down here.”

Footsteps followed almost immediately. Two sets. One heavier than the other, both carrying the easy familiarity of people who belonged here.

The first man appeared in the doorway a second later. Riley recognised him immediately.

Not because she followed football—she didn’t. But Dee had spoken about him often enough since she had been coming regularly to Declan’s house that the identification arrived before the introduction did. Tall, broad-shouldered. Beard. The reality matched the accumulated description with surprising accuracy.

Tyler.

He stepped into the gym with the unselfconscious confidence of someone entirely comfortable occupying space, his attention moving briefly to Declan before settling on Riley. His attention landed on her and stayed there for a moment.

“You must be Riley.”

“Yes. Riley Lorrent.”

“Tyler.”

Riley nodded once, then studied him briefly. “You are the AFL player.”

Tyler’s eyebrows lifted. “The AFL player?”

“Yes. My friend Dee informed me of your profession. She follows the sport.” A small pause. “I do not.”

A laugh escaped him. “Fair enough.”

Riley considered him for another second. “Are you successful?”

Behind her, Declan made a sound suspiciously close to a choke. Tyler looked between them. “Sorry?”

“It seemed like a relevant question,” Riley said.

“No, it is,” Tyler replied, still laughing. “Nobody’s ever asked it like that before.”

“Then I will rephrase. Are you considered effective at your job?”

At that, even Declan gave up trying not to laugh. Tyler pointed at her immediately. “Alright. I like you.”

Riley wasn’t sure where this had come from, considering all she’d done was ask him a question. “Thank you?”