Page 16 of Touchdown Under the Mistletoe
There are photos. Lots of them. Riley and I on the ice. Me tying her skates. Me with my arm around her waist, her pressed against my chest, both of us smiling at each other like… like… I swallow. Like there’s no one else in the world.
“Travis? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Riley says.
I’m frozen. Paralyzed with fear and panic. My contract. The endorsement deals. The PR relationship with Sienna worth millions of dollars that’s supposed to boost both our profiles. The clause that explicitly forbids any real relationships or even the appearance of one during the campaign period. One leaked photo of Riley and me together could cost me everything.
Except it’s not one photo. It’s dozens. From multiple angles. Crystal-clear shots that leave zero room for interpretation.
“I have to go.” I stand. “I’m sorry, I have to, um, I need to make a call.”
“Travis, what’s going on?” Riley asks.
I can’t think. Can’t process any of this. All I know is that I’ve just potentially blown up my entire career and Sienna’s career because I wanted to hold Riley’s hand while ice skating.
“I’m sorry,” I repeat. “I’ll explain later. I just have to fix this first.”
I practically run toward the parking lot. My phone is already ringing again before I reach the car. Maxwell. Of course.
I accept the call, and before I can even say hello, he’s yelling at me: “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Chapter Seven
Riley
I’m still standing in the same spot three minutes after Travis practically sprinted away from me like I’m contagious.
Beau appears at my elbow with three hot chocolates balanced precariously in his hands. He frowns. “Where’d Travis go?”
“I have no idea. He got a phone call and left,” I say, my voice hollow.
“What do you mean, he left? He was our ride home. And we’re here together. Are you sure he didn’t need the bathroom urgently?”
I gesture helplessly toward the parking lot. “No, it was something else. He literally ran away. One second, we were sitting here; the next, he was looking at his phone like someone had died. He read some texts and took off.”
“Did he say anything? Give you any explanation?”
“Just that he had to go and would explain later. He looked panicked. Or scared. I don’t know.”
Beau sets the hot chocolates down on the bench with more force than necessary. “That’s not cool. You don’t just abandon people at a Christmas market.”
“Maybe it was an emergency.”
But even as I say it, I don’t believe it. If it were a real emergency, he would’ve said so. He wouldn’t have just fled.
“Yeah, maybe.” Beau doesn’t sound convinced either.
He pulls out his phone and dials Travis’s number. “I’m asking him what’s going on and if he’s coming back.”
“Nothing,” Beau finally says and pockets his phone.
I bite my lip. “Maybe he’s got relationship troubles?”
“That could be, but that doesn’t justify ditching you with no explanation,” my brother says, his protective side flaring up.
“It’s fine. I’m sure there’s a perfectly fine explanation for what happened.”
He sighs. “Maybe. Guess we’ll find out when we get back. After walking three miles through the snow, that is.”
“At least we’ll get our daily steps in.”
