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eighteen

Dalton

“I’ve made some good friends in my time here, and more importantly, I fell in love. And because I have those feelings for her and only her, I can’t stay here and pretend to be considering anyone else. It’s not right.”

Alex bites his fist off camera, his eyes imploring me to say more. When I agreed to go on camera to explain why I was leaving the show, I told him I wouldn’t get specific. He’s trying everything he can think of to make me change my mind.

“If the two of you are in love, why is she staying and you’re going?” he asks.

“I don’t speak for her. I only speak for myself. This has been a great experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity. The league trusted me to represent the sport of hockey, and that’s an honor. I know my teammates will support my decision. And I guarantee I’ll be watching the show to see how things play out.”

I indicated with my voice that I was closing out. I wait a couple of seconds and then reach for the microphone clipped inside the collar of my shirt.

“No.” Alex rubs his temple, aggravated. “I need more, Dalton. Viewers are going to speculate about every female contestant now, and none of them will be able to focus on anything but which one of them you’re leaving the show over. Does she share your feelings? Did she dump you?”

“That’s between me and her.”

He turns and beats his clipboard on the ground several times, a little spring flying out of it.

“This is a reality show!” He stands back up and whirls to face me. “Don’t make me go after you for breach of contract!”

I shrug. “Do what you gotta do, man. I’m not speaking for anyone but me and you’re not changing my mind.”

I pass the microphone to him, but he won’t take it. After a couple of seconds, I set it on the ground and walk away.

Alice hadn’t even been gone for an hour when I started regretting not going with her. I meant it in the letter when I said I wanted to be where she is. Not just in bed. Everywhere.

I should be holding her hand on that plane. Carrying her bag to the car. Standing beside her at the hospital. I didn’t think it was possible to fall so hard for someone, but I did. I can’t go back to the way I was when I got to the beach house.

I was aloof. Focused entirely on myself. Now there’s Alice, and I don’t care how anyone but her feels about my leaving the show.

For a few minutes, I thought about asking her if I could come to Detroit. But I need to be there for her, even if I’m sitting in a car in the hospital parking lot because she doesn’t want me to meet her family yet.

I go to my room and pack, not worrying about folding my clothes as I stuff them into the two suitcases I brought here. It’s a relief to be leaving. I was scheduled to go on a one-on-one date tonight with Hailey and I was dreading it.

Now that Alice is gone, there’s no reason for me to be here. I make a final sweep of my bathroom to make sure I got everything and then check my phone. I have a text from my agent.

Tony: There’s a James Morrow at Detroit Memorial. Flight is booked, itinerary in your email. Let me know if you need anything else.

I text him my thanks. I told him Alice’s last name and asked him to see if he could find a patient with her last name at a hospital in Detroit. His assistant is a wizard and I know she’s the one who actually did it. She also booked me a flight and arranged for a car to pick me up at the house and take me to the airport and another one to pick me up in Detroit.

Tony’s the best. He didn’t ask me why I was leaving the show when I texted him about it earlier. He just said he’ll read the contract over immediately and handle all communications with the producers and network execs. Now I can focus all my attention on Alice.

“You’re leaving?”

I look up and find Farrah glaring at me from the doorway of my bedroom. I cringe inwardly, not in the mood for her bullshit.

“Yeah.” I stand up and loop the handle of one bag over my shoulder.

“Why?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Farrah.”

She closes the door and advances on me, her eyes narrowed with fury.

“Go fuck yourself, Dalton. You played me. And I don’t understand why. Why not just be honest about who you were really into? I know we have to play along with the drama for the producers, but you could have told me privately that you had no interest in me.”

I shrug. “I didn’t owe you that. Did you ever tell me who you were and weren’t interested in?”

“Is Misty fucking you and Dom separately, or are you guys doing threesomes?”

I gape at her, stunned by the leap she’s making. The corners of her lips curl up in a knowing smile.

“There’s my answer. You don’t want the world to find out you’re bi; that’s why you’re leaving.”

I laugh. “You’re so far off the mark. I don’t give a shit if you make stuff up about me, but Misty doesn’t deserve it. Dom doesn’t, either, but I’m sure he couldn’t give a fuck what a narcissistic actor says about him.”

She balks, her eyes widening. “Did you just call me a narcissist?”

My temper flares, but it’s not really due to this conversation. It’s because of how she treats Alice. It was all I could do to keep quiet this morning when Farrah told Alice she didn’t need to go home to be with her family.

“I did, and it’s the nicest of the things I’d like to call you. You want to know why you can’t figure out who it is I really want, Farrah? It’s because you’re so fucking wrapped up in yourself. You make everything about you. You don’t deserve Alice.”

“What does my assistant have to do with any of this?”

I lose my shit. “Alice! Her name is Alice! She’s a thousand fucking times more than just your assistant. She’s a person, and you take advantage of her. Do you think she wants to work for you every hour of every day, seven days a week? She does it for her family. And then she hardly ever gets to see them because you won’t get your own bottles of water out of the fridge for one fucking weekend.”

The color drains from her face. “Oh my God. It’s Alice ?”

“Goddamn right it’s Alice.” I work to keep my voice down so no one can hear us outside this room. “She’s beautiful and smart and funny. So fucking generous and selfless. I’d walk through fire for her, and you don’t even see her. How fucking dare you say is he dying or something to her in that bitchy tone earlier? You don’t know anything about him. You don’t know because you don’t care .”

She leans back, her expression as stricken as if I just slapped her even though we’re several feet apart.

“Get out of my way.” I glare at her until she turns away and leaves the room, not saying another word.

I close my eyes and blow out a breath as I walk to the stairway. I didn’t mean to tell her about me and Alice, but I did, and now I’ll have to face the consequences.

If Farrah fires Alice, I’ll pay her parents’ bills. Hell, I’ll pay them anyway. If she’ll let me.

That evening, I’m sitting in a waiting area of Detroit Memorial, a silver-haired woman in the seat across from mine snoring as she sleeps sitting up. I’ve been here for more than an hour, guilt and nervousness swirling in my gut.

I should’ve asked Alice if she was okay with this. I came because I wanted to be there for her. But she might not want that. She’s going to get a lot of bombshells dropped on her all at once--I left the show and followed her here, and I told Farrah about us.

It’s a shit time to drop all that on her when she’s so worried about her dad. I’m considering my options, wondering if I should leave when the choice is made for me.

Alice is walking toward a vending machine, and she stops when she sees me, her eyes round with surprise.

I stand up and walk over to her, smiling sheepishly. She’s wearing the necklace, which seems like a good sign.

“Surprise,” I say, doing weak-ass jazz hands.

She looks around the waiting area, then up and down the hallway. “What’s happening? Please tell me there aren’t any cameras here.”

“No, it’s just me. I, uh...left the show.” I clear my throat. “But most importantly, how’s your dad?”

“He’s stable. The doctors think he had a seizure.” Her expression softens. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I should’ve asked. I j--”

She cuts me off, throwing herself against me in a hug.

“You’re here ,” she says tearfully.

I close my eyes and hold her, relieved. “I meant it when I said I want to be where you are. I know it’s soon and you may not believe this, but...I’m pretty sure I love you.”

She stands back and cups my face, tears wetting her cheeks. “I think...I might love you, too.”

I just look at her for a couple of seconds, so euphoric I want to pick her up and spin her around the room, announcing to the world that the most incredible woman I’ve ever known loves me.

Not here, though. Not now, with her dad hospitalized. The most important thing right now is that I support her.

“I’m just gonna sit here and you can come out for hugs whenever,” I say.

She smiles and shakes her head. “That might get boring.”

“No, I’m good.”

Her expression turns serious. “How long is Alex letting you be gone?”

I clear my throat, hoping her feelings don’t change when I tell her the truth. “No, I left the show permanently. Alex pitched a fit, but he finally said he’d let me go if I let them film me explaining why.”

Alice’s hand flies up to cover her mouth. “You did?”

“I said there’s only one woman I want, but I didn’t say it’s you.”

Her shoulders relax slightly. “Farrah’s going to know. She has to know. Why isn’t she blowing up my phone?”

I glance away. “She definitely knows. Because I told her.”

Holding my breath, I let the news sink in. Alice looks surprisingly calm about it.

“How did that go?”

I hum a note of unamused laughter. “She thought she had it figured out that I’m bi and I was getting with Misty and Dom.”

Alice stutters out a gasp of surprise. “She what ?”

I shrug. “I mean...if I was into that, I wouldn’t be ashamed. Then I called her a narcissist and said some other stuff, and I left.”

Alice’s jaw drops. “Oh my God, Dalton. Did she explode into ten thousand pieces? Is she splattered all over the beach house walls right now?”

“She’s fine. Probably pissed off, but fine.” I put my hands on her shoulders, holding her gaze. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t my place to tell her.”

Alice puts a hand on my forearm and squeezes it gently. “It’s okay. She would’ve found out anyway.”

“I’ve got you on money, okay? I don’t want you worrying about your dad’s care. I’ve got more than enough to take care of everything.”

She nods slowly. “I’ve been thinking about it. Will’s getting paid now, and I have some money in the bank. I invested a little that I can cash out if I need it, and I can get another job. It’ll be okay. I knew when I made the decision to come here that I might not be working for Farrah anymore.”

“Don’t go back to her. You deserve to have a life.”

She runs a fingertip over the pendant of her necklace, a smile playing on her lips. “Now that I know what it’s like to have a life, I think I like it.”

I run my thumb over her jawline. “Good. Because we’re just getting started, babe.”

She takes my hand, arching her brows. “Are you ready to meet my parents?”

“Are you sure?”

She nods. “It’s been a whirlwind, but if you’re in, I’m in.”

I give her hand a light squeeze. “I’m all in. With everything I’ve got.”