Rhett Vale walked out — alone, shoulders broad, hair damp from a recent shower. His duffel bag hung from one arm, and he wore that same expression he always had after a game. Distant. Focused on something I couldn't see.
He looked older. The softness he'd had as a teenager had been carved away into something harder. Sharper. His jaw was stronger, his shoulders broader. The boy I'd known had become a man when I wasn't looking.
But still Rhett.
He started walking toward the parking lot, not looking up. His eyes swept past me like I was part of the scenery.
"Rhett!" I called.
Nothing. He kept walking.
He doesn't hear me.
"Rhett!" Louder this time.
Still nothing. A few people turned to stare. A woman whispered something to her husband, giving me that oh, another obsessed omega look. I caught the tail end of it — something about desperate and should know better.
My face burned. My heart hammered against my ribs. For a second, I thought about leaving. Just turning around and walking away and pretending I'd never come.
But I'd spend hours on the road just to get here. I'd used my father's name.
I clenched my jaw. Fine.
"Rett."
He stopped mid-step. His whole body went rigid. The duffel bag slipped an inch down his arm before he caught it.
Slowly — so slowly I could track every degree of his turn — he faced me. His brows furrowed. His eyes found mine.
For one terrible second, there was nothing there. No recognition. No warmth. Just the flat, guarded look he gave strangers.
Then his lips parted.
"Teddy?"
The sound of my name in his voice nearly broke me.
For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The world around us — the cold, the noise, the stares — all of it faded. There was just him. Just his voice saying my name like it meant something.
Then his mouth curved into the widest grin I'd seen in years.
"Teddy," he breathed out, like he couldn't believe it. "Oh my God…"
He dropped his bag. Before I could react, he rushed over and pulled me into his arms — lifting me clean off the ground.
"Put me down!" I yelped, but laughter spilled out with the words.
He laughed too — that deep, familiar sound that made something in my chest twist painfully. "Hell no!" He hugged me tighter, and I felt the rumble of his laughter through his chest.
When he finally put me down, he didn't step back. His hands stayed on my arms, his eyes wide as he looked at me.
"Heavens, look at you," he said.
"I could say the same about you." I was grinning so hard my face hurt.
"I mean, fuck, we grew up, but like…" He paused, staring at me like he was trying to put words together. "You're unrecognizable. I still know it's you, but you look —"
"Shut up." I shoved his chest lightly, still grinning. "If anyone should be saying that, it should be me. You got so tall. And look at all that muscle."
He laughed again, quieter this time. Then his expression shifted into something smug. "Well, I did become a pro hockey player."
"Still so full of yourself." I made a disgusted face, but I was smiling so wide it ruined the effect. It was nice, knowing he was still him. Still Rhett. Still the same boy who used to steal my fries and take credit for my ideas.
"Can't help it." He shrugged, grinning. "I have to be a fan of myself before anyone else."
"Oh, shut up." I rolled my eyes, laughing.
And for a second, it felt like no time had passed at all.
But then people around us started whispering. Someone was taking pictures. I saw a girl mouth who's that omega? to her friend, her eyes fixed on me like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.
Rhett noticed too. His expression flickered — the softness didn't disappear, but it retreated behind something more guarded. His shoulders squared. His jaw tightened.
"Let's get out of here," he said.
He bent down and grabbed his duffel bag with one hand. The other hand found mine. His fingers laced through my own like they'd never stopped belonging there.
He led me toward the parking lot. I didn't let go.
When we reached his car — sleek and black, nothing like the beat-up truck he'd driven in high school — he opened the passenger door for me. Waited until I got in. Closed it gently.
The door shut with a solid thunk that cut off the wind and the whispers.
Rhett circled to the driver's side and got in.