A Wright Christmas - K.A. Linde Page 0,22

with the ice packet.

“You said you were better.”

“I am,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Peyton!”

“It’s preventative,” I lied.

She dropped down next to me. “Why are you dancing if you’re still hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.”

She nudged my knee, and I yelped. “Peyton?”

“I’m fine,” I said with a glare. “I am, like, ninety-five percent better, Pipes. Knees just take a long time to heal, and then they can give you trouble forever.”

“Are you causing more damage by dancing?”

“No.”

But if I were completely honest, I had no idea.

11

Peyton

Blaire whistled at me as I stepped out of the back bedroom on Wednesday evening.

I’d rushed back from rehearsal and taken the fastest shower in existence. My hair, which always took nearly an hour to blow-dry, miraculously worked with me, and I managed to get it mostly dry in thirty minutes. I’d grabbed a pair of bootcut jeans and an oversize sweater. A wave of mascara and a dollop of lipstick later, and I had a whole three minutes to spare before Isaac picked me up.

“That’s encouraging,” I said with a laugh.

“Are you going on a date?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “Isaac asked me out.”

Blaire’s eyes widened. “This is so exciting! His first date since his wife died.”

I nearly choked on those words and sank into the seat opposite her. “What?”

“Oh God, did I just ruin it?” She tugged her baseball hat over her eyes. “Forget I ever said that.”

“Well, now, I can’t.” I jerked the hat off of her head. “He hasn’t dated since Abby died?”

She slowly shook her head. “No. The guys tried to set him up on blind dates and shit, but he wasn’t interested. He always says that Aly is his whole life.”

“Why…is he going out with me then?”

Blaire shrugged once but grinned. “You must be special.”

There was a pulse in my chest of excitement at that thought but also…fear. Maybe I shouldn’t have ever agreed to this. If this was his first date in five years, then there would be expectations…right?

Before I could second-guess it, a knock came from the door. When I answered it, I found Isaac standing in the doorway, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Oh my goodness,” I whispered. “Those are for me?”

“No, I brought them for Blaire,” he deadpanned

Blaire hopped up. “I’ll take them!”

I laughed, taking the flowers out of his hand and bringing them to my nose. “They’re beautiful.”

Blaire winked at us. “I’ll put them in a vase. You two go have fun.”

“Thanks, Blaire,” I said, passing her the flowers.

“Shall we?” Isaac asked.

I nodded and followed him out to his truck. It didn’t hit me until I sank into the passenger seat that this was really happening. I was going on a date with Isaac Donoghue. The first one we’d been on since we were seventeen years old. It was surreal that I still had the same butterflies rattling around my stomach that I’d had when we first did this.

I tucked my legs into a pretzel and then reached for the radio dial, turning it up so I could hear the ’80s rock song coming in through the speakers.

“Two minutes in my car, and you’ve already taken over the radio.”

“You’re not new here,” I told him with a laugh as I started singing along to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Plus, isn’t this your favorite song?”

“Don’t bring logic into this,” he said, sliding his eyes to mine with a smile.

My stomach lurched. I wished I knew what magic he unfurled in my presence to make me such a young dope all over again. But in that moment, I didn’t mind. It was nice to just be for once. Not have to worry about dance or anything else. Just me and Isaac.

“So, where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, flipping the heat up.

“Are you cold? Shouldn’t you be used to it after living in New York?”

“For your information, I’ve never gotten used to the cold. Even in New York, it still chills me to the bone. And anyway, Lubbock has that weird weather thing.”

He laughed. “What weird weather thing?”

“You know, where it’s bright and sunny and seventy-five in the morning, and by the night, it’s freezing and snowing and eleven degrees. It happens every year.”

“But it’s still fifty here. I don’t think that’s happened yet.”

“Yet! But it will.”

He just shook his head at me.

“What’s Aly doing tonight?” I asked curiously.

“She’s with Annie,” he told me, veering the truck deeper south. I had a sense of where we were going, but I wasn’t sure. “Annie just passed her last exams for