Wright Rival

by K. A. Linde

  I found Annie, Blaire, and Jennifer as soon as we entered.

  Blaire squealed at the sight of my dress and flung her arms around me. “Look at you!”

  I laughed. “Thanks. It’s all your doing.”

  “Psh, I found the perfect dress. You’re the one wearing it.”

  All of my friends looked incredible. From Blaire in a powder-blue dress that clung to her with a thigh-high slit, to Jennifer in a more modest pale pink number with a full skirt, to Annie, ever daring, in a sleek forest-green dress that had cutouts on both sides.

  Hollin kissed my temple and then went to get drinks.

  “Y’all seem happy,” Annie said.

  “We are.”

  “I love to see it,” Jennifer said.

  “We all do,” Blaire chimed in.

  “Where are the guys?” I asked to take the focus off of me.

  “Jordan and Julian went to schmooze the team owner,” Annie said with an eye roll.

  “Sounds like them.”

  “They’re up there with Jensen and Morgan,” Jennifer said, pointing to the front of the room, where the CEOs of Wright Construction and Wright Architecture stood with the owners of Wright Vineyard. It was a big Wright-fest.

  The rest of the Wrights were scattered around the room. Austin and Julia stood with Landon and Heidi, laughing at each other. Morgan’s fiancé, Patrick, walked up to his best friend, Austin, and punched him in the arm. They leaned in to talk to one another. I didn’t see Emery, but that was unsurprising. It had only been six weeks since Easter. She was probably home with baby Logan. I’d never been involved with the Wrights until Jordan and Julian moved into town. Now, I felt like part of their royal circle in some way. They’d even invited all of us to Jensen’s lake house out at Ransom Canyon for Memorial Day weekend. I didn’t think Hollin and I would make it back from the award ceremony in time, but it was a nice gesture all the same.

  The team owner stood up to make a speech, thanking everyone for coming and for their support. Hollin came back with my drink—a Bombay and lime. He handed one off to Blaire, too, and she thanked him profusely.

  “This is the stuff,” she said, taking a sip.

  Afterward, we relocated to the auditorium for a special performance by the Lubbock Ballet Company. Peyton was effervescent. It had been a while since I’d seen her onstage. She reprised her role as the Sugar Plum Fairy during The Nutcracker each year, but that had been months ago. Watching her dance brought me right back to my childhood. I’d spent more hours watching my own sister take flight than I’d put into any kind of sport or event that I was interested in. Well, besides the winery…and that had ended well for me.

  “I’m going to sneak backstage to see her,” I told Hollin. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Give her my regards. That was great, and I know nothing about ballet.”

  I laughed. “It’s amazing what happens when she lets her knee rest.”

  He roughly kissed me. “Don’t be gone too long.”

  “Oh, boo. You’ll have to make friends with the soccer team.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, what a hardship.”

  I grinned and disentangled myself from him. I found the stage door and entered backstage. I recognized the rest of the artistic staff, who waved at me. Then, I found Isaac and Aly watching from the wings. Aly was in a tutu, as if we could get the girl out of the damn thing.

  “Hey,” Isaac said. “What did you think?”

  “She was perfect.”

  “Isn’t she always?” he asked, practically glowing for his fiancée. He’d helped construct this building and the soccer complex, and he was prouder of Peyton’s fifteen minutes onstage.

  “Miss Peyton promised to teach me this role,” Aly said very seriously. “She said that I just need to work on my pirouettes.”

  “Absolutely,” I agreed. “You can do anything you put your mind to.”

  Tori trotted over. “Hey, Piper!” We hugged like lifelong friends. “Oh my God, I heard about the winery. That’s terrifying.”

  “It was.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay and that y’all were able to move the wedding to a different location. Peyton has been talking about it nonstop at work.”

  “I bet she has. Luckily, the wedding planner is handling everything.”

  “Thank God for her!”

  Aly took ahold of Tori’s dress and yanked twice. “Excuse me. Where is Miss Peyton?”

  Tori dropped to Aly’s height. “That is an excellent question. She was changing. She should be here any minute. Do you want to have your turn on the stage? If we’re quiet as mice, we can dance out there.”

  Aly’s eyes widened to saucers. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  Tori looked to Isaac. “Is it all right?”

  “She’d hate me forever if I didn’t let her. Go ahead.”

  Tori took Aly’s hand, and they crept like mice onto the stage. Then, they did jumps and turns and pranced around the stage. I laughed with Isaac at the sight, and Peyton showed up in a long yellow dress.

  “Oh my goodness,” she said. “How adorable.”

  “Seester, you were brilliant,” I said, hugging her tight.

  Peyton squeezed me back just as hard. “Thanks. Not my best, but—”

  “Hey,” Isaac said with a sharp look at her. “You’re still a principal to me.”

  “I love you,” she said, falling into his arms.

  I couldn’t wait for them to be married next weekend. What could be more perfect than high school sweethearts reunited? They’d finally gotten it all to work out, and their love transcended. And I realized…for the first time…that I wasn’t overwhelmingly jealous of what they had.

  My heart fluttered. I had what they had.

  Was I falling in love with Hollin Abbey?

  29

  Hollin

  When the performance was over, the party returned to the atrium. The string quartet was replaced with a local DJ, and everyone took to the dance floor. Jordan introduced me to the owners and one of the players from the MLS team FC Dallas, who was on loan to our team for the opening season. Levi Branson was only eighteen years old and already one of the best up-and-coming players in the MLS. It was crazy to think I’d be able to watch him from home all season.

  “Hard to believe the whole team rests on one eighteen-year-old,” Jordan said as we stepped away.

  “Agreed. Pretty wild.”

  “Ah, there they are.”

  I looked in the direction he pointed and saw Julian and the unmistakably related Weston Wright. Jordan and Julian were my cousins on their mom’s side, but their half-brother wasn’t related to me at all. It was weird. But either way, I was just glad to see him.

  “Weston, you remember Hollin?” Julian said.

  “Yeah. We met last summer briefly.”

  I shook his hand. “Good to see you back in town.”

  “Didn’t plan to make my reappearance at a black-tie event.” He tugged on his suit. “But my band dissolved in the middle of Eastern Europe this spring. I said fuck it and flew back to the States.”

  “How exactly does a band dissolve in the middle of another country?”

  Weston rolled his eyes. “It’s a long story. Drugs, an arrest, and a deportation. I decided I was over it. I like to play the keys, but I’m not here for the rest of it.”

  I laughed. It was a rough life out on the road, and Weston only played backup, not like Campbell.

  “That sounds wild. So, what are you doing now? Going to try to get into another band in Seattle?”

  Jordan and Julian exchanged a look. The same one they’d given each other the last time Weston was brought up. As if they had a secret and they weren’t sharing with the class.

  “Actually,” Weston said, “I’m moving here.”

  My jaw dropped. “Really?”

  “Yeah. There’s a local music studio where I could work part-time. Worst-case scenario, I find a job in IT again.” He glowered at that thought. “Not what I want to be doi
ng, but whatever pays the bills. And it’d be good to get to know my brothers.”

  “We’re glad you’re moving here,” Julian said automatically.

  Jordan shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just wish we could have convinced Whitton, too.”

  “Whitt,” Weston said with a sigh. “He’s…I don’t know. Hopefully, he’ll come around when Harley graduates.”

  “Why is that?” I asked, confused.

  Weston glanced over at me and smiled. “She got into Texas Tech. Mom was furious that she wanted to move halfway across the country, but she’s a National Merit Scholar, and she’s going for free. She’ll be here in August.”

  “Wow. Smart girl.”

  “She always has been,” Weston said. “Let’s hope Whitt comes with her.”

  “Dance with me,” Annie said, shimmying up to Jordan with a grin.

  He sighed, as if suffering. “No two-stepping.”

  “Oh, but you do it so well,” she joked with a wink.

  “I believe that is my cue,” Jordan said as he disappeared onto the dance floor.

  Julian followed with Jennifer. And Blaire even grabbed Weston’s hand. He looked baffled by her beauty and stumbled out onto the floor. Turned out, he had moves though. Under that shaggy hair and rockstar broodiness was a good dancer.

  My date was still absent.

  I found Nora also standing alone and leaned back against the table next to her. “Where’s August?”

  She shrugged. “He said he was going to the restroom. Haven’t seen him since.”

  “Piper has been gone forever, too.”

  I wanted to be out there on the dance floor with my girlfriend. I’d never wanted that before. This was all surprisingly new territory for me. To want to spend all my time with Piper was a marvel.

  “Restroom?” Nora asked.

  “Peyton.”

  “Ah, yeah, well, that makes sense. She looked stunning tonight.”

  “She floated,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “I can get you backstage,” Nora said. “If you miss your girlfriend that much. You’re pouting.”

  “I am not pouting,” I said, glaring at my little sister.

  She laughed. “I’m glad you’re happy. Here, let me show you.”

  I followed her out of the main atrium. “How do you know how to get backstage anyway?”

  “Event planner,” she said, pointing at herself, “remember?”

  “Right.”

  Nora opened a side door that I hadn’t even known existed. We slipped into a service hallway, and Nora gestured to move to the right.

  “The backstage of the theater is around this corner and down the next hall,” she said.

  But when we turned the corner, she froze. I nearly stumbled right into her. Then, I saw what had stalled her feet. August had another girl pressed up against a wall in an alcove. The pale skin of her leg was visible as she had it currently wrapped around his hip. Her other hand was in his hair, and they were kissing. Actually, they were going to town. One step away from fucking in this darkened corner.

  “Motherfucker,” I growled.

  I launched myself at August, grabbing him by the collar of his tux and yanking him backward. I threw a punch without even thinking about it. The bastard fucking deserved it. The satisfying sound of my fist crunching into his face made it all worth it.

  “Fuck,” August cried. He covered his nose, which was now bleeding, spattering blood onto his white shirt.

  “Hollin, stop,” Nora cried.

  I released the asshole with a hard shove. He stumbled backward a step, his hand coming up to his nose to stop the bleeding. The girl rushed forward, as if to help him, and it was then that we both caught sight of who August had been kissing.

  “Tamara?” Nora squeaked.

  Her best friend stood there, flushed and disheveled, and had the audacity to look concerned. “Oh my God, Nor.”

  August gaped at the lot of us. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  “What does it look like?” I snapped.

  Nora’s eyes lurched between August and Tamara.

  Her boyfriend. Her best friend.

  Her boyfriend. Her best friend.

  August and Tamara had dated in high school, but it was a brief thing. When they went to college, August and Nora got together. Tamara had gone to school in Dallas and only moved back in the last year. Nora and August had been dating for years, and Tamara hadn’t even been a blip on the radar. In fact, all she’d done the last six months was hit on me.

  “It looks like you were making out with my best friend,” Nora snarled. Despite how strong she sounded, there were tears in her eyes, and her hands were clenched into fists. She must be falling apart inside.

  “I can explain,” August said. “Please, Nora.”

  He reached for her. Nora shied back in fear, and I came to stand between them.

  “Don’t fucking touch her.”

  August shrank back at the sight of me.

  “How can you explain?” Nora asked. “How?”

  “We were going to tell you,” Tamara said, bursting into rehearsed tears.

  Nora froze at those words. “Tell me what? This wasn’t…spontaneous?”

  August shot Tamara a look that could kill. Which told me all that I needed to know. This definitely had not been the first time.

  “How long has this been going on?” Nora demanded.

  “It’s…new,” August said.

  But Tamara had no gumption. “Since the concert.”

  “The Cosmere concert?” Nora gaped at them. “When I went to see my brother and both of you conveniently had to stay behind?”

  I did the math. We’d gone to see Campbell two months ago. Fuck.

  “Shut up, Tamara,” August said.

  “She deserves to know the truth,” Tamara cried. “I was flirting with Hollin all this time to make August see that he needed to break up with you.”

  Nora’s jaw dropped. My eyes widened. Well, I hadn’t expected that.

  “You’ve been flirting with me since you got the job at Wright Vineyard. Don’t try to twist this,” I roared at her.

  Tamara pulled into herself, away from my anger. She turned back to her best friend. “I’m sorry, Nora. But we’re in love. We were always meant to be. He didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “What the fuck?” I growled.

  Nora shook her head, taking another step back. I needed to get her out of here. This had gone too far. Tamara was being purposefully cruel now, and Nora didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve any of it.

  “What’s going on, y’all?” Piper said as she traipsed down the hallway. “I heard your voices.”

  Her feet stalled as she took in the sight before her. Me standing between Nora and August. Tamara’s disheveled appearance. August’s broken nose.

  “Is everything okay?”

  I shook my head and put my arm around my little sister. “We were just leaving.”

  “Nora, wait,” August said.

  “I don’t think so,” I spat. “You did all your explaining with your tongue down someone else’s throat.”

  Piper stepped up next to me. There was fire in her eyes as well. “We’re leaving. And you should, too.”

  I herded Nora back the way that we’d come. She didn’t make a single sound until we were out of the hallway, across the atrium, and back in the fresh air.

  “Are you okay?” Piper asked, reaching for Nora.

  She sniffled and then burst into tears. Piper took her in her arms. I felt murderous at the sight. That douche bag had made my sister cry. I was going to kill him. I was going to fucking wreck his life.

  And Tamara. I seethed. The way she had acted around me got on my nerves, but I hadn’t realized she was capable of such deception. And I still had to work with her. It wasn’t like I could fire her for hurting my sister.

  “Let’s get you home,” Piper encouraged.

  “No,” Nora said with a sniffle. “I can…I can get a
n Uber. I don’t want y’all to miss the party.”

  “Hey, it’s okay.”

  “We don’t mind at all. You shouldn’t have to take an Uber or be home alone.”

  Nora wiped at her eyes. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

  “Shush now,” Piper said, holding her close again. “You’re not a bother to anyone.” She looked up at me. “Go get the truck.”

  I nodded and jogged across the parking lot to my truck and drove at illegal speeds to get back up to the front of the building. Together, we helped Nora into the backseat, and then I took off across town.

  Piper sat in the back with Nora with her arm around her for support. What I’d felt before for Piper was one thing, but as I looked at her taking care of my sister, my heart swelled almost uncomfortably.

  I’d never felt like this before. Like I’d do anything for this girl. To see her give up her night out in that beautiful dress for someone else, someone I cared about…I didn’t even have words for that.

  Okay, I had one word.

  But I’d never said it out loud to anyone who wasn’t family. I didn’t know if I was ready to say it right now either. Didn’t stop me from feeling it.

  30

  Piper

  “Are you sure you want to go home?” Hollin asked from the front seat. “You should stay in my guest room.”

  Nora shook her head. “I want to crawl into my own bed.”

  He met my gaze and frowned. “Don’t you live with Tamara?”

  She froze. As if the thought hadn’t hit her before that moment. “Fuck.”

  I gritted my teeth. I knew exactly what she was going through. I’d lost two friends and roommates to a terrible situation like this. It had been Hollin’s fault all those years ago, and it was certainly August’s fault now. Though much of the blame rested with Tamara as well.

  “I’m going to need to move out,” she muttered. “Where am I going to live? What about my lease?” She hit her head on the back of the seat. “Fuck, what am I going to do?”