A Wright Christmas

I headed inside and took the elevator up to my office. It was a large corner space on one of the top floors. I dropped my keys, wallet, and cell phone onto the desk and then powered on the computer. With the added soccer complex project on my desk, I’d never felt more behind. It would have been great to take this day off with the rest of the staff, but if Aly had a half-day, then I needed to use it to play catch-up.

I’d completely lost track of time when I heard a knock on my open office door.

“Hey, man. Didn’t anyone tell you that you had today off?” Jordan asked with a grin as he lounged against the doorframe.

“Someone might have mentioned it.”

“Are you as much of a workaholic as I am?”

I laughed. “No. I don’t think anyone is more of a workaholic than you. I just had to finish up all this paperwork for the soccer complex that I’d neglected to focus on. I didn’t want it looming over my head all Christmas break.”

Jordan nodded. “Seems reasonable.” He looked down at the Rolex on his wrist. “It’s almost noon. Do you want to grab some lunch before diving back into this?”

“Shit, is it really noon?” I checked the clock on my computer and cursed again. “Where did the day go?”

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Jordan said in his characteristic sarcastic tone.

“I’d be into lunch, but I have to pick up Aly soon. She only has a half-day for her last day of school,” I told him as I set my office back to rights.

I’d have to try to stay late sometime next week to finish all of this. My mom was going to love that.

“Rain check then,” he said. “I’ll see if I can drag Morgan away.”

I glanced up at him with an incredulous expression. “Good luck with that.”

He smirked and then stepped into the office, dropping into the seat in front of my desk. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Seems unlikely. I don’t know how Patrick deals with it.”

“I think he likes it.”

Jordan shrugged. “To each their own.” His phone beeped, and he checked the message, jotting out a response before stuffing it back in his suit coat. “Went on one date with this girl, and now, she texts me five hundred times a day.”

“Oh, how hard it is to be you,” I said with a laugh.

“True story. Speaking of relationships,” he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “how are things with the girl you brought to the party last night? You two seemed really into each other.” Heat crept up my neck, and I tried to hold back my smile, but I must not have succeeded because Jordan laughed and said, “That good, huh? Where did you two meet?”

“Well, we dated in high school.”

Jordan raised his eyebrows. “And you’re back together? Damn.”

“Peyton is different. She’s a professional ballerina in New York. She left right before our senior year.”

“Huh. And so she…lives in New York?”

“Yeah. She’s here for The Nutcracker for the Lubbock Ballet Company.”

“And…she’s going back to New York?”

I sighed. “She is. After Christmas, she has to be back in the city. But we’re just trying to make the most of it while she’s here. She’s actually coming over to hang out with me and Aly this afternoon.”

This time, Jordan looked actually alarmed. “You’re letting her meet your daughter?”

“They’ve already met,” I said, hating the defensive tone in my voice. “Aly is in The Nutcracker, too.”

“Right, but…okay, when I was young, my parents split up for two years. We lived with my mom and saw my dad on the weekends. He started dating a few other women, and he introduced us to them all right away. Then my parents got back together.” Jordan looked away as if the story still brought painful memories. “I mean, I was glad that they worked it out, but he never seemed to care how his dating life affected us.”

My mind whirred to life…and fear replaced what I’d thought was going to be a fun and light afternoon. “That must have been hard.”

“Yeah. I remember it more than Julian, but it sounds like this thing with Peyton is serious. And I like you, man. You and your little girl. I’d think about how she would take this if you started introducing a new woman into her life.”

“Right,” I said, speechless.

Jordan groaned and got to his feet. “Hey, I didn’t mean to drop all that on you. You know what’s best for your daughter and your relationship.”

“No, I’m glad that you told me. I want things to be serious with Peyton but not at Aly’s expense.”

“Maybe it’ll all work out,” Jordan said. “What do I know? I’m terrible at relationships.” He held his phone up as proof.

I laughed with him, and then we exited the building together. He clapped me on the back before heading for his Tesla, and I wandered to my truck. Jordan might have been nonchalant about it afterward, but…his words stuck with me.