Wright Rival (Wright)

“Am I that transparent?” I asked with a forced laugh.

“After that conversation with Nora, I’ve been wondering if more was going on than you let on. Is he why you broke up with Bradley?”

“What? No. Of course not. I was serious that I had no interest in him. He’s not the kind of guy that I want.”

“What kind of guy is that?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. “Someone serious.”

“Bradley was serious about you, and that didn’t seem to matter.”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t…serious. And by the end, hearing him chew made me want to put a fork through his eye.”

Peyton cracked up. “Yes, well, that sounds healthy. Look, I’ve been there. The last guy I dated was terrible. We had similar interests, and I had to see him for rehearsals, so I thought it worked. It wasn’t until I saw Isaac again that I realized how wrong I’d been. Maybe…you should give Hollin a chance.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then, why did you sleep with him, silly?”

I held my hands out. “I was drunk?”

“Well, if you just wanted some fun, then you got it. I’d say, it’d be smart to either take some time for yourself or actually look for that serious guy. Instead of inevitably falling back on Bradley.”

I winced. Too real. “True. Thanks, seester.”

She hugged me again. “I love you.”

I returned to the office with my mind on anything but work. I grabbed the mail on the way in, leaving the bills for my dad to deal with. All my worries about Hollin fell away as I stared at the envelope in my hand. I ripped into it, pulling the letter from within.

It was the official confirmation that Sinclair Cellars would be in the IWAA Texas Wine Award Competition. We’d shipped wine down to Austin, and knowing that it had gotten there safe was a relief. The letter informed me that I’d receive further information if I was selected as a finalist. It all felt so real.

I tacked the letter up on my wall, feeling all the more focused for it.

I’d left work at a reasonable hour. Blaire was blaring music, doing some TikTok dance in the living room when I walked in on the whole thing. She shrieked like I was a horror movie villain coming to slaughter her. Then managed to trip and fall on her ass. She laughed hysterically at herself.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Blaire said through her laughter. “You scared the hell out of me.”

I was leaning over, laughing at her reaction. “I texted you that I was coming home.”

Blaire got to her feet, killing the music and ending the video. She wiped tears from her eyes. “I’ve been learning that stupid dance for an hour. I didn’t even check my messages.”

“Well, you have to upload that one.”

“I should. It might go viral if I include some slasher movie music when you walk into the door.”

“Everything you do goes viral.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Where’s Jennifer?”

“Julian’s.” Blaire turned off the ring light, which had bathed our house in perfect artificial light. “She said she’d see us at the game later.”

“The game?”

“Soccer. The Tacos.”

My lips formed an O as I remembered that they had a soccer game tonight.

The Tacos was the team that Isaac had put together a few years ago. The roster had changed a few times, but Blaire was their lead striker. She was really, really good. I loved coming to watch her. The only problem: Hollin played on the team. Running around in his short red shorts and ostentatious white cleats. Normally, I just ogled him from the sidelines. But I hadn’t seen him since I’d gotten off of the jet Sunday afternoon. Avoiding him would be a lot harder in person.

“I might skip this one,” I told her.

“No,” she told me automatically.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I know what you’re doing,” Blaire said, crossing her arms over her matching coral athletic gear. “You can’t just disappear. You were already acting suspicious the morning after the tour bus incident. If you stop coming around, someone else will figure it out.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, dropping my purse and falling on the couch. “Do I have to?”

“You said it didn’t mean anything. Did it actually mean something?”

“No,” I muttered.

“Then, it shouldn’t matter that you see him.”

“It’s awkward.”

Blaire sank into the seat next to me. “Well, you slept with your sworn enemy. I could see how that would be awkward.”

I laughed. “Do I have to go?”

“Yep, you do.”

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “But I’m not speaking to him.”

Blaire grinned. “Yeah, right. He’s going to be all up your ass, like normal.”

“I won’t rise to the bait.”

She looked dubious. “Good luck.”

Yeah, she was right. I was screwed.

16

Hollin

“You’re going to be late to your game,” Alejandra called. She leaned against my office door. She was the winery manager, and I worked with her more directly than any of our other employees.