“I can’t believe we’re almost to the first game of the season,” Julian said.
I blinked and pulled myself back into the conversation. “For the soccer team?”
“Yep,” Jordan said. “FC Lubbock opens the season for their first ever match. I’ll get you all tickets if you want to go.”
“And we’ll all be at the gala,” Hollin said.
“I’ve already given everyone tickets for that,” Jordan said.
“I can’t wait to see what Peyton has put together for the show,” I added.
“She’s performing?” Jennifer asked.
I nodded. “She’s going to do a solo and a pas de deux from one of her New York City Ballet numbers.”
“Oh, it’ll be amazing,” Blaire said. “She’s so talented.”
“Weston will be there, too,” Julian said.
Weston Wright was the biggest shock that Lubbock had had in years. He was Jordan and Julian’s half-brother. It’d turned out that their father had a secret family in Seattle while they grew up in Vancouver. Not just that, Weston was a twin, like me. He had a brother named Whitton and a much younger sister, Harley. Sometimes, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the duplicity. I’d grown up with a strict family, but we all loved each other. I could never imagine someone from my family doing something that terrible to me.
The guys had gone to visit Weston and meet Whitton and Harley in the last year. But none of them had traveled to Lubbock again. This was a big deal.
“That’s great!” Hollin said. “It’ll be good to see him again.”
Julian and Jordan exchanged a glance. There was something else they weren’t telling us. But they nodded and changed the subject away from the gala.
The night continued, and Hollin and I didn’t have one single argument. Was it because I wasn’t fighting him on every little thing? Was it because he wasn’t trying to push my buttons? Was it possible that the two of us could spend a whole night together in each other’s company without me wanting to strangle him?
I’d known there was sexual tension between us. I enjoyed that. I sometimes even enjoyed the fighting. But this was all new.
Later in the night, I used the restroom and reapplied my burgundy lipstick in the mirror. When I came back to the party, Hollin was missing.
I looked around, trying to locate him, and even asked Julian, “Hey, where did Hollin go?”
“I don’t know. He was at the bar with Tamara.”
I bit my lip. I didn’t see Tamara either. She’d been flirting with him all night. Hollin had been mostly ignoring her attempts, but now, they were both missing. Coincidence? I didn’t believe in them.
A knot formed in my stomach. Why the hell was I stressing out about this? If he wanted to hook up with someone else, he was well within his rights. We weren’t exclusive by a long shot. We were nothing. Just two people who had hooked up…twice…sort of.
But I didn’t like it. I suddenly didn’t like the idea of Hollin hooking up with someone else. Let alone Tamara, who, one, worked at Wright and, two, was his sister’s age.
I made some excuse and headed back toward the restrooms. People were making out in the alcove, but I didn’t see Hollin. I didn’t see Tamara either for that matter. I took a breath and released it. This was silly. I’d just go and stand outside. The grape fields were right off the edge of the barn. It’d help to be back in my happy place. It all came back to this dirt. And while Wright wasn’t my winery, it had the same feeling to it.
I opened the back door and stepped out onto the chilly moonlit path that led down to the fields. I hugged myself against the cold. I only stopped walking when I found a figure standing on the edge of the field. Dirt crunched under my feet, and Hollin found me standing there.
“Hey,” he said.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Escaping Tamara.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yeah. She keeps offering me birthday sex,” he said, staring back out at the darkened field.
It was nearly a full moon. So, everything was vaguely lit up from overhead, but it was still dark enough to not be noticed from the back door.
“How nice of her.”
“Not when I keep telling her I’m not interested. I’m her boss.”
“That does border on harassment.”
“I can handle it. Just needed…this.” He gestured to the fields.
“It’s like coming home.”
He looked at me in surprise. “Yes. Grounding.”
I breathed it in and released it. “That’s how I feel, too. It’s my favorite place.”
“Mine, too.” His shoulder knocked gently against mine. “I come out here and live it each morning. It reminds me why I do it. What I’m here for.”
I could barely believe Hollin Abbey had just said that. Had echoed my own thoughts perfectly. As if when I was here with my feet in the dirt and the fields all around me, I was whole again. Nothing could take that away from me.
“That’s it exactly,” I whispered.
He smiled once at me. Not his cocky, ridiculous smile. But one of mutual understanding.
We stood side by side in the dark, breathing it all in. Until I was shivering from the cold breeze coming in from the north and he insisted we get me back into the heat.
It was getting harder and harder to remember that Hollin and I were too different. Not when I had seen firsthand that he was just like me when it came to the winery. The Wrights were the businessmen, but Hollin had his feet in the dirt. He loved this place. And that was something I could understand.
Blaire kept dropping hints that I should stay at the party later than her. But Hollin was drunk by the end of the night. If anything happened, he wouldn’t even remember. And I didn’t want that. So, I said good night and headed back with Blaire. She side-eyed me but relented when I wouldn’t say anything else.
I found Hollin’s white shirt when I got home and brought it to my nose. It still smelled like him. Fuck.
I curled up with it, and the next thing I knew, I woke to the smell of Hollin pressed against me. I jumped up, bleary-eyed, but it was just the shirt. I laughed and glanced at my phone to check the time. I didn’t have to be up for another hour. Though I had a text from an unknown number.
I clicked on it.
* * *
Piper! Long time since we’ve talked. It’s Quinn. I hope all is well. I happened to notice that someone posted a picture of you with Hollin Abbey. Are you two dating? I couldn’t even believe it when I saw it. It was a long time ago, but, girl, run! Run far away. I love you and don’t want to see you get hurt. Come see me in Denver when you’re next in town!
* * *
My stomach flipped at the unexpected message. Everything crashed back down. Quinn had seen me with Hollin?
I pulled up social and found the pictures she was talking about. A bunch of people from last night had added images into a shared album that was made public. And the very first image was of Hollin and me smiling for the camera.
I could deny it. We weren’t dating. But Quinn’s warning felt…fortuitous. As if I had let my guard down around him and let myself forget what he could do to me. How it could all fall apart. Quinn had moved to Denver to escape our living situation and Khloe. I didn’t want to give him the power to hurt me that bad.