Page 109 of Heartache & Playdates
His eyes widened slightly before his brow creased and he glanced over in Peyton’s direction. “I don’t see a ring on her finger.”
“She might not be wearing it now, but she had a ring on at the hospital.” Even though I believed her that she hadn’t said yes, the fact that she wore the ring meant she hadn’t said no.
At an early age, life had taught me to believe people’s actions more than their words and not to expect the worse, but to prepare myself for it.
“Damn, bro. Sorry.”
“Would you like to dance?”
We turned and saw Heather Combs standing in front of us. Thankfully, she wasn’t speaking to me, her attentions were directed at Nick.
“I thought you’d never ask.” Nick smiled, handed me the rose, and the two made their way to the dance floor.
As I stood, watching the kids and parents do the Cupid Shuffle line dance I did my best to not keep looking over at Peyton every few seconds. But it was tough. She was the flame and I was the moth. She drew me with an invisible force that I’d never been able to resist.
The question was, what was I going to do about it?
Whenever I had a problem to solve, I always started with the facts and moved my way out from there to find a solution. These were the facts.
Fact #1: There was a good chance that Peyton was going to end up with Trent. She hadn’t said yes, but she had been wearing his ring and stayed with him for ten years.
Fact #2: Peyton was in my life again and I didn’t want to lose her. Even if we weren’t together, she was my best friend. The first person I wanted to tell if something good or bad happened. These past two weeks, not seeing her or speaking to her, had been torture. I missed her.
Fact #3: We shared a daughter. Even though we didn’t raise her, we were still family. We would always be in each other’s lives thanks to our common bond of Lina.
Once all those facts crystalized in my head, the solution was clear. I knew exactly what I had to do.
The rest of the dance passed by quickly. I danced with Hannah a few times and listened to Nick talk about his new podcast.
When it ended, I walked Hannah to Nick’s car, gave her a hug, and told her I’d pick her up tomorrow. But instead of going to my car, I waited on the steps of the front entrance of the school. Now that I had some clarity, I needed to speak to Peyton.
I waited, and waited, and when the parking lot was all but empty, I was beginning to think I might have missed her somehow.
“Hey!” The brunette I’d seen talking to Peyton all night walked out and greeted me.
“Hi.” I lifted my hand in a wave.
“I’m Bianca Santos, I teach second grade.”
“Miss Bianca, yes, I’ve heard good things.” Her class had a waiting list each year. Lizzy had already put Hannah’s name on it. “Maddox Cruz, Hannah’s dad.”
Her lips turned up in small grin. “Yeah, I know.” She pulled out her keys. “I’m about to lock up. Peyton’s in her classroom, she had some work to catch up on.”
I wasn’t sure how she knew that I was waiting for Peyton. Maybe she’d seen the longing looks I’d been shooting her way all night.
“Oh, okay.” I wondered how long she would be. It didn’t matter, I would wait. I needed to speak to her.
“Do you want to go in?” she asked holding the door.
“Oh, yeah. Thanks,” I said as I passed her.
Bianca wore a knowing smile. “Just let Peyton know I locked up the front and it’s just the two of you in the building.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “I will, thanks.”
As I walked down the hallway, my nerves were getting the better of me. I wasn’t sure why. It’s not like I was going to ask her to be with me. The opposite actually.
Before I even got to her room I heard her singing, off key, which meant she was happy. She only sang when she was happy. I hoped that this conversation wouldn’t kill her good mood. But it had to be done. I wanted to be able to call her to talk. I wanted to be able to see her, not on the school grounds. I wanted my best friend back.
