Chapter 3

The next day, Peyton and Dallas drove the two lane highway on their way to pick their father up from the hospital. Country music played in the background but she was lost in her own thoughts. Her hand dangled out the window as the wind rushed over it and into the cab, lifting and carrying strands of hair away from her face.

She turned and studied her brother for a few minutes. It must have been longer than she thought because when he turned, he was frowning playfully. “Are you going to tell me why you’re watching me like some sort of weird-o?”

She smiled because, for the last day and a half, they’d actually gotten along. “I want to talk to you and I need you to listen. Can you do that?”

“Okkkkay?” he said in a slow drawl.

“I know about what happened with Zane and his past. I know about his addiction. I also know that you don’t like the idea of me being with either one of them.”

Peyton opened his mouth to say something but she held up her hand. “I said l