Page 23 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)

“Dallas, you left your phone in the car,” Kami told me before I stepped into the room.

“No, I didn’t . . .” I felt for my phone in my pocket, but it wasn’t there. “Oh.”

Dad handed me the keys, and I walked back outside to the car. Believe it or not, my phone was face-front in the back seat on the passenger’s side, where I’d been sitting. Weird. I grabbed my phone and went back inside.

I hummed to the music playing as I walked into the room. The lights were still off, so I felt for the switch until they turned on?—

“Happy birthday!” Over a dozen people jumped out from behind the furniture.

I let out a scream, stumbling backward and hitting my head against the wall. I cursed, rubbing the back of my head. “What the . . . what?”

“I hope you’ll enjoy your first party in Nevada,” Hayden said with a huge beam.

“ Party ?” My head throbbed as I gaped around the room.

Along with my family, Oliver, Caleb, Raina, Arielle, and Sienna were here, each one of them plastering their own smile.

Sienna had two kids next to her, a boy and a girl with big brown eyes and brown hair.

What I assumed was Hayden’s family were also here, though his sister looked a little disinterested.

“But I thought it would be just a few of us . . .”

“You forgot to tell him we were all coming?” Oliver whispered-hissed at Hayden.

“Oh.” Hayden bit his lip. “I thought I told you I invited all our friends.”

No heater was needed in here—my cheeks were on fire. “You definitely didn’t tell me that.”

“Oops.” Hayden put his hands in his pockets.

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you didn’t do that on purpose.”

“I didn’t!” Hayden promised. “I only invited our friend group, but then Sienna’s cousins wanted to come, and my entire family?—”

I drowned out the conversation, panic coursing through me. This was not just hanging out with a few people. This was an elementary-school-style birthday party where you invited your entire class, and their families decided to tag along. This was humiliating .

In the middle of the commotion, Arielle squeezed me into a hug for at least a full minute. Dang, that girl was a hugger, but I didn’t stop her—I freaking needed it, and she did too. As we stood there, my eyes darted over to Raina, who was staring at me lifelessly.

I swallowed and broke out of the hug with Arielle before approaching her. “I’m sorry about your dad,” I said softly. “Thank you for still coming.”

“I needed to get out of the house,” Raina said with a faint smile. “And I love ice skating.”

“So it has nothing to do with me,” I said with mock hurt. “Got that.”

She nudged me and laughed, a short but genuine one .

I leaned in to hug her, but she walked away. My heart sank to the floor, even though that was the least surprising thing about this party so far.

We sat at the tables to eat pizza, and I got to meet everyone I didn’t know. The whole time, I couldn’t stop watching Raina and Arielle. While Arielle was bouncing around and smiling like nothing was wrong, Raina kept to herself, scrolling through her phone with a grimace.

When we were done, we all went outside to start ice skating.

The rink had fewer people than it had earlier, leaving plenty of room for error.

And by error, I mean falling all over the rink.

It’d been four years exactly since I’d gone ice skating, and for all I knew, my body could’ve forgotten how to skate completely.

I was already prepared for all the bruises I’d wake up with tomorrow.

Happy freaking birthday to me.

The moment I put my skates on, Hayden grabbed my arm and dragged me onto the rink. I yelped, my feet slipping.

“Careful there, ice prince,” Hayden told me as he caught me from falling.

“Sorry.” I laughed out of fear. “I’m a bit rusty.” My eyes went to the group of people hugging the wall. “Maybe I should start back from square one before I join you.”

“Don’t downgrade to wall hugging.” Hayden shook his head. “Just keep your balance, trust yourself, and breathe. At least try to do the last one.”

“Seems like the hardest step.”

He chuckled. “Follow me.”

Hayden tried to help me, but I was going too slow for his liking. We had to stop every three seconds when I lost my balance or fell onto the ice. Eventually, my feet remembered how to stay balanced, and I trailed behind him .

That was when a couple blew past me. It made me lose focus and fall onto my butt.

Hayden turned around and covered his snicker with his mitten. “Bless you, Dallas.”

“I didn’t sneeze,” I muttered as he helped me off the ice. This would leave a mark for sure.

I should’ve settled for bowling instead.

“It happens to all of us at some point.” He shrugged. “The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Keep trusting yourself.”

The other side wasn’t far away, but I barely made it. Right before we made it to the end, the same couple flew past us again. This time, I grabbed Hayden’s arm, but it only pulled him downward, and I followed.

Both of us tumbled onto our backs, laughing like maniacs. “Hey, just because you’re falling doesn’t mean you have to bring others down with you,” Hayden said through laughs. “You definitely should go back to wall-hugging for now.”

“Thanks for the permission.” I beamed, rubbing my back.

The two of us got off the rink. “Gonna use the can,” Hayden said.

“Okay.” I put my arms on the railing and let out a frosty breath.

My eyes went to the other people on the rink.

Kami and Oliver were gliding on the ice gracefully but at a noticeable distance from each other.

I was surprised that they weren’t holding hands like the rest of the couples, or that they hadn’t been flirting like they’d been before.

My parents were wobbling in their corner of the rink and probably wouldn’t last much longer.

Arielle and Caleb were skating around with Sienna’s cousins, but they weren’t doing a good job at it.

And then there was Raina, hugging the wall as Sienna encouraged her to skate with her. Raina kept shaking her head, her feet slipping as she clutched to the wall. Couldn’t blame her.

I went back on the rink and skated over to the wall to follow the other wall-huggers. My feet kept slipping, but eventually, I got the hang of it again.

Confidence boosted, I let go of the wall and skated freely. My pace picked up as I grew more courageous, my movement turning into gliding. Before I knew it, I was gliding freely along the ice.

Hayden skated up next to me. “See, you’re doing it!” A grin took shape on his lips. “All you needed to do was breathe.”

“That part is still the hardest.” I grinned back.

He grabbed my hand, and we skated along the rink together. Both of us put our free hands in the air. In this moment, I felt invincible. I soared across the ice with my best friend, laughing happily.

Hayden’s smile fell as he pulled me to the side with him.

“What are you doing?” I asked, letting go of his arm.

“Look out!”

By the time I whipped around, someone was slamming into me. The two of us tumbled onto the ice. My right side hit the ice first and pain shot up my body.

“Dallas!” Hayden skated over to me, along with the rest of our friends.

The person halfway on top of me grunted. “Looks like we collide again.”

“What—” I finally got a look at them, and my brain almost exploded.

You have to be kidding me .