“So, how was your night?” her father asked as they pulled away from the curb.

Dottie opened her mouth and closed it without saying a word. She was having a hard time collecting her thoughts. They passed a whole block lit up with brilliant Christmas decorations without her saying a word.

“Was it a nice time?” he asked, trying again to get an answer out of her.

“It was… It was an all right time,” Dottie said, searching for words.

“I never thought the bar would be a good place for you,” her dad said. “There’s so much noise, and you can’t really connect with anyone.”

“I’ve gone to the bar before.”

“And you hated it every time.” He changed the radio to a Christmas station. “You can’t make new friends at the bar. It isn’t a place to foster deep friendships. It’s just for drinking and surface conversations. Two things you don’t really love.”

Dottie chewed her lip. “That’s true.”

They didn’t need to say anything else for the rest of the short drive. She listened to the music and tried to center herself. She suddenly felt like she was going to burst into tears.

It was just a bad night. She didn’t know why she was getting so emotional about it. Wyatt hadn’t been unkind to her. She just didn’t like being at the bar. That wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Except that Wy loved the Brazen Bull. It was his favorite place to hang out with his friends after work and on the weekends. He was a regular there. The bartenders all knew his drink order before he even spoke. If she hated being at the bar, she wouldn’t be able to hang out with Wy as much anymore.

They were still in the very early stages of a possible relationship. Once they had been dating for a month or two, he would want to get back to his regular hobbies and his life outside of their cozy couple bubble. She didn’t want to ask him to choose between her and the bar, but she could see where this was going.

It also worried her that she still hadn’t gotten a text from him. He always texted her after she left to make sure she had gotten home all right. She hadn’t meant to leave in such a sudden way. She’d wanted to gently explain why she was leaving and make a quiet exit, but it had all become too much too quickly. She had needed to leave in a hurry, and she was too upset to talk with him about it.

She didn’t know which was worse: the thought of Wy being sad at the bar because she’d left, or that he might be having a great time now that she was gone. Maybe now he was dancing and drinking and talking with all of his friends and having a super great time. Maybe she had ruined his good time by being so awkward and no fun.

“Are you still hungry?” her father asked as he pulled into the garage. “You didn’t eat much before you left, so we saved you a plate just in case.”

“I could use some food,” Dottie admitted. “That one drink I had is going straight to my head.”

Before she’d left the house, she’d been too nervous to eat anything. Her mother had told her to have something small, but Dottie hadn’t heeded her warning. She was regretting that now. That could have been the reason she’d been feeling so strange at the bar. She wasn’t used to drinking mixed drinks.

“You can go get changed, and I’ll warm up your food.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for coming to get me, too.”

She slowly made her way upstairs with a heavy heart. She was ready to get out of the dress, take off all of her makeup, and wind down for the night. The longer she was away from the bar, the better she began to feel. She was still very upset about Wy, but at least her mind was clear. She could think straight again.

Once she had eaten and the food started soaking up the alcohol in her system, she knew she’d be ready to tackle whatever damage she’d done by leaving in such a hurry.

When she got downstairs after changing, her mother was waiting in front of the oven.

“Almost all warmed up,” she told Dottie. “We have some soup, too.”

“Tomato?” Dottie asked hopefully.

“You know it,” her mother said with a smile.

Her father was already tucking into a reheated slice of pizza.

Dottie got herself a bowl of soup from the steaming pot on the stove and sat across from him. She was ravenous. As she had predicted, the more food she ate, the better she felt.

“Your father tells me your night didn’t go so well,” her mother said.

“It did not.” Dottie kept her eyes on her bowl. She felt so stupid. It had been a simple night out with her boyfriend and some new friends at the bar. Yet, somehow, she’d managed to turn it into a disastrous evening.

“You want to talk about it?” her mom asked as she slid a slice of pizza onto a plate for Dottie.

Dottie shrugged. “Not much to say.”

“Even though I’m not Wyatt’s biggest fan, I do think he’s a nice boy. I’m sure whatever he said, it wasn’t on purpose.”

“He didn’t do or say anything wrong,” Dottie said. She took a small bite of pizza. “It was more like… it wasn’t right. The whole night wasn’t right.”

“What do you mean?” her dad asked.

“It’s hard to explain. He was having such a great time with his friends and everything, and I just… I wasn’t.”

“Was someone mean to you?” her mother asked.

“No. Everyone was very nice. I just felt like I didn’t belong there. I felt so weird and awkward. I didn’t have anything interesting to say and felt so out of place.”

Her mom frowned. “You always have something to say. You’re a very interesting woman who talks a mile a minute.”

“I told you the bar wasn’t the best environment for her,” Dottie’s dad pointed out. “She felt out of place because it wasn’t for her.”

“It wasn’t just that.” Dottie put her bowl in the sink and leaned against the kitchen counter. “It was more like, I didn’t belong in the group. Like, everyone was being nice, but there was just something off about it all. It’s hard to explain.”

“Like with Wyatt’s group of friends?” her mother asked. “Honey, how do you really feel about him? I’m not asking to start a fight or anything, but I’m worried. If this is how you feel after one night out with his friends, maybe everything isn’t as it seems.”

“I really like him. I’m just not sure I love him,” Dottie said quietly.

Her mother nodded sagely. “There’s nothing wrong with having a romance for the season. You can have a very nice winter romance, and then, when it’s over, we can just leave. No one will be hurt or feel bad, because these things happen all the time.”

“I don’t know,” Dottie said. “I don’t think Wyatt feels that way.”

“He’ll understand. He’s a shifter too, after all.”

She knew what her mother was alluding to. If her animal wasn’t sure of it, then it wasn’t meant to be. But Dottie wasn’t sure what her animal wanted anymore.

She couldn’t tell if she was just ignoring all the signs or if her animal was fond of Wy, but he wasn’t her true mate. She wished she had another shifter to talk to. One who didn’t have a stake in the game. But all of her friends back home were humans too. It would be too strange to talk to any of her shifter cousins about it because they weren’t close like that.

“We were matched through LK Brides,” she argued. “That has to mean something, right? Maybe I’m just having a bad night.”

“Or you’re coming to your senses,” her father said. “Just because you go on a few dates with someone doesn’t mean you have to marry them. I think Wyatt is a very nice man, but there’s no need to get so serious so quickly. Give yourself some time to figure out what you guys want to do.”

“Or maybe just tell him that you want to keep it casual,” her mother suggested. “I mean, I would argue that since your animal isn’t sold, he isn’t your mate. But I know you and your father really like him. It’s better not to break his heart before Christmas.”

Dottie walked to the window and looked out at the yard. She couldn’t look at her parents as she spoke. She didn’t want to see how disappointed they were in her. She should have listened to them from the start. They had told her to take it slow and not get too serious, and she hadn’t heeded their warning. She was going to hurt Wyatt just in time to ring in the New Year with a broken heart.

“It’s hard for me to be sure,” she admitted. “I feel that way too sometimes. But I don’t want to hurt his feelings. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Her mom wrapped her arms around Dottie’s shoulders. She pulled Dottie in close and kissed the crown of her head. “I know you don’t want to hurt him, honey, but it would be even worse to hold him back from finding his real mate. This is when you’re going to have to figure it out on your own, and quickly.”

Dottie held back tears. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. She couldn’t figure it out on her own—that was the problem. She just wished there were someone to tell her what to do. She didn’t want to have to make this choice on her own. She didn’t trust her own instincts, at all.

She’d thought Wy was so perfect when she first met him. This had happened in the past, but this time he was actually a nice guy. Just maybe not the guy for her. She didn’t know how she was going to decide any of this.