Chapter 46
Izzy
“Do you really want to go?” I finish my mascara, wiping the corners of my eyes delicately. Nikolai sits at the foot of my
bed, lacing his boots. “If you want to stay home, I can, too.”
He shakes his head as he stands, adjusting the sleeves of his black pullover. “No, it’s okay. It’ll be nice.”
“I’m sure everyone else is hungover.” I snort, tossing my makeup back in its bag. “We’ll be talking to the wall.”
The New Year’s Eve karaoke was still going strong by the time Nik and I got back from the beach. We snuck upstairs with glasses
of champagne and spent the rest of the night ensconced in my room. I fiddle with my new bracelet as I look at him, trying
not to full-on stare. I’m grateful that he chose to share his past with me last night, but it was heavier than I could have
imagined.
He didn’t deserve a childhood like that. Not at all. The mere thought of it is enough to set me on edge, but I know he needs
normalcy right now, not more anger. And if normalcy looks like brunch with my siblings, then all the better.
“I’m dying for some coffee,” he says, kissing my cheek. His hand lingers on my waist as he takes in my outfit. “You look beautiful.”
I tuck my hair behind my ears. I’m just wearing jeans and a chunky sweater, but it’s nice to hear the compliment anyway. “You’ll
love this diner. It was my favorite, growing up. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been.”
“Let me guess, they make a good pancake.”
“Thin, crispy edges, and they take up the whole plate. So good.” I snag my purse. Hopefully everyone is actually awake. When I stopped by the kitchen earlier, I only saw Sebastian, slumped over the kitchen table with a half-drunk mug of coffee. I asked him how much they drank last night, and his answer was totally incoherent. “Let me guess, you’re looking forward to plain scrambled eggs and rye toast.”
“What’s wrong with rye toast?”
“Everything,” I mutter, peering into the foyer.
Behind me, Nik barks a laugh. Sebastian waves from his spot next to the front door.
“Where’s everyone?” I ask.
He checks his watch. “Bex doesn’t want to come, but the others should be down in a second. Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Nik says smoothly, wrapping an arm around my middle and tugging me to his chest. He kisses my hair. “I wanted Isabelle
all to myself last night. Sorry.”
Before Sebastian can reply, Mia stomps down the stairs, in the middle of putting her hair into a topknot. “I knocked on Cooper’s
door six times. Either they’re asleep or they’re fucking, and I don’t care which, but they’re not going to get between me
and my mimosa.”
Two hours later, I nestle against Nik’s side, half-drunk mimosa in hand. The six of us—Cooper and Penny eventually emerged from his room, mostly conscious—are squished in Shed House’s corner booth with nothing but crumbs left on our plates. I happy-danced through every bite of my chocolate chip pancakes, and Nik even ordered eggs Benedict instead of his usual boring breakfast. I don’t miss my hometown when I’m at McKee—Moorbridge is pretty enough to make up for it—but whenever I come here, I’m reminded of good memories. We ate here as a family the morning Dad announced his retirement from football. Victoria got the server to add a scoop of ice cream to my pancakes after my breakup with Chance. My school volleyball team stormed in monthly for milkshakes and fries.
Nik traces a finger along the seam of my jeans as he steals a sip of my mimosa.
“What happened next?” he asks. “With the game?”
Cooper, energized by coffee and booze, has taken it upon himself to share some of my greatest hits from childhood, and since
he hasn’t told Nik about how I got my first period in the pool or the time he and Sebastian caught me kissing my Shawn Mendes
poster, I’ve let it slide. I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish. This one is pretty epic.
“So then,” he says dramatically, “she spots James with the ball and leaps for him. Barefoot, tutu and all. Sacks him right to the ground.”
“No way,” Nik says, eyes widening. He turns to me. “How old were you again?”
I finish off the mimosa with a grin. “Six.”
“Which made him...”
“Ten,” Sebastian says. “I remember our mothers shrieking.”
“Worth it,” I say, punctuating that with a sweep of my hair over my shoulder. “James was so mad at me.”
“Yeah, because I was open all the way down the field,” Sebastian says. “I’d have taken it to the end zone for sure if he managed
to throw it.”
“Sure,” Cooper says, drawing out the word.
“You keep telling yourself that,” I add, smiling sweetly at him.
“I’m just imagining you flying through the air with the tutu on,” Mia says.
“Bear in mind it wasn’t a cute ballet pink,” Cooper says. “It was this horrendous hot pink—”
“It was not horrendous,” I interrupt. “It was sparkly and awesome.”
“I’m sure you looked adorable,” Nik says. “And the flying tackle doesn’t surprise me at all. You’re a little hellion when
you want to be.”
“You want this little hellion.”
“Mm,” he says, ducking to kiss me. “It’s such a hardship.”
“Ugh, stop,” Penny says. “You two are so cute.”
Cooper rolls his eyes as the server comes over with the check, but I catch the smile on his face. Thank God. After we pay,
I lead the way to the street, bundling into my coat as I weave through the tables.
It’s a chilly but clear afternoon. Christmas decorations still dominate the main downtown strip. Even though the holiday has
come and gone, the window decorations make me smile. I hurry around the corner ahead of everyone else to peer at an elaborate
toy train set chugging away in the window of the hardware store. It weaves around a little North Pole scene, complete with
penguins ice-skating on the frozen lake in the center of town. I put my palm to the glass, trying to spot penguin Santa.
I catch sight of a man’s reflection in the window. “Nik, look at these itty-bitty little penguins.”
“Hey, Izzy.”
I know that voice. I whip my head around. My stomach drops at the sight of Chance, of all people, standing on the sidewalk.
Same mop of blond hair. Same sharp blue eyes. He’s broader than I remember, and somehow taller. The mustache is new as well,
but the cocky smile is the same.
He looks... good. I hope I don’t have chocolate on my face. I press against the glass as my heart rate kicks into gear.
He takes a step closer, but doesn’t go in for a hug.
I shove my hands into my coat pockets. “Um. Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for my girlfriend,” he says, gesturing to the boutique next to the hardware store. “Didn’t want to look at all the
girly shit, you know?”
“Oh.” I attempt a smile. My palms are slick with sweat, despite the cold air. I wish I didn’t drink that third mimosa. “You...
you have a girlfriend?”
There’s no way I’m giving him the satisfaction of knowing that I stalked him on Instagram. I wonder if he’s still dating that
pretty blonde, or if he moved on to someone else by now.
“Been dating a year and a half now,” he says. “Her name’s Madison.”
My heart sinks. A year and a half. That’s the entire time we’ve been in college.
“We met during move-in day freshman year,” he continues. “She’s a dancer. And pre-med.”
“Wow,” I force out. “She sounds very, um...”
“It’s nice to be with someone serious,” he adds, his gaze running up and down my body. He takes another step, backing me against
the building. “Someone driven. My old man approves.”
My scalp prickles with discomfort. He’s assessing me, determining if the way I look now matches up with his memories. His
dad never liked me. I remember the looks I got whenever I went to his house. I glance around, but I don’t see Nik or my family.
“Right. Sure.”
“What about you? I remember the fun we used to have,” he says, lingering on the word fun . “Working your way through the suckers at McKee? I’d ask what you’re studying, but I don’t think they have a major in party
planning.”
He laughs, as if expecting me to play along with his idiotic joke. I ignored his mean streak while we dated, but it was always there, ready to say something cutting. I made way too many excuses for him before the truth came out. I try to keep my chin high, but the comment hits its mark, just like he intended. My cheeks burn with embarrassment.
I finally catch sight of my brothers. Sebastian is pressing his lips together tightly, and Cooper looks like he’s about to
launch himself at Chance.
But Nik is the one who strolls over. “Party planning, no. Communications, yes.” He slips his hands into his pockets, the picture
of casualness, even though I catch a flash of intensity in his eyes. “You know, I was hoping I’d meet you one day, Chase.”
I bite the inside of my cheek as I ease away from Chance. One step, then another. A hand steadies me. Mia, glaring daggers,
flanked by Penny, who’s staring at him like he’s a particularly disgusting bug. Cooper and Sebastian step on either side of
Nik, adopting that same faux-casual stance. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so much ice in Cooper’s eyes.
Chance scowls at Nik. “It’s Chance.”
“Right. Whatever.” Nik leans in, a smirk on his lips. He has an inch or two on Chance, and definitely more than a few pounds
of muscle. He picks at his nails, letting Chance squirm for a moment. “So, Chance . Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t smash your head through that glass window.”
Chance startles, but he masks it with a sneer. “Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” Sebastian says darkly.
“Is she a frigid bitch in bed with you, too?” he drawls. “Or did she learn some new tricks by now?”
He’s addressing Nik, but he looks past him to me. Tears threaten to spill down my face. He’s the one who cheated on me and made our relationship into a joke on my goddamn birthday, and yet I can’t move. Can’t think of a retort.
“Hey,” Nik says sharply. “You don’t talk about her like that.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Cooper adds with a growl.
Nik presses in, forcing Chance to flatten against the window. “You’re a cheating scumbag, and—”
“Go away,” I interrupt, finally finding my voice. I wrestle my arm away from Mia and take a few quick steps forward. He can’t
just stand there and insult me in front of my family and my boyfriend. “Unless you want me to walk into that store and tell
your girlfriend about how much of a dick you were to me. I’m sure she’d be interested to hear all about her perfect, serious boyfriend’s past.”
The color drains from Chance’s face. “Fucking bit—”
“Look at me.” Nik yanks Chance close by the lapels of his jacket, but doesn’t raise a fist. “If you ever run into her again,
you keep your mouth shut and walk away. If I hear that you’ve talked to her, if you’ve so much as looked at her—I’ll fucking
destroy you.”
“The same for us,” Cooper says.
“All of us,” says Penny.
Mia grins. “I won’t hesitate to go for your balls. Just so you know.”
“That’s your cue to take your sorry ass somewhere else,” adds Sebastian.
Nik keeps Chance pinned for a long, tense moment. “You understand?”
“Yes,” he finally grits out. Nik lets him go with a little shove. He hurries into the boutique without so much as a backward
glance.
“Are you okay?” Nik asks, immediately coming to my side. “What happened?”
“I’m fine.” I’m wound up, but not in a bad way. I didn’t stand up to Chance when I first learned the truth, but I did when
it counted, and Nik and my family had my back. I feel triumphant; I feel good . “I’m fine, he doesn’t matter.”
“He doesn’t matter at all,” he says, voice low. “Don’t listen to a word he said.”
“Yeah,” Penny says. “He’s nothing, Izzy.”
“He’s an idiot,” Mia says, throwing the boutique a dirty look.
“I’m glad I saw him,” I say. Nik raises an eyebrow, but I nod. “Really, I am. He is nothing, I knew that, but it’s still good to know for sure. And to watch you tell him to fuck off.”
“And you,” he says, brushing his lips against my temple. He’s been doing that a lot recently, probably because of the new
scar. My stomach flutters with warmth instead of anxiety. “You were a badass. My little hellion.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian says. He shares a look with Cooper. “What do you think, Coop? Is it time?”
“Time for what?” I ask.
Cooper ruffles my hair, the way he used to when we were kids. He gives Nik a once-over before turning his gaze to me. His
eyes are bright, his expression almost boyish. “Time for the Callahan tattoo.”