Ten
Winter
When the ringing wakes me up, the shrill noise makes me wince like nails on a chalkboard.
My head’s pounding as I answer without checking the caller ID, just wanting to stop the wretched noise.
More than anything, I want to roll over and go back to sleep.
Now that I’ve answered and am met with Reign’s voice asking never-ending questions, I know it won’t happen.
Coffee is a necessity if I want to make it through this morning, so I tell her to meet me at the café downtown.
Remembering the ending of last night, I know I need to get out of the house unseen to avoid a full inquisition from my mother.
Clad in leggings and an oversized sweater, I tie my bootlaces and creep down the stairs.
My hungover state doesn’t mesh well with my need for stealth, and when I near the bottom of the stairs, I trip over a lone shoe.
It’s been so long since living at home, I guess I forgot how big of slobs my brothers can be.
I don’t wait to see if anyone heard my racket and instead choose to sprint the rest of the way to my car—hangover headache be damned.
In the safety of my car, I floor it into reverse just in time to see my mom look out the curtained window.
Sighing deeply, I know I temporarily dodged a bullet.
I’m sure once I’m back home, there will be some explaining needed to take place.
Maybe if I’m lucky, she’ll interrogate Saint instead, and I can get out of it altogether. I guess only time will tell.
The drive to town isn’t nearly long enough of a reprieve from what’s to come, and before I know it, I’m walking into the local coffee shop.
Ella Mae’s voice calls out to me, waving me over to the table she occupied with Reign.
Plopping down into the open chair, I rest my head in my hands for a minute, trying to center myself.
“Here.” Ella Mae grabs my attention. She lays down a napkin with a pain reliever on it before placing a considerably large coffee and a Danish in front of me. “Figured you’d need these if you were in a similar state as either of us.”
“Bless you,” I exclaim, then swallow the pills and wash them down with the perfectly sweetened coffee. “You know just how to treat a woman. Marry me?”
Reign shoves my shoulder playfully at the request. We all giggle when I grumble about the pain from the motion.
Leaning forward with a conspiratorial whisper, Reign commands, “Now, tell us everything that happened.”
Averting my gaze to avoid eye contact, I say, “I’ve no clue what you’re talking about.”
She tsks at me. I didn’t really think that answer would work, but it was worth a shot. “Rumor this morning says that you and Saint caused quite the ruckus last night at Bottom Barrel, and your mother had to be called to pick you both up.”
Covering my face with my hands in shame, I whisper, “People are talking about that?” This is so embarrassing.
Reign chuckles. “Of course they are. You two have always been known to be trouble when you’re together, but it’s been a long time since the town got to experience it. Everyone is talking about it.”
How wonderful, I think sarcastically. I came home to escape the drama in New York, and apparently, I can’t avoid putting myself in problematic situations.
Am I so crappy at adulting that I can’t fly below the radar for a little while?
The good news is that people in this town might talk, but that talk won’t leave this town.
The people here are loyal to each other.
No one will be trying to sell the story to the press or putting it online—despite my fame.
After a few minutes, when it’s clear they’ll wait however long it takes for me to spill the details, I decide to start talking.
“You all abandoned me,” I accuse. “Then it was just me and Saint. He looked… gosh, I don’t even know how to describe it. He looked like he couldn’t decide whether he was going to kill me or devour me.”
“And?”
“I don’t know what happened, really. One minute he’s looking all pissy, the next he dragged me out to the dance floor.
” Thinking about the possessive way he held the back of my neck while we danced sends a shiver of delight through me.
The dominance of the move made my insides melt and squirm.
If I weren’t so drunk last night, I’d be mad at myself for the fact that it was Saint who was making me feel these things.
“We danced to a couple of songs.” I shrug.
My mind is inundated with flashbacks of the way our bodies moved together to the music.
It was more intoxicating than the alcohol I’d consumed that night.
I had to get away from him. I desperately needed to put us back to rights and get safely in the boxes we were comfortable in.
“I suggested we grab a drink since we both got heated up from dancing.”
Ella Mae squints her eyes in my direction.
I know she’s trying to decide how much of my story to believe and how much I’m hiding.
She’s always been too good at reading me.
Apparently, not much has changed. “What about the argument you guys got into? We were told you were both yelling about something.”
Scrunching my nose, I admit, “I might’ve antagonized him a little bit.”
Reign holds up two fingers with a smidge of space between them. “Just a little bit?” She separates her fingers farther apart. “Or a lot?”
I smile, chagrined at my best friends. “If you had a nemesis like Saint and things were going the way they were last night, you’d have done the same!”
“That’s the thing, though, Winter, I don’t think you two were ever meant to be enemies,” Ella Mae admits.