Page 31 of Snowed In With You

‘Can you take me to Ninth by Delaney?’

‘Sure, no problem.’ He had a sort of grandfatherly air about him and I was relieved to have climbed into a car with a half decent person and not some ass who was going to pepper me with questions the whole way home.Fuck.I didn’t even have any of my stuff. Luckily I kept a spare key in the fake hanging basket by the door, but I hated sticking my hand in there for fear of spiders.

How was I supposed to come back from this? Fletcher wasn’t just some guy off the street that I’d met and fallen for – he was my brother’s best friend, he was in my life for good one way or another. I groaned,Rob.Fletch would tell Rob, obviously, and then Rob would inevitably tell our mother, leading to at least four phone calls a day while she ‘checks-in’’– which was basically just her asking how I was and if I was okay with increasing worry as the day went on.

I was going to have to move and change my name. No, I needed to move to a convent and take a vow of silence so nobody would have to be on the receiving end of another impromptu and ill-timedI love youever again. Or, well, at least not from me anyway.

Fuck, I hoped this taxi took apple pay because I had zero cash on me right now, what with my wallet being with rest of my bags at Fletcher’s and it wasn’t like I could go back there. Goodbye favourite fuzzy socks, goodbye special facial exfoliator brush that I paid $40 for.

We passed Delaney park and I directed the old man to my place, thanking him when we pulled up out front. ‘Do you takeapple pay? If not, I’ll have to run inside and find some cash for you.’

The man looked startled, ‘Oh, I’m not a taxi driver.’

I stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. ‘Very funny, how much do I owe you?’

‘Nothing, dear,’ he said, reaching back and petting my hand gently before letting go. ‘You just go ahead and feel better soon. I hope whoever you were visiting is okay.’

Oh. Oh no. This was a new low. I’d accidentally kidnapped someone’s actual grandpa and he thought I was crying over a dying relative rather than some guy. I shook my head in disbelief as I climbed out and gave the guy a friendly wave through my sniffling.

I just needed to get inside, put on my baggiest and comfiest tee and then cry on my sofa for the rest of the night. I patted through my pockets when I got to the door, crying harder when I remembered for the second time that all I had on me were the keys to the rental car and my cell phone.Great, you also left Fletcher stranded because you have the keys to the car.Judging by the utter shock on his face, I was willing to bet that he was probably still stood in the hospital waiting room. Then he’d tell Rob what I’d done and that would be it, I’d never hear the end of it.

Like, yes, maybe I was an idiot, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.Yes but you didn’t need to blurt it out so soon.

My place was dark and a little cold as I walked in, the key in my hand was probably covered in cobwebs but I refused to look at it, instead I placed it down on the window ledge and went immediately to wash my hands.

It felt… empty. I’d only been at Fletcher’s for a couple of nights but I already missed his absurdly gigantic bed and his grey furball. I’d screwed up and it hurt to admit it.

Maybe I’d overreacted, maybe this wasn’t the death knell forrelationships that I thought it was. He had to love me one day, right? So, we could just ignore that I’d said it and… and have it be the elephant in every room and conversation.

I sighed as I kicked off my shoes. On the bright side, at least I didn’t have to unpack.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Fletcher

I just think you’re so amazing and I love you –

She loved me. Sara Bridges. Loved… me?

My heart was pounding like it wanted to jump right out of my chest and meet hers, my tongue felt too big for my mouth and,fuck,was I sweating? I’m pretty sure I was sweating, the heat flashing through me increased the longer Sara’s eyes held mine and I wanted to grin, to sweep her into my arms, to kiss her, to laugh – except I couldn’t do that last one, out of context it would have looked really bad.

So why wouldn’t my damned mouth work?

Sara was growing paler and still all I could do was stare at her stupidly, this beautiful, crazy woman who, for some reason, lovedme.I opened my mouth but no sound came out, my eyes were beginning to hurt from how wide they’d become but panic began to make my breaths burn and Sara’s eyes became wet and her mouth curled in that way that meant she was holding back tears.

Before I could get my body back under some semblance of control, Sara turned and ran straight back down the corridor towards the main entrance. Adrenaline made my stomach churn and I knew that if I didn’t catch her, I would lose her for good this time. She’d made herself vulnerable to me again and I’d been an idiot… again. I just hadn’t expected it. I was pretty sure I’d been half in-love with her ever since she threw my jumper atme in the snow but I’d known for sure when she hit her head in the basement – those had been some of the scariest few minutes of my life, seeing her prone and utterly silent on the floor.

A breath juddered out of me and I walked a few halting steps, shock making my body slow at first. I made it to the main entrance and dashed out. Red hair whipped about in the air and I caught another flash of it slipping inside a deep blue car .

‘Sara!’ I called as I ran, but she either didn’t want to talk to me or didn’t hear me. But I didn’t care either way, she had to be heading home and this time I wasn’t walking away or moping. I was going to get her back, becauseI loved her too, damn it.

I frantically patted down my pockets as I made my way to the rental car at a brisk pace.Crap. Sara has the keys.I groaned, throwing my arms up to cradle my head as I stared at the sky, it was threatening to rain and I spared a thought to how terrifying an experience it would have been in the car with Sara on slick roads. It had been bad enough driving to the hospital, I was fairly sure Sara had been a racing driver in a previous life or something with the way she’d taken the turns. The tires had screeched and I could have sworn the back wheels had lost contact with the road several times. Rob had called it her ‘oh-shit’ driving and to be fair, it made a lot of sense. I could have got us here safer, but nowhere near as fast.

Luckily, I had my wallet and was able to snag a taxi after only ten or so minutes waiting. I wanted to go straight to Sara’s, but decided instead to go home and collect her stuff. I would have loved for to come back to mine with me, but she was likely already at home and getting her to even let me in was going to be challenge enough.

I thanked and paid the driver quickly when we pulled up to my apartment building about twenty minutes later. There had been some traffic and every second of delay had made my hands clench tighter together. At least Rob had driven my truck downfrom the lodge after it had been fixed, it was a small comfort though. I knew as soon as I got in it that Sara would be at the forefront of my thoughts, the way she’d looked curled up in the leather seats as she’d tried to focus on her book, her fruity scent filling the air. She was already on my mind now as I dashed up the three flights of stairs, remembering her disgust when she’d realised there’d been an elevator, I snorted but my amusement faded quickly. I couldn’t lose her now.

Tibsmeowed loudly as I walked in and I bent to give him a quick scratch under his chin before collecting Sara’s stuff. Somehow, in the space of two nights, she’d managed to spread things out everywhere – her hairbrush on top of my drawers, her toothpaste by the sink, a book on the sofa, little touches of her that I collected up and replaced into her bags before crashing back out the door again.

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