Page 46 of Snowed In
“Is this it?”
“What?” She’s distracted, double-checking she’s got everything.
“Are you backing out?” I ask. “Is that what’s happening here?”
That stops her in her tracks. Her gaze swings my way, and the surprise there makes me feel better. But I still have to know.
“Do you want to stop this?” I ask. “Because if you do, you need to tell me right now.”
“No,” she says quickly. “I’m not backing out. I swear, I’m just…” She sighs. “Isaac threw me. That’s all. But I wouldn’t do that to you, I promise. And I’m sorry,” she adds. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”
“Kiss me like that anytime you need to,” I say. “It’s what we agreed. Maybe a little more enthusiasm next time, but—” I break off as she pretends to kick me, and I’m relieved to see she doesn’t look as miserable as she did. “Alright then. We’re doing this.”
“We are.”
“I’ll pick you up around eleven.”
“You’ll— What? Why?”
“Lunch with my family,” I remind her. We agreed to a rough schedule a few days ago. “You sure you don’t want to get this over with now?” I add, gesturing to the front door. I thought I might introduce myself to her mother, but she just shakes her head.
“I’m tired. I’ll be better tomorrow. I promise.”
“You’re perfect now,” I assure her. “Don’t stress about this.”
She nods, definitely still stressing, so I do the only other thing I can think of right now and don’t give her a chance to respond as I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me.
“What are you doing?” she mumbles into my shoulder.
“Hugging you. This is a supportive hug. Plus, I think your mother is watching us from the window.”
I smile to myself as she stiffens and pull back to press a kiss to her cheek. Megan’s eyes widen in surprise. Behind her, the curtains twitch.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And Megan?”
She waits, her hands clenched into fists at her side.
“It’s a great coat.”
And finally, she smiles.
TEN
MEGAN
I wait until Christian leaves before I ring the doorbell, cursing myself all the while for being the dumbest person alive.
I can’t believe I kissed him.
I mean, Ican. It was an instinctual reaction, but all that tells me is that my instincts are dumb. And yes, I know we both agreed to it, and I know it was going to happen at some point, but A: I didn’t think I’d be the one to initiate it, and B: I didn’t expect for it to be in a pub parking lot in front of my ex-fiancé. I wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t prepared at all.
Not to see Isaac. Not to meet Natalie.
Not to kiss Christian.
