Page 72 of Snowed In
“Oh. Uh…” Megan looks at me, and I shrug. I can skate. “I suppose we could—”
“I think it’s all booked out,” Sophie says quickly, and Jason falls quiet.
Hannah looks between them confused. “But you just invited me to—”
“That was the last spot.”
My sister’s smile falters. Mine disappears altogether. Jesus Christ, how old is this woman? Nine?
Cormac seems to think so too. “Soph…”
She just takes a sip of her soda, not meeting anyone’s eye.
“Maybe the lake will freeze over,” Hannah suggests when no one continues. “We could skate there too.”
“It’s supposed to get that cold?” Jason asks.
“Apparently.”
“Hannah’s the resident weather girl this year,” I explain.
“At least one of us will be prepared.”
“Hey.” Jason turns to Megan with a sudden grin. “Do you remember the year the river flooded? We had to stay at your house Christmas Eve because our entire ground floor was ruined.”
Megan smiles. “How could I forget? You wouldn’t stop crying because you thought Santa wouldn’t know where you were.”
“And you were convinced that all we needed to do was head back to mine at midnight.”
“It made sense!”
Jason laughs. “My dad wasfurious.We got caught immediately,” he explains to the rest of us.“Picture two seven-year-olds in nothing but their pajamas trying to climb over the fence. We didn’t even make it past the—”
A furious clatter interrupts him as Sophie dumps her cue back on the rack.
“No,” she says, and pins her gaze on Megan. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t care that it’s been a while. I don’t care that it’s Christmas, and I don’t care that you’re dating the guy who used to pull everyone’s hair in the playground. You can’t just show up here like nothing happened and expect us to pretend we haven’t seen you in five years.”
“I never pulled anyone’s hair,” I say, insulted.
“Don’t you have a car to steal?” Sophie says, and I scoff as Hannah frowns at her.
“That was one time, and I literally drove it halfway down the road before they caught me. It was funny.”
“It kind of was,” Jason mutters, and Sophie glares at him. “He was going at ten miles an hour!”
“Plus, I’m pretty sure this isn’t your pub,” I remind her. “We can show up where we like.”
“You can,” she agrees. “But don’t expect me to like it. Not after ruining Isaac’s life.”
The group goes deathly silent, and okay, maybe bringing Megan over here was one of my rare yet giant miscalculations. But before I can do anything about it, she speaks up.
“Isaac’s got himself a brand-new fiancée,” Megan says, and there’s an edge of resentment in her voice that I haven’t heard before. “Doesn’t look like his life is ruined to me.”
“You didn’t see how he was after you left.”
“Sophie—” Cormac begins.
“No,” she says to him. “He’s your best friend. You saw him. She didn’t. She didn’t see how destroyed he was. It wasn’t some comedy where the bride skips out, and everyone claps. I’ve never seen him so upset. It was selfish.” She turns back to Megan. “Youwere selfish.”
