Sleet Banshee by S.J. Tilly

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

MEGHAN

My eyes fly open, and I find myself in that confusing state between sleep and consciousness.

I can feel my heart racing in my chest, and with the suddenness of a slap to the face I remember the dream I was having. My hands scraping against a brick wall with Sebastian slamming into me, while all my friends stood there, lined up in the alley, watching. I blink my eyes to clear the image from my brain.

A floorboard creaks, and I sit bolt upright.

What the fuck was that? Is someone in my apartment?

I hear shuffling sounds, and jump out of bed. I grab my phone only to find it’s totally dead; I forgot to plug it in last night. Fuck. I’m looking around my room for anything I can use as a weapon when I hear whispered voices. Picking up a large framed photo off my desk, I grip it like a baseball bat and hold my breath as the footsteps near.

“Meghan!” Katelyn’s shout has me letting out a shriek.

“Jesus Fuck, Katelyn - ” I attempt to yell, but my heart is beating so hard I can barely catch my breath.

Katelyn steps into my bedroom doorway just in time to see me lowering the picture frame.

She lifts an eyebrow. “Were you gonna beat off an intruder with that?”

“Seriously, what the fuck! Are you trying to kill me?” I set down the frame and rub my chest. “And don’t say beat off. It doesn’t mean what you think.”

I hear a snort as Izzy and Steph step into my bedroom behind Katelyn.

“Good morning!” Izzy’s being way too fucking chipper for just about giving me a heart attack.

Steph looks me up and down. “Hot.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m assuming you’re all here for a friendly interrogation?” I ask.

They respond with a mixture of smiles and glares.

I sigh. “At least let me pee before we start. You’re lucky I didn’t piss myself when I heard you in my hall.”

Izzy’s the only one to look even a little bit sheepish, and they all turn and make their way back to the living room.

I shouldn’t be surprised. After my little show last night, I knew they’d be hounding me for answers. But I honestly wasn’t expecting them to break into my freaking house at whatever-time in the morning to do it. Really though, I probably should’ve seen this coming. Katelyn has a key, and she knows me well enough to know that in-person is the best way to get me to spill my secrets.

Shutting the bathroom door, I let one more shudder work its way through my body. Waking up to the sounds of people in your home is terrifying. I may need some blood pressure medication now. And the lack of weapons in my bedroom is mildly concerning.

Not in a hurry to deal with the aftermath of my multi-month long deception, I take my time brushing my teeth, and look over my outfit. Steph was right, I do look hot. Kind of. To certain people. People that like a lot of tits and ass.

When I got home last night, I stripped down, got dressed for bed in the dark, and then hid under my favorite quilt until sleep took me. Which is how I find myself dressed in one pink sock, one blue sock, a pair of red lace boy-short undies that leave nothing to the imagination and a Sleet tank top. I bought the tank when I was in the mall one day and saw it on sale. I was in the midst of my self-imposed Sebastian ban, and feeling sorry for myself, but I’m a head case, so I bought it. And have since slept in it on a regular basis. It’s small and cute and even with my boobs and hips spilling out all over the place, I feel sexy in it.

However, staring at the letters across my boobs reminds me why the girls are here. This is not going to be fun for me.

I pit-stop back in my room for a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. Then take a deep breath and steel myself for what’s to come.

“Hurry up, Bitch!” Katelyn shouts.

“Yeah, yeah.” I grumble.

Shoulders back, I leave my room.

I find all three of them sitting on the couch, cups of coffee in hand. My apartment is decent sized, but not huge, and the only other spot to sit is in my yellow velvet high back chair. Which has been pulled to face the couch head on. Three on one. Here we go.

“We already prepped your coffee, so no need for you to delay in the kitchen,” Steph gestures to the mug on the coffee table.

“You guys thought of everything,” I mumble as I grab the mug and drop into the chair.

I take my time blowing on the steaming drink while the three wenches stare me down.

Izzy cracks first. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Take a damn sip and then tell us what the hell is going on with you and Sebastian.”

I can’t help it. I smile. I love it when Izzy swears.

“Not uh - ” Izzy shakes her head at me. “You don’t get to laugh at this yet. We’ve all been worried about you, and you kept telling us you were fine. But clearly there’s plenty you weren’t telling us. Even though you had no problem shoving your nose into my business, feeding Zach information about my dates so he could crash them.”

Oh, snap.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve known for months.” Izzy crosses her arms to punctuate her point.

“Huh.” I figured she knew, but it’s been so long I almost expected her to never bring it up. “In all fairness, you and Zach are now madly in love, so…” I trail off as her eyes narrow.

“Yeah, and that’s why I’m not mad about what you did. I’m mad that even though you inserted yourself into my personal life, you kept me out of yours.” She gestures down the couch. “You kept it from all of us.”

My shoulders sag. “I know.” I feel my throat tighten and the telltale burning behind my eyes, that warns of tears. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Izzy’s voice is quieter now. “We’re just worried.”

“I know, I know...” I scrub a hand over my face.

“Are you okay?” Katelyn asks. “What happened between you two?”

I let out a huff. “A lot. A lot happened with Sebastian. And before I tell you everything, I just want to say that when I first decided to keep this all to myself, I thought it was the right thing to do. I was trying to get Izzy to see how great Zach was, and I was afraid that my drama with Sebastian might distract from that goal. It was a stupid decision, but once I realized it, I was already in too deep. Then it got complicated. Really complicated.”

“I wish you wouldn’t have done that,” Izzy says, looking guilty. “We could’ve handled it all at once. Together.”

I give her a soft smile. “I didn’t intend for this all to snowball so much, but I don’t regret what I did if it helped get you and Zach together.”

“Wait - ” Katelyn holds up a hand. “When did this start?”

I cringe. “At that haunted house thing.”

“What?!” they all screech back. Even Steph. She wasn’t there that night, but she’s heard about it.

“Seriously?! What the fuck, Meghan? That was like four months ago!” Katelyn throws her hands up. “I’m sorry for whatever happened last night to cause you to throw that drink at him, but I’m glad it did. Because I’m pretty sure your stubborn ass would have never told us!”

I shrug. “I’m sure it would’ve come out eventually.”

Steph barks out a laugh. “You’re such a brat. Start spilling.”

“And don’t even think about skimping out on the details,” Izzy glares at me.

“Really, Izz? You have your own man now. Do you really want to hear about Sebastian’s dick?”

“You’ve seen his dick! Were you guys sleeping together?” Katelyn is about ready to launch off the couch.

The flash of memory brings me back to the alley. Back to the best sex of my life. Back to Sebastian asking me to go home with him. Back to the bar. To the aftermath of the fight. And any remaining humor leaves my features.

“Izzy, it’s all my fault. If it wasn’t for me, that fight wouldn’t’ve happened. I’m so sorry.” I carefully set my coffee down, my hands are shaking as bad as my voice.

“What are you talking about?” Izzy is looking at me with confusion.

“Holy shit!” Katelyn's eyes are wide. “Did you sneak off with Sebastian that night at the club? I remember looking and not being able to find you.”

I nod. “Yeah. We, umm, we went out back.” They stay silent in my pause, and I know I need to just come clean. “Sebastian and I snuck out the back door, to the alley. The plan was, well I’m not sure what the plan was, but, we… Well, we sorta did it in the alley.”

“Did what exactly?” Izzy is smirking now, ignoring the part about me ditching her that night.

I roll my eyes. “Sex.”

“In the alley?” Steph asks.

“Yeah,” I admit with a small nod.

The three stooges break out into giggles.

“It’s not funny. It’s my fault Izzy got hit that night.” I lock eyes with Izzy. “We went to that club together. I ditched you for a stupid man, leaving you alone, and then that asshole fucking hit you. I never should’ve left.”

“Meghan, it’s not your fault.” She holds up a hand to stop my rebuttal. “It’s. Not. Your. Fault. That guy was a prick. If not me, he would’ve targeted someone else that night. At least with me, Zach was there to beat the ever loving shit outta him. I know how you think. It’s how we all think. And I can understand why you decided to drag all that guilt inward, but please, let it go.”

I just stare at her. How can she be serious?

“Meg.” Katelyn’s tone matches the sad look on her face. “Have you been beating yourself up about this the whole time?”

I bite my lip. How could I fuck up so badly?

I drop my head into my hands. “I fucked up everything, didn’t I?”

Katelyn lets out an exaggerated huff. “Well, we’re here now. You don’t have to deal with this shit on your own. But if you think details like we had sex in the alley are gong to cut it, then you are sadly mistaken.”

I part my fingers to look up at Katelyn’s smile.

Her expression falters. “I’m sorry we didn’t figure this all out sooner. I wish you would’ve talked to one of us. I know I’ve been busy with Jackson, but you could’ve told me.”

“This isn’t on any of you. I’m the idiot who thought keeping it all bottled up would be okay.” I shake my head. “And if our positions were switched, I’d be breaking into your houses, too.”

This gets a smile back on Katelyn’s lips. “It’s not breaking in if I have a key.”

“Uh huh, sure.” I feel a weight disintegrate from my shoulders. “Okay, you want details, we need to go back a ways… ”