Sleet Banshee by S.J. Tilly

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

MEGHAN

“T

hen he said, 'What, afraid you’ll fall in love with me?' And, as you all witnessed, I lost my shit and threw my water in his smug-ass face.”

“What a prick! I can’t believe he said that,” Izzy says, disgusted.

Steph agrees, but Katelyn is oddly quiet as she chews her lip.

I’ve told them the whole story. Every encounter. Every kiss. Every detail from the alley fuck. And just like the story, their reactions were all over the place. Sebastian and I really did have a bizarre "relationship."

Katelyn is still sitting with that look on her face, and I can’t take it anymore.

“Alright, spit it out!” I demand.

“Well, I’m just thinking… ” she trails off, but has everyone’s attention. “Okay, so - hear me out. Guys can be really dumb sometimes, right?”

“Riiiight...” I reply.

“Well, it sounds like he liked to rile you up. And since you cut him off cold turkey for all those months, he probably thinks that you hate him. And being dumb, he probably figured that suggesting you might love him, rather than hate him, would get a reaction out of you.”

“Yeah. And it worked. Because he said it like us being in love was the most ridiculous thing he could think of.”

“Exactly," she nods. “And this hurt you because you have feelings for him, which is why you reacted so strongly.”

“Again, yeah. What are you getting at?”

Katelyn grimaces. “So, let’s say that you didn’t love him.”

“I don’t love him.” I snap back.

“Okay, sure. Keep telling yourself that. Anyways… let’s say that you didn’t love him. If he made that comment to you, and you didn’t have feelings for him, what would you do?”

I just stare at her.

“I’ll tell you what you’d do. The Meghan I know would just roll her eyes and laugh in his face. Because you would also find it the most ridiculous thing ever.”

I mull it over and hate to admit that she maybe has a point. I groan and my shoulders drop.

“We already established that she flipped because she still likes him,” Izzy says. “I feel like there’s a part two that you don’t want to say," she says to Katelyn.

“I… Okay, don’t freak out on me, but I think your reaction might’ve told him exactly how you really feel. Even though you didn’t spend a ton of time together, it sounds like he gets you.” I feel dread start to creep into my belly as Katelyn talks. “I don’t know him well enough to guess how he’ll react, but I think it’s safe to assume he now knows that you still have strong feelings for him.”

Fucking Hell.

“Question.” This comes from Steph. “What’s his reputation like?”

Izzy cringes and answers quietly. “He’s only ever been nice to me,” her eyes dart over my way, “but I’ve heard he’s a bit of a player.”

The dread in my stomach turns into a ball of tar. “So, you’re saying that he’d be super excited to find out that some girl he banged once, three months ago, is still hung up on him.” I aim for sarcasm, but I just sound pathetic.

“That’s just what I’ve heard. You never know how people really are,” Izzy says. “He also has a rep for being a miserable jerk sometimes, but from your stories it sounds like he’s a nice guy. And funny.”

“Don’t forget hot-as-fuck - ” Steph helpfully includes. “Pretty sure I’m going to make my next hookup bang me in an alley. That shit was hot.”

“Sounds kinda dirty,” Izzy makes a face. “And not in the good way.”

“Ha. Says the girl who got off in a photo booth in the back of a bowling alley. Right, Sugar?” Katelyn laughs.

Even with the ill feeling I have over last night’s ordeal and potential repercussions, I feel more like me than I have in months. This is what I’ve been missing. Friendship, love, comradery. Why did I isolate myself for so long? I'm such an idiot for waiting.

“Oh, speaking of!” Steph bounces in her seat. “These damn hockey players seem to have a thing with nicknames…”

I think she says more but I can’t hear her over my choking. Of course she’d ask this question, and of course she’d do it while I’m taking a drink of my coffee.

“Uh, that’s a yes," says Katelyn, with a giant grin on her face. My silence makes her grin grow even bigger. “What is it? I bet it’s great!”

When I don’t respond they start guessing.

“Pumpkin.”

“Red Hot.”

“Princess.”

“Puddin.”

“Flower.”

“Candycane.”

“Goddess.”

“Oh my god, stop!” I hold my hands up, biting back a smile. “This will show you how much of a dick Sebastian can be.” I nod to the girls in turn - “You got Kitten. You got Sugar. Want to know what I got?” I cross my arms over my chest. “I got fucking Banshee.”

There’s a beat of silence, and I wonder if they heard me. Then all three of them break out into peals of laughter.

I slump back into my chair. “I need new friends.”