Sleet Banshee by S.J. Tilly
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
MEGHAN
“O
kay.” Annabelle plunks our third round of sidecars onto the table. “Enough about work and blah blah boring shit. I want to get to the good stuff.”
Annabelle’s starting to slur a little bit, and I’m just drunk enough to find it hilarious.
“To the good stuff!” I giggle while holding my drink up.
We clink glasses and take a sip.
Annabelle sets her drink down and leans over the table like she’s gonna tell me a secret. “Let’s talk about boys.”
“Boys?” I snort.
“Okay, men. Whatever.”
I groan and take another drink.
Annabelle smirks. “The mention of men causes you to drink. Interesting.”
“Yeah, well, men are annoying. And complicated. And hot.” I groan again. “Seriously, if you saw this guy, you’d throw your thong at him fast enough to break the sound barrier.”
Annabelle makes a choked sound before taking a large pull off her drink to match my own. “That’s quite the description. Now, tell me everything.”
“There’s not much to tell - ” I lift a shoulder. “I mean, we’ve kind of had a thing for - I donno - a couple months, I guess. Well, not really a thing. It’s been a complicated road. But we have an agreement now.”
Annabelle gives me a very unimpressed look. “You’re the worst storyteller ever. Back this train up and start from the beginning.”
“Hmm. Okay, fine.” My alcohol drenched brain tries to rewind the memories. “It started at the Santa House. I was just trying to get Izzy and Zach together. I wasn’t looking for a hookup for myself. But I wasn’t upset when we ended up making out in the corn maze, because Sebastian is hot as fuck.”
Oops! I didn’t mean to say his name. Crap… I don’t know if he wanted to keep us a secret. That might be part of the agreement. Whatever, it’s too late now. And I only said his first name.
“Santa? Corn maze? This sounds made up.”
I wave her off. “It was a haunted house thing.”
Her eyebrows go up. “Like for Halloween? This started in October?”
“Well, that’s when we first met. Since then we’ve had a few encounters.”
“Encounters...” Annabelle winks.
“They weren’t all wink-wink nudge-nudge encounters. During one of them he was a dick. Then the next one he gave me the dick.” I laugh at my own joke.
“Oh my god, you did not just say that?!” Annabelle takes another drink. “I hope it was worth the wait.”
“Sooooo worth it. So fucking good. Like, crazy good. It was spur of the moment and I don’t know if that makes it better, but it did make it super hot.”
“So, you guys have just been fooling around since then? I notice you haven’t called Sebastian your boyfriend.”
I tip my hand back and forth, signaling sorta. “Yeah he’s not my boyfriend. And that was the only time we’ve had sex.”
“What?” Her eyes bug out a little. “Only once over months? How is that possible?”
“It's a long story.”
“And…”
“The night we hooked up…” I sigh. “One of my friends ended up getting hurt.”
“Oh, no!” Her hand flies to her chest.
“It’s okay. She’s fine now. But I sorta freaked out. Well, maybe more than sorta. I blamed myself for leaving my friend, and him for distracting me. So like a mature adult I cut him out of my life for a few months.”
“Okay. But you’re back together now?”
“Not exactly. He’s not looking for a relationship.” I try to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “So, we’re just friends-with-benefits, I guess.”
Annabelle rolls her eyes. “Men can be such dense idiots sometimes.”
I tip my glass towards her and take another pull. “Can’t argue there.”
“But you like him?”
I nod. “I do. And I’m starting to think I’m the idiot in this equation.”
“How so?”
“Because I like him a lot. Like…” I take a large swallow of liquid courage, “bordering on love. And that can only end one way. In a fucking disaster.”
“No. That’s bullshit!” Annabelle slams a fist down on the table, causing our glasses to shake.
I start to giggle again. I really need to stop drinking, I’m not a giggler.
Annabelle points at me. “I don’t believe that for a second. He’s just scared of falling in love and letting it distract him. I don’t know where he gets these dumbass notions from, but don’t give up on him.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, afraid to hope.
She shrugs. “I know the type. He’s into you just as badly. I guarantee it.”
“I doubt it.” I slump in my seat.
“How often do you guys talk, or text, whatever.”
“Um, probably like every day.”
She smirks. “What sort of uninterested man would message you every day? And you said you haven’t hooked up other than that once, so I’m guessing these aren’t just texts for a booty call.”
“No. He’s been out of town.”
“He’s out of town.” She jabs her finger into the table top. “He could be doing whatever, or whoever, he wants, but instead he’s texting you.”
Even through my haze of drunkenness, just the thought of him with someone else causes me to clench my fists. “We agreed that there would be no one else.”
Annabelle’s eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. So?”
“So… You’re exclusively sleeping with each other. You’re talking every day.” She gives me a you’re dumb look. “You, my dear, are dating this guy.”
She’s making sense. “But…”
“No.” She puts up a hand, swaying slightly. “No, buts. This guy is just too scared to admit what he wants. He’ll get there.” She gestures to my purse. “Pull out your phone. I bet he’s texted since we got here.”
He probably has, since I messaged him earlier about winning his game.
Pulling out my phone I see a new text.
Sebastian: Thanks. How’d the testicle party go?
I smirk.
“I was right, wasn’t I?” Annabelle asks.
“You’re right that he texted me, but it’s not like it was a sexy text.”
“That’s kinda my point. Are you gonna text back?”
I bite my lip. Then, carefully, I type out a text.
Meghan: It was spectesticular.
His response is immediate.
Sebastian: Cute. You back home?
Meghan: Nope.
Sebastian: Nope? The fundraiser can’t still be going this late.
I glance at the time and see that it’s nearly midnight. I’m surprised he’s still up.
Meghan: It wrapped up a while ago. I’m at a bar with my new friend.
The bouncing dots start then stop. But before I can type something else, my phone starts to ring. It’s Sebastian.
I look up at Annabelle and whisper. “He’s calling me!”
She whispers back. “Why are we whispering?”
“I don’t know!” I whisper again, a fit of giggles taking over.
“Answer it!” Annabelle waves her hands around like she’s afraid I’ll miss the call.
I try to calm my giggles as I bring the phone to my ear. “Hey there, big guy.”
I put a hand over my mouth as Annabelle starts laughing. Holy shit, I sound super drunk.
There’s a pause on the other end of the call. “Hi Megs. Are you drunk?”
“Psssh, no.”
“Meghan.” He sounds all stern. I kinda like it.
“Well, I mean, we’ve been drinking. And…”
“And what, Baby?”
I grin. “And, I’m pretty drunk.”
“Hmmm.”
Fucking hell. The vibrations of his deep voice go straight through the phone and right into my panties.
“And don’t call me Baby.” I already sound breathless, and he’s hardly said anything.
I hear his soft chuckle through the phone. “Where are you?”
“At the bar. I told you.”
“Which bar, Meg?”
“Oh, um, I’m not sure if it has a name. But it’s super cool. Annabelle’s never been here before so I wanted to show her. She really likes it. Right, Annabelle?” My eyes had been on the table, but I look up as I ask her.
Her eyes are wide, and she has a goofy grin on her face, but she nods in response.
“Yeah, see. She likes it.” I say, as if Sebastian could see her nodding.
“Can I talk to Annabelle?” Sebastian asks.
“Um, sure, okay.” My drunk brain doesn’t find the request weird.
I hold the phone out to her. “He wants to talk to you.”
She leans away. “What? Why?”
“Oh, umm...” I bring the phone back to my ear. “Annabelle wants to know why you want to talk to her.”
“I want to ask her what she thinks about the bar.”
“Oh.” I hold the phone back out. “He wants to ask you about the bar.”
She slowly reaches out and takes the phone. “Hello, Meghan’s not-boyfriend.”
I crack up. Oh my god, Sebastian’s going to kill me.
At least she doesn’t know his last name. Oh, shit. I hope he doesn’t say anything about his game tonight. Not that he would to a random stranger.
Watching Annabelle nod into the phone, it hits me just how tired I am. I try to focus on what she’s saying but I only catch a few words here and there.
I lose track but I think a few minutes pass before she holds the phone back out for me. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” I take it and set it down on the table.
She tries to smother a laugh, pointing at the phone. “He’s still there.”
“Oh, whoops!” I pick it back up. “Hey!”
“Hey.”
Miraculously I remember the point of his talk with Annabelle. “I was right, wasn’t I? She likes the bar.”
“Of course you were right.”
“Ha! I knew it.”
“Clever girl. How about you? How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. A little sleepy. It’s been a long day. But I bet you’re even more tired because of…” I pause and glance up to see Annabelle inspecting her nails, but I still turn to the side and drop my voice to a whisper. “Because of the game. I hope you didn’t say anything about that to Annabelle. I didn’t tell her you were a hockey player.”
“No, it didn’t come up. But why wouldn’t you tell her?” he asks.
I nervously bite my lip. “Just I figured that maybe you wanted it to be a secret.”
“That I play hockey?”
I keep my voice quiet. “No, I mean us. I figured you didn’t want anyone to know about me. And I really like Annabelle, but I don’t know if she’s a gossip or anything like that. So, I didn’t tell her your last name. I didn’t even mean to tell her your first name but it just kinda happened. But I promise I didn’t tell her more. I told her you don’t want a girlfriend, but if she knew who you were and accidentally said something, then you might get mad. Or it could cause you problems. And then you’d have to do one of those PR things where you say you’re not dating me. And that would be pretty… not great.” Saying it all out loud like that makes me feel more than a little bit awful. “So, you know, I just figured…” I trail off.
“Meghan. That’s not… ” I hear him exhale. “Where are you? I’ll come give you a ride home.”
“No, don’t do that. You need to go to bed. I’m good. And I won’t tell her about the hockey. I promise.”
Sebastian curses. “Babe, I don’t give a shit about that. Tell whoever you want about the hockey. I just need you to get home safe.”
“Oh, okay.” Shit, I think he’s mad. “You don’t need to worry about us. We’ll split a ride.”
“No. Just, hold on a second. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I can still hear him breathing, but he’s not talking.
Looking over, I’m happy to see that Annabelle is scrolling through her phone. I didn’t mean to ignore her for so long.
“Meg, you there?” Sebastian asks.
“Yep, I’m here.”
“Okay, Samuel’s on his way to get you.”
“Samuel? Like your brother?”
“Yeah. That okay with you?”
“Sure. Did you, uh, clear up the camera thing?”
I haven’t seen Samuel since the whole blow job debacle. Now I’m glad that I’m drunk, I’ll pretend it never happened and blame my memory loss on alcohol.
“It’s all taken care of. I’ve got the only copy.”
“Good. Wait, what do you mean you have the only copy?”
“You might be surprised at the quality of those museum cameras,” I can hear his grin through the phone.
“Oh.” I feel my body temperature rising, the heat helping to wash away the icky feeling from a few minutes ago. “Is it good?”
“Oh, it’s good. In fact, once you let me know you’re home safe, I’m going to watch it. Again.”
My pulse picks up at the desire in his tone. “And what will you do while you watch it?”
“I bet you can guess.”
I cup my hand over my mouth and the phone. “Can I come over and watch you watching it?”
Sebastian chuckles. “I promise we can make that happen. Just not tonight.”
“Crap, that’s right. I’m sorry, I forgot how late it is. You should be in bed.”
“That’s not the reason, my devilish Banshee. Trust me, I want nothing more than to fuck your brains out right now.” Oh yes, please. “But I’m not going to do it while you're drunk. Or at least not while you’re drunk and I’m sober.”
Well… crap to that.
“But we’ve had sex before, so it’s not like you should feel like you’re taking advantage of me. That wouldn’t be it at all.”
“Maybe not, but it’s still…”
“What if I asked you to?”
“Banshee," he says my name as a warning.
“What if I begged you to?” My thighs clench.
“Fucking hell. You are going to be the death of me," his groan sounds like a mix of annoyance and lust.
I smile. “You’re a good guy, big guy.”
Sebastian huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, well being good doesn’t always feel good.”
“Hey, at least you have that video.”
“True.”
There’s a moment of silence and my drunk brain decides to just blurt out what it’s thinking. “I miss you.”
Shit. Balls. WTF.
“Is that right?” Sebastian asks, sounding teasing, not mad.
“I mean, just a little. Like a teeny-tiny bit.”
“Is that right?”
“Just because you’re so hot. No other reason.”
“He’s here!” Annabelle’s voice cuts off my ramble.
“Who?” I ask, looking around.
“Samuel.” She stands and starts to put her coat on. “He just texted that he’s out front.”
“How did he find us?”
“I sent him the address while you were on the phone.”
“Wait, you know Samuel?” My drunk brain can’t keep any of this straight.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve known him for ages.”
Sebastian laughing in my ear pulls my attention back to him, distracting me from my line of questioning. “Ages indeed.”
“Talk about a small world.” I say. “Okay, we need to go.”
“Text me the second you get home. And make sure Samuel brings you home first.” Sebastian tells me.
“Okay.”
“And go right there. Don’t let him talk you into hitting up another bar.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t worry, mom.” I joke, and Annabelle nearly tips over with laughter. “I gotta go. I promise I’ll text you.”
“Be safe. Bye, Baby.”
I hang up the call and drop my phone into my purse.
“Like I said.” Annabelle says as she grabs my arm to walk out. “He has it B-A-D for you.”
