Sleet Sugar by S.J. Tilly
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ZACH
I am a certified genius. This plan of mine could not have worked out better. I couldn’t tell you the last time I went through a haunted house. Probably high school. But Ash was telling me about how one of his buddies took a date here last year and how she spent the whole time clinging to him like a spider monkey. That of course got my gears turning. I knew I needed something casual for Izzy to agree to come, and I knew I wanted - more than anything - to feel Sugar’s body against mine again.
So, Visceral Village was my birthday gift to myself. And it’s paying dividends.
From the first moment I laid eyes on my Sugar tonight, I could tell she was freaked out. I feel a little bad about that, but I’m a greedy bastard and guilt is a small price to pay. The only complaint I have is that she’s wearing a fucking Wilder hoodie. Seriously, what the fuck? That prick already has a woman. I want to see her wearing my name and only my name. Not sure how I’m going to achieve that, but it’s going on my list of things to do.
Positioning myself to go into the Santa house behind Sugar was easy enough. I wasn’t sure how I would pry her off of Meghan, but when Meghan tossed me a wink before dragging Izzy into the building I figured she was on to me. And she played Sugar into my plan perfectly.
Regrouping, we decide to try our hands at the corn maze next. I’ll admit that this particular attraction has a high level of creep, even for me. It’s been years since I’ve watched what could be deemed a horror film, but as dumbs kids, my friends and I watched plenty. So I’ve seen far too many cornfield scenes that end in dismemberment to feel entirely relaxed in here.
I made a point to place myself near Izzy when we entered the maze as one big group, but we’ve gotten separated. Now it’s just Izzy, myself, Jackson, and Katelyn. I might be salty about the sweatshirt, but Jackson’s a good guy. As a captain, he made sure to welcome me to the team, but - beyond that - he’s fun to be around. He seems like a down-to-earth guy, and his girl is the same. Really, knowing she’s one of Izzy’s friends told me all I need to know about her. And if Jackson thinks it’s weird that I’d invite the coach’s daughter to join us, he’s kept it to himself. Knowing what I do about women, though, chances are Katelyn knows everything that’s happened between Sugar and me And in turn, so does Jackson. Either way, I plan to keep at this until Izzy agrees to date me, and then everyone will know about us.
My friends that are in town visiting got the full run-down on Izzy last night. They know how we met, that I want more, and to keep their mouths shut. They’re all here for a couple of days, so I don’t feel bad about focusing my attention on Izzy tonight. I need to use whatever opportunities I have.
“Thank god,” I hear Izzy mumble next to me.
Looking up, I see that we’ve finally reached the center of the maze. There’s a strobe light atop a large pole that’s been blinding us for the last 20 minutes. Below the light is a large scarecrow, looking out over the cornstalks.
“Well, that was anticlimactic -” Jackson says, a second before the scarecrow jumps down off its perch.
Izzy screams and jolts back so quickly that she nearly knocks me over. I wrap my arms around her while I steady myself, keeping us both upright.
Sugar turns herself in my arms and even though I can’t make out what she’s saying, I’m sure it’s nothing flattering to me.
I’d heard Katelyn scream, too, but now both she and Jackson are laughing hysterically.
“Holy shit, Izz! You got some air on that one!” Katelyn teases.
Face still pressed into my chest, Sugar starts to beat on me with her clenched fists, like a child having a tantrum. It’s adorable, so I laugh.
That’s when she bites me.
