Page 9 of Back On Ice

The clack of shoes speeds up and I keep my head forward, pretending that I don’t hear the voice calling after me. I’ve just exited the building when the door opens behind me. I can’t take it anymore—the running, the urge to look at him, the pain in my chest. It’s all too much.

“Can we talk? Please?” He has no right to sound sincere.

Whirling, I take the two steps separating us and jam my finger into his chest.

His very hard, sculpted chest.

“You want to talk?!” I can’t help but shout. Doing my best to ignore how good he looks in his button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and fitted slacks, I poke further into his chest so hard he winces. “Let’s talk, big shot. Should we start with how you left everyone for nine years and have no right to waltz back in like you own the place? Or how I have spent every spare minute for two fucking months fighting that council tooth and nail, showing up with fiscal schedules, lists of way to minimize the cost of the repairs, bids from contractors, and you just swoop in like some kind of goddamn knight in shining armorand steamroll that. You’ve practically convinced them to tear it down so you can have some sort of self-important monument to yourself!”

He looks at me with surprise, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. All that and he has nothing to say for himself? “Soph, I?—”

“You know what? No.” I take a step back, shaking my head and throwing my hands up in exasperation. Not hearing from or seeing him for nine years is one thing. But for him to come back to town and try to destroy the rinks, the place we spent the most time together? We grew up on that ice and he knows how much it means to me. Implying we should just tear the whole thing down because it’s “outdated” is a whole different kind of betrayal. “This is low, even for you.” He says nothing as I turn and walk away. Behind me, I hear the door of the building open again.

I barely hear Tom’s voice when he says, “Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Carter sighs. “Yeah. Yeah, you did.”

Whatever the fuck that means.

“I come bearing the holy offerings! Let me in!” I use the hand not holding the bag of Chinese food to knock on the door again. The doorknob turns and my best friend peeks her head out, raising an eyebrow at me when I lift a wine bottle with a grin.

Abbie, BFF since high school, moved away for college and only came back to Ivy Glen a couple of years ago after graduating from nursing school. We try to get together at least once everyfew weeks for girls' night, and we’ve already had ours this week, but I really need this.

Abbie’s shoulder-length brown hair swishes as she moves to open the door the rest of the way. She gives me a look when I walk right past her, beelining straight through her living room to go to the kitchen, her freckles crinkling on her nose. Once there, I pull a corkscrew out of the drawer and uncork the bottle. The liquid makes a chugging sound as I take a swig straight from the bottle.

Her kitchen is stacked with odds and ends, cute little wooden signs fixed to the walls with little sayings like “But first, coffee,” “Oh for forks sake,” and “Let's make pour decisions”.

“Rough day?” She laughs, walking in after me.

“You don’t know the half of it.” I turn toward her as she takes down two glasses, presumably to stop me from guzzling the whole bottle. As I grudgingly pour some in each, she gets plates so we can dish out the food.

“It’s like, how does he think he can just waltz back into town after disappearing for almost a decade?” I ask once we’re settled on the couch with dinner. Her style is evident in this room as well, with cream walls, a lavender couch and throw rug, and a giant sign on the wall that reads “Sassy, classy, and a bit smart-assy”.

Abbie’s clearly not surprised I’m immediately complaining about Carter. I’ve called her twice already since I found out about his return.

I take a bite of an eggroll, talking around it. “Then, he has the nerve todemandto talk to me? After he fucking cheated on me? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Oh shit,” Abbie leans forward, eyes wide. “What happened?”

“What happened is he showed up to the council meeting and told everyone he’s paying to redo the rec center. Like, completelyredo, tearing the existing building down. I don’t know how I can stop him without having to talk to him.”

“Is that what you want?” Abbie eyes me knowingly.

What I want is to be able to live the rest of my life without having to think about Carter or how he demolished my heart ever again. What Iwantis for him to be ugly so my mind isn’t warring with my body over how attracted I still am to him after he destroyed me. He’s only gotten better looking since high school, which I wouldn’t have thought possible, but it’s marred by the fact that all I feel is betrayal when I see his stupidly handsome face.

“I want a lot of things, Abbs, but that’s definitely at the top of the list.”

“Well…” Abbie says slowly, plucking a piece of chicken off her plate with a pair of chopsticks. “You can’t avoid him forever, especially if he’s going to be working on the rec center. Maybe you can finally get the closure you need and move on with your life.”

I nearly choke on my food. “Excuse me! I’ve already moved on with my life, thank-you-very-much.”

Abbie just rolls her eyes, which makes me want to toss an eggroll at her. “Sure. Soph. If you say so.”

Not wanting to be under her scrutiny regarding Carter any longer, I switch the topic to work at the flower shop. From there it’s on to her day with wacky fellow nurses, and after an evening of doing our nails and watching movies, I make my bed on her couch, ready to crash for the night. It may not officially be a “girls night’, but being here is definitely better than going home and having to deal with my brother.

Logically, I know that I’ll have to talk to Carter at some point to get closure, but that’s a problem for future me.

Chapter Five

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