Page 51 of Off The Ice
“Text me when you’re ready to go, and I’ll pick you up,” I offered, confused by the bizarre tension in the air between us.
She said nothing but smiled in a way that made me think she wasn’t going to take me up on that offer.
Before I could pull her aside and ask her what the hell was going on, what was wrong, and how I could fix it, her phone alerted her to the presence of her driver, and she was waving goodbye.
I watched her leave, my sister in tow, feeling that odd feeling in my chest resurfaced in an entirely different way. Somehow, it was even more uncomfortable than before.
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie
I’d spent enough time in my life around drunk people to know that they came in different shades. There were the sad drunks. The mean drunks. The explosive drunks.
But luckily for me, Maggie was what I’d consider a happy drunk. The entire ride back to her place, she’d petted my hair, told me what a good friend I was, and how happy she was that we were going to start a band together.
I decided it would be better to crush her dreams about the band thing when she was sober enough to handle it.
It didn’t take too much effort to get her up the stairs to her apartment. She only paused to sing once. As soon as we got inside, I realized how correct Maggie was about the tight living quarters while her mother was staying there.
As I flicked the light on, it illuminated the disaster that had become Maggie’s apartment. There were bags and boxeseverywhere as if a middle-aged woman’s closet had exploded into the heart of Maggie’s living room. The couch was pulled out into a futon with the sleeping figure of a woman snoring away in the center.
I was quick to remedy my mistake, switching the light back off and hoping that I remembered the layout of the space well enough to navigate in the darkness.
“Shhh,” I shushed Maggie as she continued to ramble on about something at full volume. “Your mom is sleeping.”
“Right,” Maggie said, lowering her voice a notch in a humorous attempt at a whisper. “Let’s be super quiet.”
A second passed, and she tumbled over something in our path, narrowly missing a full-on tumble to the floor.
This place definitely wasn’t the spotless apartment that Liam had. The apartment that he was probably taking that girl back to at that exact moment.
I’d looked up from karaoke to see that girl from the bar sitting beside him, and something dangerous lurked in my chest at the sight. Anger? Sadness? Jealousy? All things I didn’t have the right to feel.
Which gave me the cue that I should probably make myself scarce for a while. It had only been a few days, and already I was taking Liam’s kindness to heart.
I didn’t have any claim over him, so why the hell did it make my chest ache when I saw him with someone else?
Maybe I was projecting my feelings from my breakup onto Liam. Since I felt safe with him, it was almost like I viewed him as mine in a way.
Which was crazy because he wasn’t mine and never would be. In fact, I needed to actually start checking out some of the apartment listings I’d found. Immediately.
I managed to get us to Maggie’s bedroom, pulling back the covers of her queen-sized bed and helping her slip in. Once shewas settled, I crept to her kitchen and filled a glass with water before raiding her medicine cabinet for something to cure the headache I knew she’d wake up with.
I put it beside her bed before climbing in on the other side, feeling exhausted all the way down to my bones.
“I’m sorry, Cass,” Maggie’s voice said into the darkness. “I know how much you hate drinking, and then I went off and got drunk on you.”
“It’s okay, Mags.” I shifted on my side to face her. “I’m glad you had a fun night.”
“That guy, Brody, is kind of cute.” She sighed dreamily. “I think he likes me.”
“Yeah?” I perked up, thrilled at the idea of Maggie finding a nice guy.
And I knew he was a nice guy because if he wasn’t, I was sure Liam never would’ve let him near his sister. No matter how much of a distance there seemed to be between him and Maggie, I knew he was the type never to let anyone hurt her.
“Yeah.” She yawned. “But I’m scared.”
“Why are you scared, Maggie?”
