Page 40 of Test the Ice
And me? I die a slow, painful death.
Fifteen
MALAKI
Didshe just say what I think she did?
Reese’s sister’s laughter fills the tiny apartment.
“I’m sorry, what?” she asks, hardly able to form words.
She turns toward Reese, who is staring at me with those glassy eyes again.
Zoe points at me over her shoulder. “Did he just say you asked him to marry you?”
She has a daughter?
I quickly scan her from head to toe. She’s a mom?
My eyebrow crooks. If so, she’s the hottest mom I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“I need a drink,” Reese mutters.
She struts into the kitchen and flicks the light switch, bathing the small space in fluorescent lights. They flicker a few times before eventually turning right back off. Her shoulders fall, but she brushes it off with a relaxed expression and a quiet “everything’s fine”under her breath.
Zoe follows after her sister as I stand back and observe.
The apartment complex is the nicest on the block, but it’s still a shithole. Pieces of brick crunched beneath my shoe as I followed Reese after she ran through the doors. My first thought was how badly it smelled. A mixture of mildew and cat piss burned my nose, and the elevator had a sign taped to it that had the word “broken” on it, only it was spelled incorrectly.
Reese’s place seems nice on the inside, but if you look close enough, you’ll notice that it’s a trick of the eye. The colorful woven rugs hide how uneven the floor is, and it’s so small I could jump from the living room and be in the kitchen. There is an incessant buzzing noise coming from the refrigerator, and when she opens it, there’s practically nothing on the inside.
She swings the door shut with her foot while holding a jug of apple juice in her hand.
“What does he mean you asked him to marry you?” Zoe places her hands on her hips. “What the hell happened? I thought you were going to work!”
Reese places the juice on the counter. “Benedict happened.”
Her sister growls. “That mother fucker.”
I’ve gotta admit, Zoe is sort of terrifying.
I can tell she’s younger than Reese, but I get the vibe that she’s protective of her older sister. I mean, she did just try to hit me with a baseball bat.
“Zoe!” Reese furrows her brow. “Language.”
“Sorry,” she says sarcastically. “I mean…that mother…trucker.”
I chuckle.
Reese’s eyes flick to mine.
Did she forget I was here?
She mutters something under her breath and unscrews the lid to the apple juice to take a swig.
“You do know that’s apple juice, right?” I ask.
Zoe glances over her shoulder at me. “She refuses to drink anything harder than juice.”
