Henry: Such a way with words.
Ella: I try.
Ella: I’m getting out the ice cream and the vodka.
Henry: Be there in five.
* * *
One pint of Ben& Jerry’s Phish Food and half a bottle of vodka later, Henry sat slumped on his sister’s sofa, cradling a shot glass. “Why?” he mused, reaching for the bottle.
Ella scoffed and held out her glass for a refill. “Because he’s a weasel-dicked little arsehole.” She clinked her glass against Henry’s and gently nudged his shoulder. “And he obviously didn’t deserve you.”
Henry rolled his eyes. “Because I’mobviouslysuch a catch.”
“You are.” Ella turned in her seat to glare at him with slightly unfocused eyes. Or maybe it was Henry’s that were unfocused.
“I’m twenty-six, almost twenty-seven, and I still live with my uni mates. I work at Tesco, for fuck’s sake.”
“Hey.” Ella waved her now-empty glass at him. “Only because you haven’t found your forever job yet. And there’s nothing wrong with working at Tesco. You never used to think like that until Kyle-the-arsehole kept taking the piss.”
True.
Ella relieved him of the bottle and poured another shot. “At least you don’t have to worry about driving round mountains and going on ski lifts now.”
“What?” It took Henry’s booze-addled brain a moment to parse her words.
Oh.
The skiing trip.
Kyle’s early Christmas present to Henry had been a skiing trip at the end of November. He’d paid for everything. All Henry had to do was provide his own spending money. Which he’d picked up extra shifts to save for.
On the surface, it seemed a wonderful gesture his boyfriend had made. Except Henry was frightened of heights.
Terrified, to be more precise.
He didn’t like walking next to the glass barrier on the top floor of the shopping centre.
A fact Kyle had rolled his eyes at and promptly ignored.
A shudder ran through him at the thought of the bus ride to the resort. “I read online that some of the roads have sheer drops.”
Ella shook her head. “I still can’t believe he booked it after you told him you’re afraid of heights.”
“He said it would do me good to face my fears.”
She poured them another drink and pointed the bottle at Henry. “And why the hell did you agree to go, anyway?”
He sighed and slumped back against the sofa cushions. “I wanted to make him happy.”
Ella’s pitying look wasn’t something he could deal with right then, so he waved a hand at her. “Get rid of that face. It doesn’t matter now.” He downed his shot, wincing at the burn and the slight protest from his stomach. Tomorrow would be brutal. “I’m not going skiing with Kyle or doing anything with him ever again.”
Ella raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
Henry laughed at her but then shook his head. “Instead, I get to spend a week at home doing fuck all. Again.”
Fear of heights aside, the idea of getting away for a bit had been something he’d looked forward to. It felt like forever since he’d done that. “I guess I could always cancel my time off and go into work instead.” Not an appealing thought either.
