AllFreeNovel
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She starts driving. I’m a little concerned about the gleeful look on her face. “Where are we going?”
“The lake.”
“Why do you look so happy about it?”
“You know how everyone goes to Josh’s place on the lake in the summer?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, this spot is like that in the winter.”
“You mean there will be a lot of people there?”
“Uh-huh.”
Nerves swamp my stomach. “I’lldefinitelyjust text him then.”
“I’m sure he’s playing hockey with the guys. He won’t see it for hours.”
“That’s fine!” I’ll have time to shower, nap, and panic.
“You need to make a statement.”
“I’m here—that’s the statement.”
“Not to Elliot. Not to the girls who ply him with offers.”
“Oh. Well, we’re not together. He can take them up on it if he wants.”
Annabel shakes her head as she takes a left. Cars appear, indicating we’ve reached our destination. We’re on the edge of the lake, but it’s not the view I’m accustomed to. This section is partly wooded. Rather than blue water, the lake is a gray-white oval with lots of figures flying around on it. There are plenty of people huddled on the shore, too. A few fires have been built, and there’s a wooden shed off to the side that I watch a few girls walk into. There might bemorepeople here than would show up at Josh’s.
Annabel maneuvers into a tiny space close to one of the fires, then hops out, taking the keys with her. “Come on, cuz.”
My options are to sit in the rapidly cooling car or climb out and face my fears. Annabel says hi to a few people as we head for the edge of the ice, but I don’t register who she’s talking to or what they’re saying. I’m scanning the blurs of color zipping around, looking for him.
There are some people skating off to the side of the lake, but the main action is taking place directly ahead. Boots are serving as goalposts as players weave and zag about. Wooden sticks echo across the frozen expanse as they hit the ice, the puck, and each other.
Finally, I spot Elliot. He’s wearing a gray beanie and a black jacket and paying no attention to anything that’s happening on the shore. He’s at least twenty-five feet away, maybe thirty.
“Well?” Annabel asks when we reach the ice. “You just going to stand here?”
I might have preferred when she ignored me. Now, I don’t even feel like I can snipe back. “Yes?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m freezing, so should I come back for you in like three hours? Because that’s how long they usually play for.”
Shit.“Seriously?”
“Uh-huh. Stop being a chickenshit.”
I glare at her but cup my hands around my mouth. I hesitate for another second, then shout, “REID!” Nothing. “Reid!” Still nothing, although a couple of the guys he’s playing with glance this way. I try to ignore the fact that no one on the shore is having any issues hearing me—or pretending they’re not staring. “Dammit,” I mutter. The shit I do for this guy that I would never do foranyone else. I step one foot out on the ice, then another. I take slow, tentative steps. One of the guys doing slow laps gives me aWhat the fucklook as he skates past holding a girl’s hand. I make it past the ring of skaters, then try again. “ELLIOT! Are you fucking deaf?”
Thatworks. I watch the player with the gray hat and black jacket freeze and glance over.
“Blue team timeout,” Elliot shouts. All the players in the game stop moving, except for him. He starts skating toward me.
“How come?” asks a cheeky voice I recognize as belonging to Josh. “Could it possibly have anything to do with the brunette yelling at you? Because—”
Elliot shoves his best friend on his way over to me. Hetowersover me in his skates, looking like a Roman statue. The hat makes his eyes appear more gray than blue.
