Trapped with the Blizzard (14 page)

Miah pushed himself up on the counter, heels swinging against the sides. I stood a few feet away with my arms crossed, trying not to be obvious about standing close to him. The new group was friendly enough and seemed cool, but they were definitely a few years older than me. I did my best to not draw attention to the fact I was still in high school.

“Do you want a hit?” Marie asked as she offered me a small pipe packed with weed.

I shook my head. “No thanks, I’m trying to cut back.”

Marie gave me a look from the corner of her eye that said,
Yeah, sure
. But thankfully, she didn’t press the matter. “You want a drink or are you going to AA as well?” she asked as she pulled out a bottle of vodka from her purse.

“Now that I will gladly take,” I said as I took a swig. Despite my earlier promises, I couldn’t pass up free booze.“Accept the things you cannot change, right?” I coughed as I passed the liquor to Miah.

Marie was the life of the party – a loud, hilariously self-deprecating girl. But there was something about her I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was almost as if she was performing on stage, rather than being her true self. Maybe she wasn’t as genuine as I first thought. My impression of her rang true when she introduced one of her favorite drinking games.

“Let’s play two truths and a lie,” she grinned. A couple of people in the group groaned, but she ignored them, looking straight to me. “We can get to know our new friend,” she said suggestively, almost aggressively.

Miah nudged my shoulder and leaned closer. The proximity of our bodies not only helped warm me physically, but it also started to flush my cheeks.

“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to,” he whispered in my ear.

“No, I think it’ll be fun,” I said, nudging him back. I gave him a half smile before responding to Marie. “So how do we play?”

Marie strutted into the center of the circle, addressing everyone as if she were a ringleader at a circus.

“It’s simple. You say three things about yourself or your life, whatever,” she waved her gloved hand, “and one of them has to be a lie. We all try to guess which one it is. If we get it wrong…” she said as she grabbed the vodka bottle from Miah’s hand, “we have to drink.”

I glanced at Miah who gave me a sideways smile. “Like I said, you don’t have to play.”

“Yes she does,” Marie insisted with a twinkle in her dark eyes.

“She’s at a slight disadvantage being the only outsider,” he said.

I appreciated him looking out for me, but I wanted to blend in with them as much as I could. I didn’t want to be an outsider. “No, it’s cool. I wanna play!”

“Thatta girl,” Marie grinned. “Listen, I’ll go first and show you how it’s done. Since we do all know each other pretty well, you can’t give her any hints,” she said, pointing to the rest of the circle. She paced back and forth, tapping her cheek with a gloved finger in thought.

“I speak three languages, I lost my virginity while my dog watched, and I have an extra nipple,” she declared proudly. Everyone looked at me almost at once, putting me on the spot.

“What? I just say which one I think is a lie?” I asked to stall for time.

“Yup,” Marie replied with her hands on her hips. “Which one do you think it was?”

I glanced to Miah for help, giving him a playful elbow in the thigh when he wouldn’t give me a clue. I searched the faces of the others for any hint but knew I’d have to guess. All of the options seemed weird, so I opted for the one I considered strangest.

“You don’t have an extra nipple,” I said slowly.

“Nope!” She swiftly unzipped her sweatshirt, and pulled up her shirt and bra. Lifting one of her large breasts, she pointed to a spot I was a little too far away to see clearly. “There!”

“Jesus, Marie,” Miah laughed beside me. “Any excuse to take that thing out.”

“I still don’t think that’s a nipple,” a girl named Drew insisted. She leaned forward and pulled her glasses up as she squinted. “It’s a mole.”

“The hell it is,” she replied as she returned her clothes to their normal positions. “Certified extra nipple by my doctor and everything,” she declared proudly. Thrusting the bottle in my hand, she said, “Drink up, sweetheart.”

I pushed away from the wall and knocked back another shot, the warmth of the alcohol finally taking the edge off the cold. I still shivered a little as the burning sensation faded and Miah took the chance to put his hand on my shoulder.

“This okay?” he whispered, blue eyes shining in the dim light. I nodded and snuggled in closer against his leg.
More than okay.

“I know you aren’t smart enough to speak three languages,” Jessica, a waifish girl with short hair laughed.

“Fuck right off,” Marie yelled as she yanked the bottle from my hand and gave it to her.

“No, that’s actually true,” Miah defended. “Believe it or not.”

“That’s right. And I wasn’t losing my virginity when the dog watched that time, either.”

The rest of us mentally checked off the last option and collectively groaned. “Which dog?” Miah asked, sounding disturbed. “Not Jangles.”

Marie turned her nose up and leaned against a wall at the far end of the circle. “Exposition isn’t part of the game,” she sniffed.

Miah groaned, rocking back on the counter far enough that he needed to pull on me for balance. “I loved that poor dog!”

“All right, all right. Someone else has to go next,” Drew laughed as she pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over her dark hair.

The group was silent for a few beats until Miah stuck his hand up in the air. “I’ll go, dammit. Just give me a minute to think.”

I tried to conceal my excitement at discovering a few things about this mysterious, hot guy who’d suddenly appeared in my life. I’m afraid I probably did flash him a goofy smile when he winked at me before starting.

“So… three things, huh? Who’s guessing?”

“I’ll go!” Marie declared.

“You’re my best friend,” he laughed. “It’s not exactly fair.”

“Just go.”

“Three things… okay. I know how to knit, I’ve never seen the ocean, and I want to be a sports photographer when I’m all grown up.”

As Marie made a dramatic scene of thinking over the choices, Miah pulled me between his two knees. Leaning against the wall, his legs on either side of my shoulders, he bent down to whisper in my ear.

“Which one do you think it is?”

I shrugged, mostly to hide the shiver his breath sent racing down my spine. “Do you think you could knit me a pair of mittens to match my hat?” I asked with a smirk.

He kissed me quickly on the cheek. “In a day,” he replied as he sat up. “All right, time’s up.”

My entire face burned red. I scuffed my toe against a tear in the worn carpet, not wanting to meet anyone’s eye for fear of looking like a stupid kid.

Marie huffed and shook her head, curls bouncing around her head. “I have no earthly idea which one is the lie.” Her brow crinkled as she tipped back the bottle of vodka.

“None of them,” Miah laughed.

Marie choked and sputtered. “You’re a cheat! You can’t do… no, drink. Drink twice for that you little…” she growled as she handed him the bottle. Standing only a foot away from me, I think she noticed our body language for the first time. A little wobbly on her feet, she studied me. “How about you go next and Miah gets to pick?”

“I don’t really think…” I protested before Miah bumped me with his leg.

“It’s only fair.” I could hear the smile in his voice. Still reeling from his kiss and the vodka warming my body, I worked to find a good lie. But I realized there weren’t two truths I was comfortable sharing with these people yet. A plan in place, I spun between his legs and took a step back so I could watch his reaction.

I held up a finger for each point. “I have a vestigial tail, my mom is a High Priestess of the largest coven in Orange County, and…” I stopped, the last lie morphing in my throat as I spoke. “My dad is undead, kept functioning by my mom… obviously.”
Not entirely a lie,
I thought bitterly.

I enjoyed watching his expression as he mulled over the weirdness I’d just thrown at him. He didn’t seem perturbed, only intrigued. Not that I normally cared, but he was expertly hitting every curve ball I threw at him.

The corner of his left eye twitched and he smiled. “They’re all lies, I hope.”

“Ding, ding,” I replied with a little nod. I happily accepted my liquid punishment and fell back into place between his knees.

“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to seeing your tail,” Miah whispered in my ear. The phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly checked and saw Liz’s number pop up. “You need to go already?”

“Nope,” I replied as I hit silence. “I can stay for a bit longer.”

The game moved on, leaving Miah and me to get closer. My head swimming, I had to stop myself from grinning like an idiot. I tried to temper my excitement, but things were certainly looking better and better. We took turns until Bryan announced that dinner was ready over the intercom system and I reluctantly said goodbye to my new friends, hoping I could hide the smell of vodka on my breath.

At first, I was reluctant about the plan to house over a hundred people in the lodge. Bryan and the council threw the evacuation together so quickly, I was sure they’d missed some important logistical point. But as I hung back and watched our friends and neighbors line up for dinner, I realized the lodge perfectly suited it.

Bruce and his volunteers set up a cafeteria-style line with a huge variety of meal options. Everything smelled delicious and there was definitely more than enough food for everyone. While it was a little difficult to eat with all the tables put away to make room for sleeping bags and cots, that was the only real issue.

We even opened the bar just off the dining room. Kathy, the PR and marketing manager for the mountain, had the clever idea of printing out drink vouchers. She circulated through the crowd offering them to all the adults. It was a brilliant move and I could’ve kissed her for it. The dinner took a while to serve in the cramped space, but really, who’s going to complain about free drinks? The right amount of booze would keep them happy.

Most people pitched in and worked together to make it better. Jerry Spolack, the retired piano teacher, saddled up to our out-of-tune piano and took requests. Diane opened the daycare for an hour after dinner so a few of the parents could get a break and use their vouchers. On the outside, everything looked peaceful and normal, under the circumstances.

But under the surface ran an undercurrent of tension. Murmured conversations about the arsonist, if their homes would be safe left alone and unprotected. From what I could tell, most thought it would be better to be alive and homeless than dead and stuck out in the cold. But those were the opinions of the people who had evacuated. Many others thought to ride out the storm at home, protect their property. Even for the tough mountain folk of Tellure Hollow, that was a difficult decision to make.

We all tried to ignore the growing storm outside. The wet snow from the afternoon had frozen after sunset, a perfect recipe for falling branches and downed power lines. The wind was whipping up, and the snow showed no signs of slowing. It seemed like every forecast was worse and worse.

I was acutely aware of the growing storm within. A large group of people trapped inside during a high-stress situation didn’t exactly create a stable atmosphere. Add visiting family, missed celebrations, and upset children to the mix and… well, you get the idea. Even without the arsonist looming large in the back of our vivid imaginations, it was vital we all kept our spirits up.

After we ate, I wanted to get us all settled in for the night. It was hard to believe we’d started out the day skiing, but my aching muscles certainly remembered. Dani reluctantly joined us. And by joined, I mean stuck her nose in the phone and ignored everything we said.

Just as I was putting Jack down, Dusty weaved his way over to us. My stomach sank when I saw his expression.

“We’ve got trouble,” Dusty said as he jogged over to our spot in the hall. He was mid-20s and an outdoorsman through and through. He had the calm, self-assured nature of an emergency responder.

“Of course we do,” Bryan sighed. “What’s going on now?”