Breaking the Ice by T. Torrest Read Free Book Online Page B

Sure, I’d kept my distance. But I didn’t mean for him to think it was because I didn’t like him. I was truly happy with the friendship we’d formed, and impressed with the guy I’d discovered under all that swagger.
       I turned to Zac, hoping he wasn’t actually insulted. “Tolerate is the wrong word. So is hate, for that matter. I think you and I have always just had… differing goals for how we think our evenings should go.”
       His mouth gaped. “You think I’m a slut.”
       Simon laughed out, “Who are you kidding, sitting there all hurt? You love when people think you’re a slut.”
       “No…” I answered. “I don’t think that. I—”
       “I thought you were an angel .”
       That is not as complimentary as it may have seemed. “The Angels” were a self-named assemblage of hockey groupies that had been coming to this bar for years.
       “You thought I was one of the Angels ?”
       Zac stared blankly at me for a second too long, then let out with an uneasy laugh. “Well, you were wearing that tight shirt and those sexy boots. Why wouldn’t I have thought you were a groupie?” He chuckled again as he added, “But then you got so offended when I put the moves on, I figured out pretty quickly that I read you wrong, and changed up my M.O. There I was, showing you my softer, chewy-nougat insides, and it turned out you were off-limits anyway.”
       “What?”
       “Sorenson didn’t tell me you were Brooks’ daughter for three whole weeks.” He looked over at Simon and added, “Asshole.”
       Simon was wearing a shit-eating grin as he cracked, “I thought it would be funnier if I didn’t.”
       “Dickhead.” 

Chapter Six
    DECEMBER 31, 1998
     
     
     
       With only months remaining before I graduated college, I was looking forward to getting a real job that paid some real money. But for now, at the age of twenty-one, with my room and board paid for, I basically only needed enough to cover incidentals and beer money. But seeing as I was off the clock at Beans over holiday break, I wouldn’t see my next paycheck until closer to February, and my stash was already wearing thin. 
       That didn’t stop me from buying a new dress anyway.
       I couldn’t help myself. The thing was practically screaming at me from the display at Nordstrom’s , where I’d done some Christmas shopping for my mom. Unfortunately, I was there to exchange the present I’d gotten her as she already had a blue pashmina. I scored a new pink one for her… and a slinky gold gown for myself. I figured the dress would be perfect for Casey and Simon’s wedding next fall.
       Except this morning, they’d thrown a wrench in their original plans when they hopped a plane for Vegas instead.
       Casey called me from a payphone at the airport to spill the news. I was shocked, and more than a little heartbroken, but ultimately, I couldn’t be anything other than happy for her. They’d just gotten engaged at Thanksgiving, and I knew she immediately found the whole wedding thing overwhelming. As much as I was looking forward to helping her plan, I was well aware that they needed to do what was right for them . I was sad that I wouldn’t be there for it, but the more she explained their decision, the more I became impressed with her logic.
       “We just started asking ourselves why we were driving ourselves crazy with the thing, you know?” she asked at one point.
       “No, I get it. I know you weren’t enjoying any of the decision-making.”
       “Exactly. That’s your department.”
       I snickered, but acknowledged that she was right.
       I’d become quite the party planner over the years. Birthdays, sorority balls… you name it. I was a very organized person by nature, and such skills came in handy whenever there were plans to be made. Aside from the fact that I totally reveled in the details, I loved having the control to make the decisions. Even during my