Page 13 of Hot As Ice

I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. My insides are in turmoil. I don’t think I can handle being alone with Hunter on a date. “I’m gonna tell him I’m busy,” I say, beginning to type.

Becca snatches my phone away. “Oh, no you’re not. You’re going out with him.”

“Becca!”

“Stevie!” She mocks, holding the phone out of my reach. “You have to do it, okay? You have to do it and tell me everything. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened all year. Do it for me.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t owe you that.”

“But you owe him,” she says, smirking. Wow, I walked right into that one.

I clamp my mouth shut, with no idea how to respond. Becca laughs. “You trapped yourself, babe. You’re going on this date.” She types something into my phone.

“What are you typing?”

“Just telling him you’re free and ready to have him fuck your brains out.”

“Becca, no!” I lunge at her. She gives me the phone, cackling like a psychopath.

I check the message she sent. It says, “no plans.”

I glare at her, “You’re the worst.”

She doubles over with laughter, clutching her stomach. “You should’ve seen your face.”

Unknown Number

Great, I’ll pick you up at eight

I stare at his message, terror and excitement warring inside me. This is really happening. Becca looks like the cat that got the cream.

“I’m so freakin’ excited for you,” she says.

Later, after I do some reading for class, take a shower, and get into bed, I keep thinking about Hunter’s messages. He sounds so self-assured and confident, even via text message.

I bet he’s someone who literally never hears the word “no.”

He’s got puck bunnies throwing themselves at him. He’s rich and handsome. A star athlete in a school that bends over backwards for athletes.

His life must be a dream.

I hate feeling jealous of anyone, but since my own situation sucks so much, I can’t help but covet other people’s lives, especially when they look easy and carefree.

I must’ve applied to about ten jobs today, and I desperately need to hear back from them. The meager amount of money in my bank account keeps dwindling, disappearing like water through a sieve.

I have a jewelry business as a side hustle. Someday, I hope to make it my full-time job. For now, I’m lucky if I get half a dozen sales a month.

But designing jewelry is my passion.

When I was seven years old, I got one of those bracelet-making kits for my birthday. I must have driven my mother crazy with all the crappy bracelets I made and insisted she wear. She never complained. I’m even pretty sure she kept all of them.

But they were ugly.

Ever since then, I’ve been making jewelry of one type or another. A year ago, I launched my Etsy shop and started marketing my stuff. I use natural gemstones, crafting each piece with intention, from simple, elegant pieces to more statement styles.

Becca, who’s into crystals and witchy things, loves them. But friends can’t be your only customers. And my marketing budget? It’s firmly at $0 right now.

The anxiety from being jobless keeps me up for another hour, but eventually I fall asleep.