Chapter 6
Nick
"Whatthefuckdidyou do?" Cole accuses, stumbling backwards like he can distance himself from this. I don't bother turning to look at him, unable to take my eyes off her serene face... so smooth and expressionless.
"It was an accident." I swallow, trying to abate the knot in my throat.
This is bad. Really fucking bad.
Her mother will be expecting me to bring her home soon.
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to say?
"You murdered her." Cole snaps, in case there was any debate about her being dead.
"It was an accident. She wasn't supposed to get hurt..."
I let the thought hang like my breath in the air, my mind skipping as I try to sort through all of this.
"What do we do?" Brant asks. I'm not sure who he's asking, but it doesn't matter. I don't have an answer for him. All I have is a dead body... a dead body that, twenty minutes ago was soft and warm and alive.
"Nikki..." I drop to my knees at her side, the regret swelling as I run my fingers down her ice-cold cheek. This wasn't supposed to happen. I never wanted her to get hurt. I love her... I've always loved her. "I'm sorry."
"She can't fucking hear you."
"I'm so sorry, snow angel. I never meant for this to happen. I panicked, and I didn't... I didn't mean this."
I rest my forehead against hers, trying to steal a moment of peace, one last moment with her before I have to say goodbye.
I hear Brant and Cole, their voices raised as they argue back and forth. But I don't listen to any of the words, don't bother trying to understand what they're saying.
They say when you die that you relive the best moments of your life. I wonder if that was true for her... if she got to replay her life, seeing all the good times. We had so many of them when we were young. We were the best of friends; we were everything to one another. Did she see me?
"I'm not fucking dealing with this."
Cole's voice snaps me out of my private grief, and I stand, turning to face him. He's already stumbled back further, like he's afraid to be close to her.
"What the fuck do you mean, you're not dealing with this?"
"I mean, I'm out. This?" He gestures with a gloved hand toward Nikki, the cum that's frozen and turned to ice on her thighs. "This is your mess. You fucking murdered her and I'm not going down for this."
"You're not going down for this?" I laugh. "Nobody is going down for this. Fucking relax."
"What do you mean, nobody's going down for this? How do we explainthis?"
I turn to evaluate the scene, taking a step back to try and view it objectively.
"She walked out of the church, and we didn't go after her. We gave her a minute to cool down, and when we went to check on her, she was gone."
There's blood in the snow, small dots of it near where Brant stands, waiting for my explanation. There's more near her head, splatters of it from where the snow globe made impact. It's supposed to snow in a few hours, so the blood will be buried... along with our footprints.
"That's your plan? To say you don't know what happened?"
We live in a small town. Crime isn't particularly common here, so at first glance, it may not sound like a great excuse. But this time of year we get plenty of tourists passing through, driving out of their way for a night to view the town decor and all the lights. It's not inconceivable that maybe someone was passing through and saw an opportunity.
"And how do you explain your DNA inside her?" Cole scoffs. "You both fucked her... your cum is all inside of her, all over her. Mine's not."
