‘Are you sure?’ I asked, my teeth starting to chatter. Jo’s apologetic smile suddenly wilted into a frown as she stopped us at a street junction. ‘You lost the right to say “it’s not far” when you directed our cabs to Waverley train station.’ Since my arrival in Edinburgh a little over nine months ago, Jo and I had grown as close as sisters, so I felt it was okay to scoff at her after she’d dragged our asses out of Edinburgh without much explanation. I, on the other hand, did not have a fiancé to protect me from the taunting wind. Cam, her fiancé, had his arm wrapped tight around her, keeping her as warm as possible, and behind them Braden’s sister, Ellie, and his best friend, Adam, were cuddling into each other for heat too. ‘It’s not far,’ she promised, glancing over her shoulder at us as she led the way through the city center high street. Not quite as used to walking in stilettos as my girlfriends were, I made slower progress at the back of our group as Jo led us to our mystery destination. I was only marginally warmer in a pair of black dress pants, but my silk top and lightweight tuxedo-style blazer were doing eff all to protect me. In fact, the only thing she wore that shielded her against the Scottish winter was a scarf.Įllie and Jo were in pretty much the same condition – wearing dresses, heels, and light jackets. Like all of us, she was wearing stilettos. She wore a short, stylish jacket with a red dress that fit her like a second skin. He’d opened his wool coat and huddled her inside it, his arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close. ‘For the fifth and final time … where are you taking us?’ Joss asked, burrowing deeper against her fiancé, Braden.

Its icicle-spiked fingers pricked my rosy red cheeks and I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, my shoulders hunching as I braced against the attack. Every time we turned a corner the icy cold wind hammered into us, almost spitefully, like it was mad when a building buffered us.

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