by Carian Cole
He sits up and cracks his neck to the side. “My hair? You are so friggin’ weird, ya know that?”
“I was just thinking it looks really soft and shiny. Maybe it’s a wig?” Ha. Now, wouldn’t that be funny?
“A wig? I don’t think so.” He takes a sip from his water bottle then looks back over at me. “When you’re running your fingers through it, screaming my name, you’ll know it’s real, baby.”
“Dude, that will never happen. Like ever.” I have never met anyone so arrogant in my life. Does he really think women are just so taken with him that they will just throw themselves all over him?
“Wanna bet?” he dares.
“No, I don’t want to bet. You’re sick and twisted, and obviously, completely in love with yourself.”
“Well, someone’s gotta be.”
I roll my eyes at him.
“What? You don’t think I’m lovable?” he asks.
“No, not really, but I really don’t know you, so I can’t answer that question.”
“Niko loves me.” Niko’s ear quirks in our direction at the mention of his name, but he doesn’t lift his head, which rests on his paws.
“Yeah, I’m sure he does because you feed him,” I point out, grinning.
Storm looks disturbed by this statement. “You think your cat loves you, Evelyn?”
“I know he does. He sleeps with me every night, and he follows me around and does rubbies all over my legs.”
Storm pats Niko on the head and the dog’s big, fuzzy tail starts to wag erratically. “I know he loves me. He’s my best friend. I saved his life.”
“Did you really?” I inquire, interested to hear more about how he did that exactly.
He nods, still caressing Niko’s ears.
“Will you tell me about it?” Any story would be good right now. Time is dragging in this truck, and I am legit losing my mind without any television or internet. There are so many Facebook statuses I could have made during this ordeal—they’d get like ninety-nine likes each.
“I’ll tell you, but only if you hold my hand again while I tell you.”
“What? I don’t think so.”
Grabbing my hand tightly in his, he pleads with his sexy green eyes. “Come on. I like how it feels. I’ll behave myself. I promise.”
Even though he’s an annoying ass, he is kind of cute, so I have to grin at him for his efforts. “Is that even possible?” I tease. “For you to behave?”
He winks at me. “I guess we’ll find out.”
I sigh and give in to him. “Fine. But only because I’m bored, and I want to hear how you saved Niko’s life.”
“Someday, I’m going to tell our kids how I saved your life after you crashed your car off the side of the road because you couldn’t even listen to the GPS.”
“I think not. And the GPS is useless. It sent me in the wrong direction. Now, tell me about how you saved the dog.”
“All right. So, a few years ago, I used to drive by this garage all the time. It was an old, junky place just piled with, like, old cars and shit. And one day, I noticed this puppy tied up outside, and I thought he was cute because he was really fuzzy and had these crazy huge paws.”
I slowly rub his hand and make little circles on his palm with my finger while he talks.
“So, a few weeks go by, and of course the pup is growing and getting bigger and taller. And then a few more weeks go by, and now it’s like the middle of the summer and hot as hell, and this poor dog is just tied up to a fence on the side of the building with no shade or anything, and I don’t even see a water dish or food. So, I park my car and check on him, and he’s all happy to have someone pet him, tail wagging like mad. There was an old food dish off to the side, but it was empty, and a dish with some dirty water. He didn’t have any toys or bones or anything. It was late, so the guy who owned the place wasn’t there. I drove over to the pet place and bought the little guy some new dishes and some toys and a few bones. I went back and gave him some water and he drank three fucking bowls, and then he woofed down two bowls of food. I felt really bad leaving him. I just had this bad gut feeling, ya know?”
He pulls a pack of gum out of his pocket and unwraps a piece with one hand as he talks. I can see talking about this upsets him, so I give his hand a gentle comforting squeeze.
He pops the gum into his mouth and offers me some. “No thanks,” I answer, waiting to hear the rest of the story.
“Anyway, I had to go out of town after I gave the pup the stuff, and I was gone for like three months. To be honest, I kind of forgot about him. But then, I had to go over to that part of town again, and I drove by him. Evie, it was awful.” His voice cracks a little and my heart clenches. “I honestly think the last time he ate was the food I’d given him. He was nothing but skin and bones; too weak to even stand up. I could see all of his little ribs, and he had ticks all stuck to him, just sucking the blood out of him. I got out of my car and ran over to him, and at first, I thought he was dead. He was just lying there in the dirt with flies buzzing all around him. But when I kneeled down in front of him, his little tail wagged a tiny bit. I think he remembered me.”
Tears spring into my eyes at the thought of someone mistreating a puppy so badly. “My God, Storm, what happened?” He looks at me for a moment, a single tear sliding down his cheek, and it grips at my heart to see this big, muscular guy crying over a puppy.
“An old man came out of the little building and started yelling at me to get off his property. And I got up in his face and yelled, ‘What the fuck did you do to this puppy? He’s dying out here!’ and he was like, ‘Mind your own business, you fucking punk, and get off my property.’ There was just no fucking way I was going to leave him there. So I pulled a wad of cash out of my pocket and I threw it at this scumbag, and I said ‘I just bought this dog, and I’m taking him out of here. If I ever fucking see you again, or see another dog here, I will fucking kill you.’ The douchebag picked up the money and ran off with it.
“I scooped the pup up and took him to one of those emergency vet places. He had to stay there for a month before I could finally bring him home. He was dehydrated and almost starved to death, had two ear infections, worms—you name it. I visited him every single day, and we’ve been together ever since.” Niko looks up as if he knows he’s being talked about. “Right, buddy?” Storm says to him. I swear Niko’s mouth curls up into a little doggy smile.
“Wow . . . Storm, that’s an amazing story. You really did save his life. That’s incredible.”
“Now he’s spoiled rotten, just like he should be.”
“He’s beautiful, and so lucky you found him, really. I guess you’re not so bad, after all.”
“I have my good points.”
The man throws me a smile that could melt a glacier. Damn. I let go of his hand and break my gaze from his. “Can you toss me the crackers?” I ask, trying to divert my attention from his smile and the effect it’s having on me.
“I’m hungry.”
Reaching into the bag, he pulls out the box of crackers and hands them to me. “Why do you do that?” he asks.
“Do what?”
“You look away from me when I look at you.”
Ugh. Can he not just leave me alone instead of zoning in on all of my insecurities?
I swallow my mouthful of cracker. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize I did it.”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“No . . . not anymore. When we first met, I thought you were pretty scary, but now that I know you a little bit, no.”
He laughs. “You were pretty scared when I banged on your window. You jumped about a foot.”
“Ha ha.” I throw a cracker at him. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be out there.”
“Are you afraid I’m going to see you? If you let me look at you?”
“Um? What does that mean? What do you see when you look at me?” So, yeah, this is one of those times when you ask someone to tell you something and even though you r
eally, really want to hear the answer, you’re afraid to hear it, too. Because it might be bad. Or it might be really good. But usually, it’s bad.
He’s staring at me with his head tilted, his hair falling across his face. “I see a cute, engaging woman who lives in fear.”
“Fear? What the hell, Storm. Fear of what?”
“Hey, calm down. I think you’re afraid of intimacy, of letting yourself feel. I think you hide in things that are comfortable to you, like Michael.”
“Are you kidding me? And you think you know all this about me after spending a day and a half with me in the backseat of a truck?” My voice is loud. Way too loud for the small area we’re sitting in. But who the hell does he think he is? He doesn’t know me. At all. “And I’m not hiding in Michael, dumbass.” Hiding! What does that even mean? “What are you hiding, Storm? Wearing goddamn eyeliner?”
He nods slowly at me. “Touché,” he says.
We’re quiet for a few moments, and I feel bad for yelling at him and making fun of his guyliner. I tend to do that when I get mad, lash out at people and make them feel bad. Then I feel terrible afterward. Usually.
“Storm, I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“It’s okay. Evie, it’s just you and me in here. You can let your walls down a little bit. It’s pretty obvious I struck a nerve.”
“To be honest, I’m not used to talking about my feelings. Michael and I don’t really do that, I guess. I don’t think he sees me, as you put it, but I don’t think many people really see each other at all. We see what we want to see, and we show what we want to show. That’s just life.”
“You’re right. And I’m like that, too. I don’t usually get all involved with people, but we’re in a unique situation here, ya know? Like, the normal rules and shit don’t apply. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable.”
“I know . . .”
He slips his hand into mine again. I feel like somehow handholding has become our thing. How odd is that?
“Evie, what happened earlier . . . with us . . . I gotta tell ya, that was incredible. It was just so fucking raw and real, so intimate, ya know? Sexless sex. It was like, whoa.”
I’m sure I’m about as red as a lobster right now. I was not expecting him to bring that up, like ever. I want to push it as far away from my mind as possible.
“Storm, no. That was a betrayal. Don’t you get that? I don’t do things like that, and it makes me sick that I did.”
He makes a face like I slapped him. “Sick? I make you sick?”
“Not you, what I did.”
“Because you let yourself feel something and you went with it?”
“Yes! It’s wrong, Storm. It’s cheating. It’s disgusting.”
“It’s not disgusting, Evie. We both felt something, and we let it happen. It felt pretty deep, to me. And for me, that’s saying a lot. Did you feel it, too?”
I felt a lot of things besides his huge cock rammed against me. I remember how just having our hands touch sent all sorts of shivery tingles throughout my entire body, and feeling like my heart stopped when his lips brushed against my ear. I felt like a different person, someone I didn’t even know, when he told me to touch myself, and I actually did it. And I liked it.
I liked it a lot.
“Storm, I felt . . . something, but that’s because I’m scared . . . and I’ve never been close to another man before. I know you do different sexual things with your life, but I don’t, and I don’t want to. And I really don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
He grins and nods at me. “Okay. It’s cool.”
My mind traces back into the conversation a little bit. He called me cute. Cute, engaging woman. I’ve been called cute my entire life. For once, I’d love to be called sexy. Or beautiful. I’m five-three with long, auburn hair, big blue eyes, not fat, but not thin either. I’ll bet he dates tall, blonde model-types with huge, fake boobs. He’d never call someone like that ‘cute’.
“What are you thinking about now?” he asks, chewing a cracker.
“What kind of girls do you usually date? Or fuck? Whatever you call it in your little world?”
“Hmm. . . . I don’t know if I really have a type, per se. But I guess mostly tall, sexy, big tits.”
“I figured.”
The snow is hopefully supposed to stop tonight or tomorrow. I can’t wait to get out of here, take a nice hot shower, sleep in a nice warm bed, eat some real food and see Michael and Halo. Storm thinks a plow truck will come by tomorrow at some point, and he plans to chase after it when he hears it. I’m a little bit nervous about that. What if the plow doesn’t come? According to Storm, not many people even drive on this road. The plow guy could put off doing this road for a day or two.
“Storm? Is anyone looking for you?”
He pushes his hair out of his face and stares at me. “Why would someone be looking for me?”
“Because you’re missing? Duh.”
“I’m not missing, Evie. I’m hiding.”
I turn in the seat to face him. “Hiding? What do you mean?”
“I told you. I was coming up to my cabin to get away from everyone. They all know not to bother me. They know I won’t answer my phone. So, no one knows I’m stranded in the snow.”
“What? Are you serious? We could die out here, Storm. What if the truck doesn’t come to plow?”
I burst into tears of panic before I can stop myself. He scoots over and puts his arm around me, placing his hand on my head, guiding me to rest on his shoulder. “Shh . . . it’s gonna be okay. I promise. You’re just tired, cold and a little stir-crazy. I promise I’ll get us out of here. Don’t cry.” He pulls my head up and wipes my tears away with his thumbs. Holy damn, his eyes are green like a cat. “Evelyn, I know it’s hard, but we have to keep our shit together, okay? I’ll get us out of here. Just trust me.”
I nod, mesmerized by his eyes. I can barely hear him speaking. “Your eyes are amazing,” I whisper.
He laughs and hands me a tissue. “Well, thanks. Are you okay? Don’t be having a fucking meltdown on me, all right?”
I blow my nose a little and wipe at my eyes. “I’m sorry. I just want to go home.”
“We’ll get you home soon. I’m sure your family and Michael are missing you a lot. And your cat.”
I blink back the tears and shake my head at him. “I don’t have any family. My parents passed away when I was younger. I just have Michael and Halo.”
“All right, baby. I get it.” He keeps his arm around me, and I rest my head on his shoulder again. I soon fall asleep, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
CHAPTER FOUR
I’M WALKING THROUGH THE SNOW. EVERYTHING is so bright, it’s almost blinding. Up ahead on the trail, I can see Niko bouncing around in the snow. Every now and then, he stops, turns to look at me, comes back to lick my hand, then runs ahead of me again. Flurries are falling softly. I turn my face up and open my mouth to catch some on my tongue. Suddenly, a red cardinal flies by my head and lands on a tree branch just a few feet away from me. He is gorgeous, so scarlet red against the snow. As I’m admiring her, another swoops in and perches next to her. A beautiful little couple, so bright and vivid.
“Evelyn . . . wake up.” I’m being shaken. Slowly opening my eyes, I find I’m lying against Storm, still in the back of the truck.
“I was dreaming of red cardinals in the snow. And Niko was there,” I say groggily.
“Really? Was the tin man there, too?”
I sit up and scowl at him. “Very funny.”
“Okay, look. I’m gonna clean off the truck and make a little path for you to pee, then we’re gonna eat some breakfast, and then we have to listen for the plow truck.”
“Did the snow stop?” Finally, a glimmer of hope.
“I think so. When I went outside last night, it was pretty much done.”
“Thank God! I just want to get out of here.”
“You and me both, baby.”
While Storm is outs
ide cleaning the truck off for the hundredth time, I pick up the wrappers from what we ate earlier and put them in the plastic bag we’ve been using for garbage. I have this thing for throwing stuff away immediately. I’m petrified of bugs. Even at home, I have to clean up dinner right away. It completely drives Michael insane because he’s a bit of a slob.
I want to get home so badly. I wonder what my boss is going to say about me not making the meeting. Hopefully, he’ll have some compassion for me being stuck in a ditch with Sasquatch for an entire weekend, eating granola bars and potato chips. I hope he doesn’t expect me to come into the office right away. I’m thinking I’m going to need a day or two at home to catch up on some real sleep and just de-stress. Maybe some sick days or personal days will cover that.
I can’t wait to call Amy and tell her about this excursion. She’ll want to hear a total play-by-play, and I know she’ll make fun of me because weird stuff is always happening to me and she thinks it’s hilarious.
The door opens and Storm comes in with a huge grin on his face. “The snow has finally stopped. Thank fuck! Now we have to listen carefully, okay? So keep your chatter down.”
“Excuse me? My chatter? What does that mean?”
He makes a gesture with his thumb and forefinger like a yapping bird. “Like this, you go.”
“Screw you, Storm. I don’t chatter.”
He puts his hand down. “Evelyn, I’m kidding. I like your chatter. It’s cute.”
Again with the cute. I want to kick him in the face with my non-snow-friendly shoes. I don’t want to be cute.
We wait. The windows of the truck are completely clear now and we can see outside. Of course, all we can see are trees and snow, but it’s nice to be able to actually see the outside world. I wonder if my car is completely buried and if it will ever run right again. Now seems like a good time for me to approach the subject of a new car with Michael once more. He shot the idea down last time, but I think now I’ll have a better chance.
“Do you think my car will run again? If it’s been out in the snow like this?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have it towed out and taken to the garage in town. My buddy owns the place. He’ll take good care of it, and he’ll be honest about how screwed up it is.”