Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Frowning in the dark, I lean over, holding my palms out toward what I think is the couch. A second before I make contact with it, I hear movement, then a quiet, deep chuckle. I yelp, straightening my spine, just as a hand wraps around the back of my thigh and jerks me forward.
“Boo,” Holden says barely above a whisper. I land in his lap, straddling him, scrambling to hold my towel together where my legs are parted. My bare skin is pressed against his rough jeans, his warm hand still gripping my thigh.
“You scared the shit out of me.” I slap at his chest. “What the hell are you doing?”
I hear the unmistakable flick of a lighter a second before I see the flame between us, illuminating Holden’s face. “Tell me why you’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you,” I say, bracing one hand on his shoulder and lifting my left leg to pull off his lap, but he holds me in place with his free hand curving around my waist.
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me.”
“Right now? You want to talk about this now, during a power outage, when we don’t know where our friends are?”
“That about sums it up, yeah.”
“Let me go.”
“Tell me what I did to piss you off.”
“Nothing,” I lie.
“You’ve been avoiding me for no reason?”
“No, there’s a reason. I don’t like you.”
“I’ve heard that before.” His hand moves down until he meets the outside of my bare thigh when he realizes I’m in a towel and only a towel. “So, are you going to explain what changed between last night and now?” His other hand abandons the lighter before landing on the opposite thigh. The tips of his fingers dip underneath my towel before gripping the sides of my ass. God, the sooner I leave this cabin, the better. It was so much easier to resist Holden when I wasn’t forced to cohabitate with him. I just need to get through this trip, and everything will go back to normal.
He groans when I lean forward, my tits pressed against his chest, hands braced on the couch behind him. “Maybe I was just bored.”
He tenses beneath me, and I can tell the pieces have clicked into place. “I hurt your feelings.”
I laugh bitterly. “I don’t have those.” I spring off his lap before he can react. He says my name, but a buzzing sound has both our heads whipping toward the sound. I walk into the kitchen, following the dim light of my phone vibrating on the counter. I stumble over something—a slipper, I think—but I right myself before I fall. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that it’s Shayne’s name that flashes across my screen.
“Where the hell are you?”
“Oh my God, I’ve tried to call you guys like one hundred times.”
“Where are you? What’s wrong?”
“Well…um,” she hesitates.
“Shayne. Where are you?”
“The roads are closed. Cars are backed up for miles. They’re making everyone turn around. Apparently, the storm is coming sooner than we thought.”
“It’s here,” I say dryly. “We don’t have power.”
“Shit,” she curses. I hear Thayer ask what I said, and she repeats it to him. “Where’s Holden? Thayer wants to talk to him.”
“Right here.” I put the phone on speaker. “Go ahead.”
“It’s dumping. Supposed to get six feet in the next three days.”
“Fuck. Didn’t anyone think to check the weather before we came up?”
“Last week, it said we’d get a foot, max. This shit came out of nowhere. There should be enough food and water to last you guys a few days, then I’ll drive back up to get you when it’s clear.”
“A few days?” I screech. A few days. Alone with Holden. Snowed in. Possibly without power? Holden snatches the phone from my hand.
“Don’t worry about me. If I have to eat Valen to survive, then so be it,” Holden says, appearing entirely too unfazed for my liking. “I’ll start with her ass. I hear the meaty parts have the most flavor.”
I take the phone back, holding the speaker close to my mouth. “You can’t leave me here with him. I swear to God, Shayne, I’d rather take my chances with the elements.”
I hear muffled laughter, like they’re covering the speaker, but not good enough.
“I’m sorry. If there were any other option—”
“Yeah, you sound super sorry.”
“We’ll keep an eye on the weather and I’ll come get you as soon as it’s clear,” she promises. “At least you have a delicious Christmas dinner to enjoy? Some of it, anyway. We’re surviving on beef jerky and Pringles.”
“Drive safe and call us when you get home. And just in case anything happens to you, I love you. But if it doesn’t, then I hate you.”
“You’ll survive, Valen.” Shayne laughs. “I love you. And Holden?”
“Yes?” He leans over me from behind, his chin nearly touching my shoulder.