Page 6 of Next to You

I didn’t want to freak her out, especially since screaming seemed like a good idea. Panic was setting in again. This entire night was my worst nightmare coming to life. I stuck to the day shift for a reason. The dark was not my friend.

We headed up the road, what felt like inch by inch. It was slow-going, but I finally reached the turn-off leading to my family’s cabin. The only trouble was that this was an old mountain road, unpaved and rugged. I doubted we would make it all the way.

I drove about a mile or so, then had to stop. A tree had fallen, blocking the road.

I dragged a hand over my face, then rested my forehead against the steering wheel to catch my breath and bring my heart rate down to normal. It was about to beat straight out of my chest. My worry for her and my unease about our situation had taken hold of me again for a moment, but I brushed it aside and sat up.

“We have to walk the rest of the way, Lucy,” I whispered, my stomach pitching as I took in what she was wearing. Yeah, she had my jacket on, but beyond that, she was in Converse sneakers and jeans. I knew this was not the time or the place, but I couldn’t help but notice how they clung to each of her gorgeous curves. She had gotten wet when I picked her up earlier. She was shivering despite the heat blasting from the vents, and it would only get worse once we got outside. How would she make it the rest of the way to the cabin?

But on the plus side, she was tiny. I could carry her over my shoulder if I had to, and then we could build a fire and warm up once we reached the cabin.

“Crap.” Fear filled her eyes as she shook her head from side to side. “I’m not dressed for this. Tonight will go down as the stupidest decision I’ve made in my entire life. Even worse thanwhen I tried out for the cheer squad and broke my arm. Or the tragic bangs I had all through eighth grade.”

“I remember that. You whacked me in the head with that cast every time you had to grab something out of your backpack. It stuck straight out to the side at first, right?”

“Not quite straight out. But yeah, it was bad enough. Anyway, I’m a walking disaster.” She let out a huge sigh and sank into her seat. “It’s been a life-long affliction.”

I turned, grinning at her sideways. “You are no such thing.”

“Thanks for saying that.” Her shoulders shrugged as she grinned back and tilted her head to meet my eyes. “And thanks again for carrying my backpack and books around for me. What a pain in the ass, right?”

Wrong.I loved being able to help her out.

She’d always been a little bit quirky, and I enjoyed her silly sense of humor in class. However, she was so shy around me that it was hard to get her to talk back then. I used to wonder why, but I gradually chalked it up to our different personalities. We had never been part of the same crowd. She was too good for a guy like me.

But she had the most stunning eyes I’d ever seen, big and brown with gold flecks. And more than that, I could tell she was unequivocally herself.

Nowadays, I loved running into her around town, and more and more, I find myself noticing when she isn’t around. I would have a soft spot for her forever.

“No. I was happy to do it. And for the record, you were cute with those bangs.” Too bad she’d been too shy to talk to me back then, I would have asked her out and maybe we would be together in an entirely different scenario right now.

We both flinched as a burst of hail pelted the windshield.

I held my breath, then let it out in a relieved sigh when it passed.

“What the heck is going on tonight?” She shook her fist at the widow. “Damn you, Skip McFadden!”

“When has that idiot ever been right about a forecast? He better not show his face in town ever again; that’s all I have to say. We should get moving before it starts dumping snow again.”

“Okay.” She inhaled sharply. “I’m ready.”

I wrapped my scarf around my neck and tucked it into my hoodie before I thought better of it and took it off to offer it to her. “Here, I want you to take this too.”

She shook her head. “No way. I’m already wearing your coat. I’m the ill-prepared one tonight. You shouldn’t be the one to suffer for it.”

“You’re also a lot smaller than me. I can take the cold better.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“Hey, I’m just glad I found you.” I wrapped the scarf around her neck, tucking the ends into the coat and zipping it up all the way before brushing her tears away with my thumbs. “We’ll be okay. I promise you, Lucy.”

Her big eyes met mine as I gathered her hair in my hand, freeing it from the scarf to flow over her shoulders in a silken river of honey-colored waves.

She looked good in my clothes, even though they swamped her. For some reason, taking care of her this way felt right. A small smirk played at the corner of my mouth when she unconsciously buried her nose in the scarf and inhaled.

“Ready?”

“Almost.” She put the taco bag in her backpack purse and slipped it on. “We’re eating these fucking tacos when we get there, Spencer.”

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