Page 7 of Punt My Life

“Enough!” The yell comes from the big guy sitting in the booth with a thick redhead. She kind of reminds me of Lexi with her curvy frame and pale skin, but despite her red hair, she doesn’t have an ounce of Lexi’s fire. She looks like she’s about to have a panic attack where she sits.

Jenny excuses herself from the table and pulls me toward the bar. “What the hell, Maddox?”

I reach up and pull the beanie off my head to run my hand over my buzzed hair. “Shit. I’m sorry, Jenny. That was out of line.”

She cocks her hip. “Damn straight. Since when do you care where I am or what I’m doing?”

I laugh without any of my usual humor. “I don’t. As long as Aiden is okay, party to your heart’s content. I’ve got other things to worry about.”

Jenny grins. “Since when do youworryabout anything other than Aid…”

My phone rings, cutting her off and I pull it out to see that it’s Lexi. There’s no way she’s already made it to her parents’ house.Something’s wrong,I think as I answer the call.

“Stuck already?” I try to keep my normal cheery tone, but it drops instantly when I hear a sniffle on the other end of the line. “Lexi? What’s wrong?”

“I’m not just stuck.” Her voice shakes as she explains what happened.

“Where are you? Pin your location and text it to me,” I demand as I turn and run toward the door.

Anhourlater,Ifinally reach her location and slow down. I’ve been trying to reach emergency services, but it’s clear that our small town’s systems aren’t equipped for a disaster. It’s been ringing busy the entire time I’ve been on the road.

When my truck starts to angle downward, I stop and get out, straining my eyes to see through the whiteout blizzard. I can just make out the back of her red hatchback, but the rest of the car is almost completely covered in snow.

I reach into the toolbox of my truck, pull out a shovel and run to the driver’s side of her car. The fresh snow is soft, and it just falls back into the hole I’m digging. I rush to the back of the car that’s higher up and I’m able to push enough snow aside to open the liftgate. I stand the shovel under it so the wind won’t push it closed before climbing inside.

I pull the latch to drop the backseats and crawl toward Lexi. She’s trembling and I can hear her teeth chattering before I even reach her. “Come on, Lexi. Climb between the seats. I’ve got the back propped open.”

“I c…c…annn’t.” She’s shivering so hard; she can barely speak.

I pull the lever on the side of her seat, reach under her arms, and crawl back, pulling her with me. Once I’m on the ground, I lift her bridal style and carry her to my truck.

I know there’s no way we’ll make it all the way back to town, even in my truck, but the road to my dad’s hunting cabin is only about a hundred yards back. It’s just a little one-room cabin, not much bigger than a motel room. But it's a place for us to stay warm, out of the storm. Once I have Lexi buckled into the passenger seat, I run around to the driver’s side and drive in reverse until I can turn onto the little trail.

I carry Lexi inside and lay her on the bear-skin rug in front of the fireplace before getting a fire started. Once the fire is rolling, I strip out of my wet clothes before attempting to undress Lexi. She pushes against me, shaking her head when I try to pull her stretchy jeans over her hips.

“You’ll warm up faster if the heat is directly on your skin. Trust me. This isn’t how I thought I’d undress you for the first time, either,” I say with a chuckle.

She rolls her eyes at me but nods her permission for me to remove her pants. When I reach for the hem and her sweatshirt, she grabs it and pulls it back down. “N…n…nooo.”

Instead of arguing with her, I turn and put my hands in front of the fire, letting them get toasty warm before reaching under her shirt and placing them on her soft stomach. She groans happily at the warmth, and I have to give my dick a silent reminder that this isn’t for him.

“See? If you take off your shirt, you’ll feel that warmth everywhere. Please, Lexi. Your fucking lips are blue,” I beg.

She squeezes her eyes shut and lifts her arms for me to pull her shirt over her head. I force my eyes to stay on her face. Not because I don’t want to see her body—I’m dying to see her body—but because her consent is about survival, not sex, and I won't violate her that way.

I position her to lay on her side as I crawl behind her and pull her back to be my little spoon. With the fire on her front and my body heat on her back, her temperature should return to normal soon…I hope.

Chapter 8

Alexis

Asthefrigidnumbnessrecedes, I start to feel tingles all over my body. I’m not sure if it’s muscle fatigue from shivering so hard or my body’s reaction to Maddox being curled around it. His hand keeps running up and down my arm and thigh, creating friction to warm me up faster. It’s not a sensual touch, but my body doesn’t seem to know the difference.

“You stopped shivering. Are you warm enough?” Maddox asks and I feel goosebumps where his breath hits the back of my neck.

As I shift around for a more comfortable position, my ass grazes the obvious erection behind me and his hand moves from my thigh to my hip where he squeezes to stop my movement.

“I’m sorry. I swear he has a mind of his own.” He lets out a throaty laugh.

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