Page 13 of Snow Good to Lose
“Oh yeah, who is his team?” He patted the bar.
“The Dallas boys.” I looked up at the screen. It wasn’t a team playing, but football fans watch any team, right?
Skip nudged my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “So where is Chet?” His gaze scanned the area.The way he said Caden’s name made my stomach churn.
“Skip.”
We both turned around as Caden appeared from the beach side of the bar.
“Hey, buddy,” Skip held his hand up, “I found what I was looking for.”
Caden wasn’t a high-five kind of guy, but he reciprocated.
“You and your lovely lady like to come up to my room and partake?” Skip held two fingers up to his mouth.
Caden reached for his beer. Skip took a step back.A wise move. I looked up at Caden to admonish him for his possessiveness. It was part of our new persona, but the look on his face made me stop.
“Naw, man. We’re just here to watch some of the game and have a drink.” Caden set his beer back on the bar. Skip sat down a few spots over.
“I heard you were a Texan fan.” Skip waved to the bartender.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“Cowboys fan, dude.” Caden shook his head.
He was testing us.
My phone vibrated in my back pocket. I turned away from the bar and unlocked the screen. They continued droning on about American football. I tapped the screen and watched a live feed of the cameras in our house.
A scream crawled up to the back of my throat.
Men dressed in black, were ransacking my home. They pulled out drawers and overturned baskets. The bed was upturned, and my stuff littered the floors.
I managed not to react on the outside. My insides were a different story. My heart raced. Air escaped my lungs in a silent whoosh. Caden sensed it.
He reached around me and whispered in my ear.
“It’s going to be okay.”
But it wasn’t. It would never be okay.
We were about to run again.
