“Thank the Lord,” Kelly gasped as they piled into his little four-door rusted car. Sawyer, the tallest by at least three inches, would only fit in the front, and Savannah had to sit on his lap, because there was no way they were fitting anyone else in the back. If it hadn’t been for their little fight earlier, she would have curled into him now, trying to steal his warmth. But despite their truce, she sat away from him, her body stiff, trying to keep her weight off his legs. For the eight-thousandth time that night, he hated himself for what he’d said. His body missed hers.
“This looks like it’s gonna be one heck of a storm,” Julian said. “Maybe the meet will get canceled tomorrow, too.”
“Since I’ve run, like, a hundred miles today, I’d be okay with that,” Laura said from the back seat, her voice muffled, buried as she was under four other people.
It was the longest ride ever, and far too short, because when they pulled into the hotel parking lot and she scrambled out of the car, his body ached for her.
Holy hell, I’m addicted to her touch.
He watched her race into the hotel, yelling a hurried thank you to Julian, and Sawyer had the distinct impression that he’d lost her. He hadn’t even had her, and he’d lost her.
Every girl wants a guy that’s gonna fight for her.
****
SHE’D SENT HIS SHIRT home with Caleb. Caleb handed it to him as Sawyer unfolded himself from the blankets on his bed, trying to get warm. “She said to tell you thanks.”
His sweatshirt was there, too.
And it smelled like her.
He pulled it over his head, even though it was still slightly damp, and tried not to hyperventilate breathing in her sweet scent. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her tears. He couldn’t drown out the pain in her voice.
But he also remembered Beckett’s pain. He remembered getting calls at three a.m. because Beckett was drunk and passed out on the lawn in front of her apartment. He remembered listening to Beckett sob at night.
Beckett was his best friend. No matter how in love with Savannah Sawyer thought he was, he couldn’t go after her.
Every girl wants a guy who will fight for her.
He closed his eyes and listened to the wind howl and wondered if the windows were going to implode. When someone started banging on the door, that was his first thought — the building was exploding around him.
Beckett hauled himself to his feet and, dodging luggage and random roommates sprawled all over the room, he swung the door open.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Savannah yelled, all spitfire and claws. Sawyer sat up, wondering what on earth Beckett could have done this time. Laura and Kelly, of course, were right behind her, looking as formidable as the guards of death — which was a feat for two not-very-tall and very sweet girls.
Most of the time, sweet. Right now, not so much.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked. Laura looked at him, eyes narrowed. “Did you know about this?”
Liam held up his hands, slowly backing away. “Since I’m not sure what ‘this’ is, I’m going to go with no.”
“Change. It. Back. Beckett,” Savannah hissed through her clenched teeth.
Beckett laughed, albeit it nervously. “It was just a joke, Savvy. No big deal.”
“No big deal? Do you know how many messages I’ve gotten? How many people in the last half hour have told me, ‘I told you so?’ Change it back right now or I will kill you. Slowly.”
“Okay. Okay! Hell, Savannah, when did you get so uptight?”
“About the same time you put that stupid picture of you attacking me as your profile pic and changed your status to in a relationship. With me.”
All the air blew out of Sawyers’ lungs like he’d been punched. “He’s not that stupid. Are you, Beck? Tell her you’re not that stupid.”
“Wow, mate,” Liam said, clapping Beckett roughly on the shoulder. And then to Laura, he said, “No. I definitely did not know about this.”
“Good,” Kelly snapped.
“I’ll change it. Everyone just chill out. It was supposed to be funny.”
“It wasn’t.” Savannah dug in his pocket, moving lightning fast before he could stop her, and hit the app. “I’m changing it, and then I’m blocking you.”
“That was the most action I’ve had in a year,” Beckett grinned. Savanna’s fingers stilled and her jaw clenched, but she didn’t look up from Beckett’s phone.
“Hey, Savvy. I’m sorry. Really,” he cooed. She briefly glared at him before going back to jabbing things on his phone, moving away from him when he tried to get it back. “I really thought you’d think it was funny.”
She tossed the phone back to him, her eyes still narrowed. “Clearly, you shouldn’t be allowed to think on your own.” With that, she spun on her heel and disappeared into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.
“You are such a moron, Beckett. Let her go before you make her hate you forever,” Caleb said.
“She’ll come around. She always does. She broke up with me three times in high school—” Beckett kicked his shoes off and threw himself onto the bed farthest from the door, as if that would protect him. Laying back with his hands behind his head, he smiled at the ceiling, and Sawyer had never wanted to punch someone more. “—She always comes back.”
Sawyer rolled his eyes. If you believe that, why all the sobbing and drinking then, Beck? But he didn’t say it, tempted though he was. Instead, he dug his book out of his bag. This was a good time to do his chemistry homework.
Or at least, it was. Until the lights started flickering and the TV shut off. “Wow. I’ve never seen a storm like this,” Caleb said, standing at the window. “It’s crazy.”
They watched silently for several long minutes, until the knock on the door nearly sent them all through the roof.
Caleb left his post to answer it, only tripping twice. It occurred to Sawyer that they might have too much stuff strewn all over the room.
“Is Savannah in here?”
Sawyer tumbled out of the bed in his hurry to get to the door.
“No. Why would she be in here? It’s lights out in, like, ten minutes.” Beckett peered into the hall, around Aaron, like Savannah might be hiding behind him.
“I lost my phone. She was helping me look — and now we can’t find her.”
“Well she’s gotta be in the hotel somewhere, right? Just call her cell.” Beckett leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms, obviously bored.
“We tried. It went straight to voice mail.”
“Where’d you see her last?” Sawyer asked, dread roiling in his stomach. Something bad was coming.
“By the pool. And then she was just — gone.”
“She’s probably in the gym.” Beckett shrugged and started to close the door.
Sawyer shoved him out of the way, facing Aaron. “When was the last time you used your phone?”
“I don’t know. I remember having it at the track meet…”
“And then you took that pic at that creepy old house,” Beckett added helpfully.
“Wait—”Sawyer swore. “—she went after it.”
“It’s a massive storm out there! She’s not that dumb,” Beckett objected.
“Have you ever known her to give up on something like that? She was just looking for an excuse to go back there.”
“And the storm wasn’t this bad when we started looking,” Aaron said grimly.
“Come on, guys. She’s a little girl, and girls are afraid of the dark. She’s in the hotel somewhere.”
Sawyer didn’t stop to argue with him. He jerked his shoes on and shoved his own phone in his pocket, his heart racing three hundred miles an hour. His little Savvy was adorable and beautiful and small, but she was fearless. And it might just give him a heart attack.
“Where are Kelly and Laura?” he asked as he followed Aaron out of the room, Beckett on their heels.
“They’re searching the hotel.”
“Do we have
Julian’s number?” They jogged down the hall, toward the lobby. Through the windows, the trees slashed and swayed in the fierce wind, and rain pelted the glass like bullets.
“No, but he’s here. I just saw him.”
“Guys, come on, Savannah’s not this stupid. She wouldn’t go—”
“Savannah hasn’t been in her right mind today,” Sawyer cut him off. “Julian!” He caught sight of Dara’s new friend coming out of the elevator, Dara in tow. “Can you take me to the edge of the woods again?”
“What?” Beckett yelled, jerking to a stop. “We’re not going back there, Sawyer! We don’t even know if she’s there! That’s a massive storm and we don’t know the area—”
“What else do you suggest we do, Beck?”
“We search the hotel.” Beckett nodded, like the decision had been made.
Sawyer shook his head, turning his back on Beckett to face Julian. “Can you take me?”
“Yeah, sure. Do you really think she’s out there?”
Sawyer closed his eyes, trying to think around the panic. “She—she gets these obsessions. And she doesn’t let go. If she wanted to see that house, she would have looked for every excuse to go back there. And she’s not afraid of anything.”
Beckett ran a hand through his dark hair, shaking his head. “She’s—she wouldn’t be that stupid.”
She would if I broke her heart.
Julian looked from Sawyer to Beckett and back again before digging out his keys. “Let’s go.”
“Dammit, Sawyer, we can’t go after her. If she was idiotic enough to go out in a storm like this, then she’s on her own.” Beckett’s teeth clenched, his gaze jumping all over the hallway like he was waiting for her to show up.
She didn’t.
Sawyer shook his head. “Then stay here, Beck. I’m going after her.”
“If Coach catches us, we won’t get to run tomorrow!” Beckett yelled after him, and Sawyer got the distinct impression that there was a threat in those words, but he didn’t care. The only thing in his head was Savannah, out in the storm, thinking she was invincible.
“Aaron, don’t let Laura and Kelly go after her. That’s all we need — a bunch of us lost out in the storm all night long.”
Aaron nodded, pale and tense.
Julian drove as fast as he could, but the storm was so bad, he could barely see ten feet in front of the car. Neither of them spoke — so Julian could concentrate and Sawyer could pray, and pray he did, begging whoever might be listening to keep her safe.
“This is as far as the car can go. We’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot,” Julian said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“You’re not coming.” Sawyer glanced at him as he zipped his cell phone into his pocket, hoping to keep it dry.
“What do you mean, I’m not coming? What am I supposed to do?”
Sawyer ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know. Maybe tell the coaches where I went if I don’t come back. We’ll find shelter out here. If she’s at the house, we’ll wait out the storm there.”
“Are you sure, bro? It’s crazy bad out there.”
Sawyer nodded, pushing the door open. The wind nearly ripped it off its hinges as rain soaked him to the bone.
And he wasn’t even out of the car yet.
He jumped out and sprinted for the trees, trying to see through the rain for any sign of Savannah, cursing her every step as he sloshed through mud, sometimes stumbling into puddles knee-deep. It took him much longer to find the road than it did earlier with the group, and he was starting to think he was lost completely when he emerged on the lawns. The trees and shrubs and overgrown flowers and weeds all shivered as the wind lashed them back and forth. He sprinted through the clearing, hoping against hope that lightning wouldn’t decide to visit this particular open space.
It would really suck to get hit by lightning trying to rescue the girl he wasn’t supposed to love.
CHAPTER FIVE
“YOU ARE BY FAR THE STUPIDEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET. You know that, right?” Savannah yelled into the darkness.
The fact that she was yelling at herself would have been embarrassing, had she not been completely alone.
And cold.
And scared.
And hurt.
She held her hand to her head, trying to decide how bad the injury was. Lucky thing that she hadn’t bashed out her eye; instead, the scratch went from the outside corner up to her temple.
So attractive.
She leaned against the door, trying to fit herself in the small alcove to protect from the wind and the rain while she waited for the dizziness to pass. She’d been so eager to come back here, looking for an excuse to explore, and, if she was perfectly honest, looking for an excuse to get as far away from Sawyer as possible before she did something stupid.
Like tell him how she really felt.
And now she was stuck here, with an open wound across her face, soaking wet and unable to get into the house she’d been so desperate to see.
“Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I hope that gash scars. That’ll teach me.”
At first, when she saw the shadows moving out of the corner of her eye, she thought it was the wind blowing the trees. Then, when she turned toward it and realized it was not, in fact, a tree, she thought it was a demon coming to steal her soul. Her sluggish mind prayed for a unicorn as she forced herself to her feet. She heard the demon howling, barely carrying over the wind.
Yelling her name.
“Sawyer?” she gasped, leaping down the steps. Not her brightest idea, as she was still trying to get the world to stop spinning. She hit the third to last step, slid off the edge, and tumbled down the last two, ending in an undignified heap at the bottom.
“Savannah! What the hell are you doing?” Sawyer demanded, jerking her to her feet. She swayed, fighting to stay upright.
“I’m—I’m—I don’t know. I’m very stupid. What are you doing?” she stuttered.
“Apparently, I’m saving your ass. We’ve gotta get out of this storm.” As if eager to reiterate his point, lightning struck behind them, its forked fingers splitting one of the rotting trees in the middle of the yard.
She squealed, racing back up the stairs to the alcove. Sawyer grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back. “The tree!” he yelled, pointing.
“You can’t climb trees in a hurricane, you idiot!” she screeched. “Everyone knows that!”
“Yeah well, everyone knows how stupid it is to go running through the forest in a hurricane, but you did it anyway. Move!”
Touché.
She spun, tipped sideways several steps, heard Sawyer ask if she was drunk, and then sprinted for the tree. Once there, she didn’t hesitate, climbing like a monkey up its branches.
All that climbing as a kid had finally paid off. She’d have to tell her dad, assuming she lived through this.
She fell through the window, landing in her second embarrassing heap in less than ten minutes. Sawyer jumped in after her, and she heard glass break. Struggling to get to her feet, she squinted in the darkness. “Did the glass cut you?”
“A little. Let’s get away from the window. Try to find some place dry. And then I’m gonna tell you how completely senseless you are.”
Savannah looked up. Most of the ceiling was collapsed, and she wasn’t entirely sure the rest wasn’t coming down at any minute — but she wasn’t in a hurry to get yelled at, either. Sawyer hauled her to her feet, and she tried not to notice the way his t-shirt was molded to his finally chiseled chest and arms. “This place is seriously creepy,” he muttered, leading them out of the collapsed room and into a long, dark hallway, and she followed along like a happy little dog.
So pathetic. I. Am. Pathetic.
“Wanna tell me what the hell is wrong with you? What were you thinking, leaving in a storm like that? In an area you don’t know? Alone?” he bellowed.
She crossed her arms over her chest, shivering. She’d never seen him so furious. Gorgeous
chiseled chest forgotten.
Almost.
“Now you’ve not only put your life at risk, Savvy, but everyone who’s looking for you, too! We’re in the middle of a hurricane!”
“I—I’ve never been in a hurricane before. I thought—”
“You didn’t think. You could have been killed. Or stolen. Or—or abducted.”
“Abducted and stolen are the same thing.”
He glared at her, his eyes as stormy as the hurricane outside. “Savannah…”
“I’m sorry, Sawyer. I didn’t think. I just — I just needed to run. To think. And I really, really wanted to see this house. It was in my head and wouldn’t go away and—” Seeing that she was only making Sawyer madder, she finished lamely, “—and Aaron was so upset.”
“He’s going to be upset when I get a hold of him. Who the hell lets a little girl like you go running out alone in a storm?”
“Someone who realizes I’m a grown woman and I make my own decisions? Stop it, Sawyer. You have no right to act like this. I made a mistake, and I’m paying for it. I’m cold and banged up and wet and scared. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? That I’m an idiot?”
The fury in his eyes died immediately. “No, Savvy. That isn’t what I want to hear. I want to hear that you’re safe and warm and okay.”
Sighing, she tried to run her hand through her sopping wet tangles. “I am okay. Are you?”
He nodded. “We need to move, though.”
They left the room and she could see more of the building, and, thank the heavens, she had something to distract her from how absolutely perfect Sawyer was, despite the fact that he’d just blown up at her.
“Cool,” she breathed, turning in a slow circle. The hallway went both directions. To the left, it turned out of sight. To the right, it opened up to what looked like a staircase. The carpet was molded and threadbare under their feet, the remnants looking to be some sort of red velvet. Ornate silver and black wallpaper hung from the walls, revealing torn sheetrock and crumbling plaster. “How old do you think this place is?”
Sawyer looked down at her, arching one dark eyebrow as his lips quirked. “Isn’t that your area of expertise?”
Star Crossed Hurricane Page 4
