by Nicole Dykes
“The snacks and first aid kit will come in handy.”
She nods and opens Liam’s bag again, searching through it. “There’s nothing but his clothes.”
“Ah, not planning to have sex? That’s just sad,” I try to joke, but she doesn’t laugh.
“We were a committed couple, asshole. I have an IUD. No need for condoms.”
Fuck. It feels like my chest is splitting in two when she says that. I wish I was just turned-on by the thought of fucking bare, but all I can think about is Liam telling me about his fuckup, how maybe he wasn’t quite so committed to her.
“What? No fun Cooper comment about that?” She’s studying me.
Shit. Say something. I shrug. “What’s there to say? You schooled me.”
Yeah, she’s not buying it. “You’re acting weird.”
I instantly get defensive because there’s no way I’m outing Liam. “Maybe it’s the rollover accident and two dead bodies.”
She winces, and I cringe. Wow, I’m an asshole. “I’m sore. And angry. Sorry.”
She shrugs. “It’s fine. What do you have?”
She’s not going to like this. I pull out condoms and two bottles of whiskey, “Guess I do have antiseptic.”
She widens her eyes. “Are you fifteen? That’s how you pack for a month away?”
“I brought clothes too, Ms. I-only-brought-clothes-and-makeup.”
She mumbles something as she grabs a blanket from Aria’s other bag.
She stands up and looks at the couch then back at me. “I think we can both fit.”
“You want to sleep together?”
She shakes her head. “The last thing I want is to sleep with you, but I also don’t want to die. And that fire isn’t going to be sufficient.”
“Fuck you, that fire is perfect.”
She rolls her eyes, but I lie down on the couch on my back and signal for her to lie down between my legs. It’s not a big couch at all. She doesn’t argue. She just places her ass between my legs, leaning back onto my chest, and pulling the blanket over us.
“Don’t get any ideas.”
“Trust me, the last thing on my mind right now is sex. I’m mostly thinking about your bony fucking elbow in my thigh.”
She turns slightly toward the back of the couch, removing her elbow, but causing way too much friction between my legs.
I lie there and try like hell not to think about the close contact, hoping I don’t get hard with her body against mine.
It’s not difficult when I close my eyes and see the horror from the night.
That’s more than enough to kill any boner.
I wake up with something hard poking my back, and I groan, knowing exactly what it is.
Is he kidding?
How the hell can he be horny right now? I nudge him with my elbow in his side, causing him to grunt and shift slightly, only for me to feel him pressed against me even more. “What?”
“You’re . . .” I turn around, angry and noticing it’s still dark in the house and outside, but the fire is still going. His eyes are still closed as he holds onto his sore shoulder. “You’re hard.”
He opens one eye slowly and cocks his head to the side. “Seriously? That’s why you’re waking me up?”
“You’re fucking poking me.”
He rolls his eyes because Cooper Kingston is the most infuriating human on the planet. “What do you want me to do about it, Everly? You’re laying between my legs and fucking rubbing on me.”
“I’m not rubbing on you.”
He takes a deep breath, and I watch his chest move up and down. “Whatever. What do you want me to do?”
“Just . . .” I look down before I catch myself zoning in on the impressive bulge in his sweats before snapping my gaze back to his face. “Think about something else.”
“Believe me, I have been. I must have fallen asleep.”
Something about the way he says that, along with the anguish in his tone makes me feel like an asshole. He saw Aria. He saw her dead body. I sigh and turn, leaning my back against the couch. “We’re not going to make it, are we?”
“We have shelter. And a fire.”
“The house is abandoned and almost empty. We have no electricity.”
His eyes meet mine, and I can tell he won’t be trying to cheer me up like Liam and Aria would have done. They were the bright and shiny people. With only Cooper and me, all that’s left is dark and dreary.
“We have fire.”
My lips turn slightly up at his weak attempt to stay positive. “A shitty one.” I smirk over at him and he laughs, knowing I’m messing with him.
“Yeah. Well, your ass felt pretty warm on top of me.”
“Don’t, for one second, think about my ass.”
He chuckles again and then grimaces. I know his shoulder is hurting him more than he lets on, and he did take care of the bleeding gash in my head. I climb off the couch and go over to Aria’s bag, the one full of clothes.
I find one of her simple t-shirts, sniff it like a crazy person, tear up, and then rip it.
Cooper sits up, his eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
I walk to him. “Making you a sling because you’re a stubborn ass, and I doubt we can put your shoulder back ourselves.”
“I’m the medical student.”
I smile but get busy making him a sling, leaning into him and hating that, even after everything we’ve been through, I can smell his familiar scent. “My parents are surgeons. I used to read medical books for fun.”
He cocks an eyebrow, judging me, but smiles. “And they taught you how to make a makeshift sling?”
I shake my head, tying the sling around his neck. “No. I learned it on Grey’s Anatomy.”
He laughs and then groans in pain from the movement but seems to admire my work when he looks down at his arm. His eyes meet mine. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Thanks for wrapping my head.”
His eyes flick to the gauze. “I don’t think it’s bleeding anymore. At least not enough to soak through.”
“That’s good.” I sit with my back to the couch, still drained. I’m pretty sure we weren’t out for very long. “I have to pee.”
“Well, fuck.”
I lean my head back, not making any effort to get up. “Yeah.”
“Let’s go.” He stands up, grabs his cellphone that I’m sure won’t last as our flashlight much longer, but for now I’m glad we have it. He offers me his hand. I’m so tired, I take it without hesitation.
He leads me to the bathroom in the back of the house. “At least there’s a toilet.”
“But probably no running water,” I say absently, my bladder about to burst and not really caring at the moment.
He moves to the sink and turns the faucet. We’re both shocked when water pours out. “Wow. There’s water.”
“Really? I didn’t think anyone lived here. Why would the water still be on?”
He shrugs his good shoulder. “Must have a well. That’s good news, Ev.”
I smile, actually feeling a spark of hope. “Yeah. That is. Now get out. I have to pee.”
He chuckles and leaves the cellphone on the counter before closing the door behind him. I take care of business and wash my hands using the freezing cold water before exiting the bathroom.
“You can take the phone back if you need to. I need to use the restroom too.”
“I’ll wait.” After he goes into the bathroom and closes the door, I walk into the bedroom, wishing there was a bed or a semblance of something similar, anything to offer a homey comfort.
He walks out, and I eye him. “You didn’t flush.”
“Yeah, I think we should wait until we find the well. See what we’re working with.”
Now I feel like a jackass for flushing, but I don’t say anything and follow him back into the living room.
He rubs the back of his neck and looks at the couch. “How about we lay our heads on opposite sides of the couch? I can’t promi
se my cock won’t react to your feet rubbing it, but that’s all I’ve got.”
“Asshole,” I grumble and lay my head on the opposite side from where he’s standing. “We should have done this earlier.”
He lies down, his long legs stretched to my chest but tucked next to my body. “It was cold.”
I look over at the fire. “Yeah, the fire is doing a pretty good job of keeping us warm.”
“Careful, Ev. That was close to a compliment.”
I roll my eyes but smile slightly before it falls, and I look at the other end of the couch to him. “I’m scared.”
His face grows serious, and he nods. “Me too. Go to sleep.” I nod my head and try to get comfortable, but the couch is small, and Cooper is big. I toss and turn until I hear him growl, “Sleep.”
“I can’t. It’s uncomfortable.”
He sighs heavily. “Do you want to lie on me again?”
I hate how easy it was to go to sleep lying on him earlier. Instead of threatening him about his erection, or making any statement at all, I wordlessly flip around and lay my body on his.
I don’t want to think about reality. I don’t want to smell the musty couch.
For tonight, I just want to relax as much as I can and breathe Cooper in.
No matter how messed up that is.
My shoulder hurts like a motherfucker, but the sling helps. I peek open my eyes and groan, seeing the sun streaming through the windows. It’s reflecting off the snow outside, and it’s way too bright for this early in the morning.
Everly is still passed out on top of me, but she rolled during the night, and now her face is planted right in my crotch.
No way she won’t wake up angry with my hard dick against her face. Deciding to escape her wrath this time, I use my good arm to push her forward and climb out from under her. She grumbles something and tucks herself back into the couch.
I fight a laugh, not wanting to wake her up yet. The fire died out during the night, but remarkably, the house kept the heat in for the most part, so it’s not unbearable.
I decide to save the firewood, and after using the bathroom, pull on my mostly-dry coat and boots as quietly as I can. Everly is still asleep, and I prefer her that way. She looks peaceful.
I pull a stocking cap on and walk outside, facing the blistering cold but thankful to see the snow has stopped. I close the door behind me and walk outside, scanning the barren land. There’s no road that I can see, but it could be buried under the snow.
I notice an old barn and make my way in that direction. Forcing the barn door open takes all my energy and a toll on my aching shoulder, but when I walk inside, I see it was worth it.
There’s hay and lots of firewood that’s already cut. I walk over to the stacks of wood and realize we’ve caught another break. Looking around, I find a lot of tools but not much else. Still, the firewood is a huge score.
I grab as much wood as I can with one arm and head back to the house, stacking it on the porch and then going back a few more times. There’s enough to last a few days on the porch now. I must have made a racket, though, because Everly jerks open the door, standing in the threshold with her arms folded and a scowl on her face. “What are you doing?” Her eyes go to the firewood and widen comically. “Where did you find that?”
I point to the barn. “There’s a shitload. They were prepared for winter, whoever they were.”
“They cut a bunch of firewood and then left their home?”
I shrug. “Or died.”
She looks solemn at that and nods, bending down and gathering some of the wood in her arms and bringing it inside. I go with it and bring in a bundle of my own, stacking it by the fireplace.
“You cold?”
She looks at me like I’m stupid, typical Ev. “It’s pretty cold in here.”
“Well, now that I know we’re stocked, I’ll build another fire.”
She smiles, and I can’t help but notice how pretty she is when she smiles and isn’t scowling at me. “Thank you.”
“Have we become friends?” I ask sarcastically as I get started on the fire, and she snorts, shaking her head and plopping down on the couch with Aria’s bag.
“Let’s not go crazy,” she says, which pulls a chuckle from me while I stoke the fire with a metal poker. I watch her in my peripheral vision as she gathers a makeshift breakfast of granola bars and crackers. “What about water?”
“I didn’t see the well, but I wasn’t out there long. Aria had water bottles though.”
She nods, pulling one out. I finish with the fire and sit next to her. She offers me a package of crackers. “So how screwed are we, Cooper?”
Her tone is serious, but not as dire as last night. I sigh and chew on a cracker, leaning my head back against the scratchy couch. “Surely your parents will come looking for you soon.” She doesn’t say anything, and I lean up, turning to look at her. She looks guilty. “What?”
“They think Aria and I stayed for classes over the break. They think we’re on campus.”
“You lied to your parents?”
She nods, chewing on her bottom lip. “Aria knew they’d never be okay with her going to a cabin with a boy they’ve never met. She begged me. She really wanted this.”
I don’t mention that Aria had wanted me to meet them, but they were always too busy. Not that I was thrilled to meet the parents after only a month of seeing her, but I would have done it for her. She was too sweet to tell her no. I nod my head slowly, knowing how excited Aria was. “Well, maybe that will be better. I mean, when they find out you aren’t on campus, they’ll come looking.”
She laughs wryly, which I don’t understand. “No. They aren’t going to check in. Trust me. As long as they think we’re being good, they won’t.”
“They’d care enough to tell her no about going to a cabin with a boy but not enough to check in?”
She nibbles on a granola bar and stares at the fire. “It’s all about image with the Scotts. That’s all they care about.”
I take another bite of cracker and swallow. “Okay.”
“What about your dad?”
“He knows we’ll be at the cabin, but he won’t be checking in.”
Her face drops as the reality of how fucked we are is being driven home. “What about the Andersons?”
I think about Liam’s phone call with his mom before we left. “He told them the truth, but he also reminded her that there’s no service and she won’t hear from him for a month.”
I see her visibly gulp and fight back tears. “So, we’re stuck here for at least a month before anyone will even come looking for us?”
I nod. “Seems like it. Yeah.”
“How are we going to make it?”
Liam was the positive one. And so was Aria. But me? I don’t think I have it in me. “I don’t know. We have fire. Water. We should be okay.”
She looks at Aria’s bag. “This isn’t enough food for a month.”
“We’ll have to ration it.” I shrug. “And when we run out, I’ll kill you and eat you.”
She rolls her eyes at my joke, but I don’t miss her small smile. “Please. I can take you.”
“We’ll see.” I finish the last cracker and stand. “We should use the daylight to look around though. Gather as many supplies as we can.”
“Supplies?” She takes a drink of water and, to my surprise, hands me the bottle.
I take a small drink and place it on the table. “Yeah. Anything we can use to survive this. The house looks bare, but people always leave things behind.”
She nods, her worried eyes darting around the empty living room. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’ll take the bedroom. You take the kitchen.”
“Is that sexist?”
I roll my eyes, too tired and sore for her attitude. “Let’s just do that. Then we’ll talk about more bad news.”
“What?” She places one hand on her hip, her face all scrunched up. “Tell me now.”
I sh
ake my head, already heading to the bedroom. “Later.”
She grumbles something, but I’m already down the hall.
That can definitely wait till later.
I’m not sure how much more bad news there can possibly be, but I try not to think about it as I rummage through the kitchen cabinets.
I don’t find any food, but there are two large pots.
Not sure how that helps without food, but whatever. I also find two packs of matches in a drawer. They should come in handy.
My head is pounding, but I’m pretty sure the bleeding has stopped. I go upstairs and look around, thankful for the light streaming through the windows because this house is creepy as hell in the dark.
I find a closet that has a box with candles and some antique-looking lamps. I carry it downstairs just as Cooper walks back inside the house. “You went back outside?”
He nods, removing his coat and gloves and leaving them by the fire to dry. “Yeah. I found the well. It’s not too deep, but it has a manual pump, which is good.”
“Okay.” I place the box on the couch. “I think I had some good finds.”
He walks over, looking through the box. I notice his lips pulling up in a satisfied grin. I hate how good-looking he is, especially with that confident smile. “You did well.” His eyes meet mine. “Kerosene lamps and candles? It’s like this house was made for having no power.”
“Yay for us.”
He grins again and begins unpacking the box. “You can be pissy now, but when it’s dark again, you’ll be grateful. They even have extra kerosene.”
“I’m sorry.” I sit next to the box on the couch and feel his eyes on me.
“Sorry for what?”
I shrug. “Being a bitch. You’ve actually been amazing.”
I can’t look him in the eyes, but I can feel him smiling. “It’s cool. I don’t think I’d know what to do if you suddenly liked me.”
I lift my eyes to him. “Again, let’s not get crazy. But I’ll try to cool it with the attitude. Even though you totally started it.”
“Excuse me?” He sits on the other side of the box, looking genuinely confused. “I started the attitude?”
