Page 99 of Snowed In

I settle on, “I don’t know.”

“Right,” he says and then turns the radio up. I guess we’re done talking. Great job, Hunter.

Really fantastic.

Two and a half hours later, my truck is sliding all over the damn road. My body is tense from correcting the slide over and over, my nerves on high, trying to keep us alive. Ice has been mixing with the snow, and I know this isn’t good. “About fifteen more miles to the cabin,” I say, my voice tight.

“We can make it to my parents’ house.”

I don’t dare take my eyes off the road to look at him like he’s totally insane, but I manage to tell him—nicely, “There’s no fucking way that’s happening.” Okay, that was nicefor me.

“What do you mean?”

I look out the window at the goddamn icy blizzard. I can’t see a foot ahead of me, and at this point, I’m just hoping I’m still on theroad. Thankfully, there aren’t many cars around or we’d have for sure been in an accident. We can’t see.

“I mean we’ll be lucky to make it to the cabin. The storm is here, and it’s brutal. Have you gone blind? Do you need to go to a hospital?”

“I’m not going to stay in a cabin with you,” he growls. “I was humoring my brother when I said that, but I’m not doing it. We have to make it home.”

“You don’t have a choice,” I return because is he fucking kidding?

“You always have a choice.”

“Okay then,” I say with more grit than I mean, but I’m trying to keep us alive here. “It’s the cabin or death. You choose.”

He’s quiet for far too long, crossing his arms over his chest angrily. And seriously? He’d rather die than stay the night in the same place as me? Not really great for my ego.

“Fine. I suppose I’m too young to die.”

Well, that’s nice. Could this guy hate me any more?

ChapterThree

Simon

This is so not happening. I’m not about to spend the night alone with Hunter. This cannot be happening. I climb out of the truck and nearly slip and fall because the ground is covered in snow and ice, but thankfully, I recover.

“Careful,” Hunter states the obvious after I already almost fell, but I’m trying not to be too much of a dick.

“Never thought of that.” Okay, so not being a dick isn’t really working, but he started it.

Kind of.

He really is loud and obnoxious. Comes into rooms shouting for absolutely no reason at all. Usually pumped about some sports ball thing I never pay attention to. He takes it in stride though, grabbing our bags from the truck. I try to take mine from him, but he waves me off and nods toward the cabin.

Cabin—most people think of them as small, wooden things out in the forest. This? Is not that. I mean, it appears to be made out of a dark wood of some type, but the thing is massive. It’s two stories with a large deck which seems to wrap all the way around.

I quirk an eyebrow at him, and he actually looks a little sheepishas he shrugs. “Come on. The snow’s falling way too hard now, and I’m freezing my balls off.”

Lovely.

I follow him up the snowy path covered by at least a foot of snow. It gets into my shoes, and my feet are soaked and freezing by the time we make it to the front door.

He unlocks it and pushes what looks to be a heavy door open, allowing both of us to get inside before he closes and locks it again. He flicks on the light switch, and if I thought the outside was extravagant, I don’t really know how to describe the inside.

It’s beautifully decorated and immaculate with expensive furniture and wood floors throughout. At least what I can see. “Wow.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Hunter says as he places the bags down by the door and walks further into the living room. He actually seems a little ashamed by the place, but that can’t be right.

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