Page 34 of Flirting With Fire
Shit! That wasn’t good. Dirt rained down on me.
“Dex, get down!” I yelled. “Cover your head.”
I saw the shadow drop and then the world caved in above me.
Chapter Ten
Dex
Everything went black as Meyer yelled, but I followed his orders, covering my head as I crouched down and curled into a ball. Fortunately, I wasn’t buried. But the blackness could only mean one thing: the entrance was blocked. As soon as the racket ceased, and it seemed as if everything had settled, I took a chance and lifted my head, spitting out mouthfuls of dust.
“Meyer?” My heart climbed into my throat. I’d never forgive myself if my impulsive behavior caused him to be hurt. “Are you okay?”
Coughing sounded a few feet from me right before a flashlight turned on. “I think so.” He moved closer, shining the light over me as he looked me over. “Close your eyes. I want to check your head.” I closed my eyes again as he brushed my hair aside, which sent more dust everywhere. “Can you stand?”
I nodded, rising to my feet. He inspected me with the flashlight, patting me here and there. I couldn’t decide if my knees were wobbly from fear or from Meyer letting his hands roam my body.
“I’m fine, I promise.” That didn’t mean I still wasn’t kicking myself. “As long as we’re both okay, we should try to find Wildie. Make sure he isn’t hurt down here.”
“Yeah, of course.” Meyer coughed into his fist. He directed his flashlight over our surroundings. “Hmm. I don’t think we’re going to be searching for him anytime soon. Let me find my radio. I dropped it when I fell.”
Meyer was right. We were completely trapped. I ran my fingers through my hair, shaking out more dust and grime. Shit. Now what? I shook as I pushed down the panic rising through me. Who knew what would happen to Wildie or us?
Meyer made a small grimace as he crouched to retrieve his radio. My stomach clenched. The thought of Meyer being hurt did something to me. I didn’t have much experience in the romance department, but this hit different. As if he was mine to take care of, and I’d failed somehow.
“Dammit.” Meyer held what was left of the radio in his hand before tossing it back on the ground. “Well, I guess it’s better the rock smashed the radio instead of my head.”
I gritted my teeth. The visual his words gave me wasn’t helping.
“Won’t the guys from the station be waiting for an update and wonder where you are?”
Meyer had his phone out and was texting. “Yup. But all I said was we’d be checking out the situation. I’m assuming those kids will find someone in charge and let them know. I’ll text and hope we catch a signal at some point, and it goes through.” He pressed his lips together. “So far, nothing.” Meyer glanced up. “What about your phone? Can you get a signal?”
I fished my phone out of my jeans before checking different spots in the small area to see if I had any reception. “Nope. Nothing.”
He dipped his chin. “We sit tight then. I’m sure once the kids make it to the feed store and get help, help will be here in no time.”
The panic that had been building eased at his words. “That’s true. I’m worried about Wildie, though.”
“I know,” Meyer nodded grimly. “Unfortunately, we’re stuck here for now.”
“We could start digging our way out. We’re both young, strapping bucks. I bet if we put our backs into it, we can move some of these rocks out of the way.”
Meyer frowned. “No, we wait.”
“Okay, bossy pants. But why? You don’t think we can handle it?”
He shone his light on the area where the boulders blocking our escape had collected. “Something made those suckers come down. If we try to move them on our own, we could cause everything to crash in on us. We should prepare ourselves in case they have to bring in a small space rescue team.
My jaw went slack. “Seriously?”
He regarded me with a grim expression. “We might also want to consider keeping our activity to a minimum.”
“Umm…” I shoved my hands in my pockets so he wouldn’t see them tremble. “And why is that?”
“I’m sure everything will be fine, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. Just in case.” He gestured with one hand, indicating the small space that couldn’t be larger than ten by ten. “We have no way of knowing how airtight this bubble is.”
Being trapped in a cave hadn’t been on my bingo card for the afternoon. But at least I was with a first responder and, even better, with Meyer.
