Page 115 of Need You Now

Tires squeal. Rock and wet snow crank out as Seth pushes the ATV, throttling clutch, keeping his elbows loose. Adrenaline has him in a viselike grip. He doesn’t look over to see where Beau is, because fuck Beau Dallas. And fuck himself for not telling Luke the truth.

Tonight. He tells his brother tonight.

Seth punches the gas.

Faster.

Up ahead, he can see the stop sign. A minute out, thirty seconds, the finish line.

So close.

It’s a straight shot.

He can’t lose.

He doesn’t.

Seth whips over the finish line and lets out a rip of a howl. Only out of nowhere, Beau crosses the center line, sideswiping his rig.

The ATV jerks, jarring Seth.

And then it flips, his brain whiplashing in his skull, warm blood filling his mouth, his world spinning into blackness.

Lacey watches in horror as Seth’s ATV sways to the side and then flips. For an impossible second, it does a slow roll of a hurtle through the air before landing hard upside down on the frozen earth.

A cry of dismay goes up in the group.

Sal gasps. “Oh my God.”

“Seth!” Luke screams, strangling over his brother’s name. He’s up and running, charging for the wreck, staggering and falling in his haste to make it over the frozen incline of the road.

Griff and Jace on his heels, rush to help. Sal, too.

Only Lacey stands frozen on the porch, terrified, covering her mouth with her hand, her brain struggling to process the scene. She can’t breathe, her vision tunneling. Her heart threatens to bash itself out of her chest.

Not Seth. Please, no. Not him.

Luke hits the side of his shoulder against the ATV, trying to roll it off his brother.

“Get it off! Get it off him! Now!” The sharp snap, the torment in Luke’s voice, shakes Lacey out of her daze. Shakes her awake.

This time, she’s the one running, leaping off the porch up the ice-covered grass to where the men grunt, straining to move the ATV.

Lacey joins the half-circle of Emmy Lou and Alabama. She feels faint as she watches. All the blood rushing from her face, her body drifting somewhere else, far away.

Silence. Deathly silence.

Only the faint sound of a dying engine as Beau exits his ATV.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Luke’s voice is a chant, and all Lacey can do is stare. He can’t catch his breath. He’s shaking. Full-body tremors that have Lacey’s kegs threatening to give out. Because if Luke, the leader, their steadfast calm, their easygoing presence, is scared, then they’re all scared.

Finally, they roll the ATV off Seth. He lies still and immobile on the ground.

Lacey lets out an anguished cry.

Luke, his face white with fear, collapses back and crashes to his knees beside his brother.

Sal’s there, beside him, reaching, seeing what he’s about to do. “Luke, you can’t ... you need to—”

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