Page 63 of Torched

“Kane? Can you hear me?” I walk toward the glass that looks out over the mountains.

“Liam!” The line sounds crackling, cutting off half of Kane’s syllables. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the mountains. I sent you the location.”

“-iam, a–y–there?”

“Kane? Can you hear me?”

“-eed to g- there!” There is an urgency in his voice, but I can’t figure out what he’s telling me.

“Kane, you’re breaking up. Can you hear me?”

“-isten to me! You need–”

“I need to do what?” I repeat, a little agitated. I listen for any reply, but instead, the disconnected tone slips into my ear, and I look at the screen.

No reception.Dammit.

“Everything okay?” Cristina bellows from the kitchen, giving me a questioning look as she rounds the counter to come my way.

“I couldn’t hear him. No reception.”

“We’re in the mountains, Liam,” she chortles. “Reception is always shit around here.” She slips her arms around my waist. “I’m sure Kane just wanted to know if you arrived safely. Or bitch about me, who knows?”

“Probably both.” I laugh with my palms on her neck, then press a soft kiss to her lips. “So what do you wanna do for dinner? Are there any good restaurants around?”

“A few, but they are at least thirty minutes away. I figured we could stay in tonight. Whip something up ourselves?”

I jerk my head back, a little stunned by her choice of words.

“Whip something up?” Cristina isn’t the type of girl that cooks. Nor does she “whip something up.”

“If you don’t mind?” she asks, looking coy. “After this long of a trip, I don’t really feel like leaving again. The help made sure the kitchen is stocked. I’m sure we can find something to eat.”

I narrow my eyes at her, a little amused, but also confused. We’ve been dating for months and she never has made as much as a sandwich. I’m surprised she even knows there could be food in the refrigerator because all she ever has at her place is bottles of white wine. I don’t mind cooking us dinner, but it doesn’t really seem in line with her character.

“Who are you and what did you do to my girlfriend?”

She slaps my chest. “Hush, we can go out, if you’d rather?”

“No, no, I’ll see what I can make from what we have.” I don’t feel like going out either, because unlike her, I didn’t sleep on the trip over here and my body is getting more beat by the minute. “I’m going to try calling Kane back, and then I’ll see what I can ‘whip’ up, okay?” I emphasize the word to tease her, and she smirks.

“Oh, good. You do understand that it means you’re cooking.”

I laugh, full-hearted, because I already saw that one coming from miles away. “I understand that if we want to eat more than a glass of wine, there is no other option.”

“Glad we agree.”

After a plate of spaghetti, we’re watching a movie on the couch, but to be honest, I’m not paying any attention. I can’t get a hold of Kane, and the more time passes, the more the anxious feeling in my stomach grows. We have a rule. We always answer each other’s phone calls, never allowing anything else to become more important than us staying in communication at all times. In the world we operate in, it’s not an unnecessary luxury to always know where the other is and the fact that I can’t reach him is starting to fuck with my head.

I have one bar of reception, but every time I call his phone, it goes straight to voicemail, and after this afternoon, I haven’t heard from him. I tried getting ahold of Jeremy next, but the same thing. It’s like both their phones are dead, which is something they would never allow to happen.

“Stop fiddling with your phone.” Cristina scowls.

“I’m trying to reach Kane,” I explain, getting snappy with her. I get that it’s not fun for her to watch a movie with someone who’s distracted the entire time, but I have a gut feeling something is wrong with my brother, and it’s not going to go away until I talk to him.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” She waves my worry away.

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