Page 48 of Black Ties and White Lies

“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I be thankful for your assistance in getting us stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere?” I wave my phone between us. “With no fucking service.”

Her lips form a littleOas my words register with her. She looks down at her phone to confirm my statement for herself.

We have no service.

I reach up, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger as my eyes squeeze shut. I take a calming breath, trying to think about what our options are.

Essentially, we’re fucked. We have no service. It’s getting dark outside. Snow falls down in thick, wet clusters that makes it hard to see anything. Add in the wind and the bitter cold and it’s a fucking nightmare outside.

Plus, there’s the fun fact that the only sign of civilization is the small hint of light in the distance.

“We could maybe wait for someone to drive by?” Margo offers.

I keep my eyes shut, biting my tongue before I bite out a response that I may regret.

With a deep breath, I attempt to see if pressing on the gas pedal does anything. Maybe if I can press it hard enough, we can get unstuck. My efforts prove futile. We don’t move an inch.

“Stay in the heat,” I command. I angrily pull at the door handle, shoving the door open. I get hit in the face immediately with the blistering cold. Even pulling the collar of my coat to try and shield my face doesn’t do enough to fight the bitterness of the wind.

The headlights of the SUV blink, illuminating the night. Bending down in front of the vehicle, I look at both front wheels.

“Fuck,” I mutter, noting both wheels a fourth of way dug into mud. I don’t think there’s any way to get out without a tow.

Perfect.

I stomp back to the car, relishing in the warmth once I take a seat in the driver’s seat and pull the door shut.

“How sure are you that there’s a town near?”

She picks at her cuticles, something I’ve noticed she does when she’s nervous. If I wasn’t so pissed at myself for putting us in the situation, I’d reach over and try to calm her nerves. I don’t know what to do in this situation, so I’m going to stay on my side of the SUV and stew in my anger. “I mean, it was an exit where Ithinkit said something about a town called Sutten Mountain or something like that. Surely there’s businesses? I think…”

“Youthink?”

“Yes Beck, I think. It made it seem like there is, but I don’t want to say I’m totally confident in that.”

With an angry sigh, I figure out what to do. I turn to face her. “You stay in the car. Keep it locked and keep it on. I’ll be back.”

Her mouth flies open, fear in her eyes. “You’re going out inthat?”Her eyes look out the front windshield, where the visibility has declined even more—something I didn’t know was possible.

“I don’t have much choice. I need to find us help.”

She chews on her lip for a few seconds. “I’ll go with you. Maybe we can find somewhere to stay for the night.”

“You’re not going out in these conditions.” My tone is harsh, but I don’t care to soften it. I might lose my god damn mind if I have to watch her trudge through the bitter cold and snow because I was too fucking jealous to stay at the nice, warm place we were offered earlier.

“Staying in the car waiting for a serial killer isn’t that great of an option either,” she spits out. Her arms cross over her chest defensively. The stare she pins on me is probably supposed to scare me. It doesn’t.

“Something tells me even serial killers aren’t out in weather like this.”

Her eyebrows lift to her hairline as she leans slightly closer to me. “Oh, so now you’re admitting how terrible the conditions are?”

My eyes roll. “The conditions are shitty out there. You aren’t going out in it.”

She defiantly stares back at me, zipping her thin coat all the way up to her chin. “If you’re going out there, so am I.”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“You’re not my boss.”

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