“I’m right here.” His hand found mine, and he pulled me against his chest. Strong arms wrapped around me, reminding me I wasn’t alone. He knew about my fear and knew exactly what to do to keep me from sliding into a complete panic.
“Can you find the door? Please?”
The handle rattled, but the door didn’t open. “Everything’s going to be okay. I promise. Do you believe me?”
“What’s wrong?”
His arm tightened around me. “The door’s stuck.”
“What do you mean, stuck? Can’t you knock it open?” Already, I could feel the walls pressing in on me. Even with Huck holding me close, my head started to spin. I needed air. I needed out.
“Hold on a sec.” He moved away and landed a loud kick on the door.
It held tight.
CHAPTER 7
HUCK
Trappedin a storage shed with the one woman I’d never been able to forget, a woman who was deathly afraid of dark, close spaces, was like living my worst nightmare. I kicked at the door again and again. For a rickety old shed, it was surprisingly strong.
“Sorry. Doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to break out.” Defeated and discouraged, I tightened my hold on Peyton. “It’s going to be okay. Do you have your phone on you? We can call for help.”
Her voice came out shaky and uneven, like she was trying, and failing, to keep a tight grip on her self control. “I left it in the truck.”
Damn. Mine was sitting on the edge of the stage. I’d only come into the shed to look for a box of screws since I’d run out. “Looks like we might have to wait for someone to come by in the morning. Unless you can think of a reason someone might swing by tonight?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Hey,”—I wrapped both arms around her, pulling her tight against me—“I’ve got you, Pey.”
Her fingers curled into my shirt as she tucked her body into mine. “I can’t believe this is where we’ve ended up. Is it poetic justice or a wicked twist of fate that we’re trapped in a shed at the fairgrounds together?”
“Why? Because this is where it all started?” It wasn’t lost on me that the first time I’d seen her had been at the county fair. She’d been surrounded by a group of friends. All of them had the same long, straight hair and wore matching cut-off shorts and tank tops. But it was Peyton who’d caught my eye. She stood out like a fucking diamond in a sea of glass. Hell, she even sparkled thanks to some spray-on body glitter she and her friends had doused themselves in that night.
“My dad would have killed me if he knew I’d been at the fair that night.” She let out a little laugh.
I could still picture her shaking her head and singing along to the band on the main stage. No telling where we’d be today if I hadn’t been cocky enough to walk right up to her and try one of my cheesy pickup lines. I thought I was so cool back then. If I’d channeled more of my energy onto the baseball field and less of it trying to impress girls way out of my league, I might have made it to the pros.
“Your dad would have killed you if he knew about half the things we did back then,” I teased.
“That’s the truth.”
Silence hung in the air as I remembered those long summer nights. As soon as I got off work, I’d drive out to the dead end road behind her ranch where she’d be waiting for me. I lived for those nights where I could escape the doublewide where my dad buried himself in the bottom of a bottle and feel like the world was mine for the taking. With Peyton next to me, anything was possible.
She shivered, pulling me out of the past and back into the present. The sun hadn’t fully set, but it was just a matter of time.My eyes had adjusted enough to the dim interior that I could make out a few shadows.
“Stay right here. I’m going to look around to see if there’s a flashlight or lantern buried in here somewhere.” I left her standing in the middle of the shed while I felt around the perimeter. Dust filled the air as I disturbed items that had probably been sitting there for years. Finally, my fingers closed around the handle of a lantern. I found a book of matches nearby and crossed my fingers that whatever fuel had been poured into the lantern hadn’t dried up yet.
“Oh, that’s so much better.” Peyton sighed as a soft light radiated out from the lantern.
I swept it over the shelves and headed back to her with a tarp and the lantern in hand. “Think we can survive for a night with this?”
“And a sandwich.” She stepped out of the circle of light for a second and came back wielding a sub. “I was going to eat it when I got home, but I’ve got enough to share. Have you had dinner yet?”
I spread the tarp out on the floor and set the lantern down in the middle. “Let me guess, turkey and cheddar on wheat with tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, and mayo?”
“Am I that predictable?” She sat down and split the sandwich in half. Handing me the bigger piece, she looked up and met my gaze. “Would you consider half a turkey sub as an acceptable peace offering?”
