Very solid.
All muscle and strength and heat.
He’s really warm and he works out, no doubt about that.
“It’s all right.” His voice is steady as he closes an arm around me. “I’ve got you. We’re okay.”
“What’s going on?” I whisper nervously, my fingers digging into his shirt before I can stop them.
“I don’t know yet.” He shifts a little but no emergency lights have come on, and it’s literally pitch black in here.
Suddenly there’s a flicker and some weird yellow lights come on—and promptly go out again.
“Are we stuck?” I ask as I realize I have a death grip on his T-shirt and can’t seem to let go.
“I’m not sure,” he says gently. “But I don’t think we’re moving. If you’re okay on your own for a second, I can try to get to the emergency button.”
“Oh. Right.” I manage to release his shirt and press my back against the wall since I still can’t see anything.
He pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight feature, illuminating the panel with all the buttons. One of them clearly says “alarm” and he pushes it.
Nothing happens.
“Isn’t it supposed to make noise?” I ask.
“I don’t know—I’ve never pushed one before.”
There’s a beat of silence so he presses it a few more times.
“This day just keeps getting better,” I mutter.
“Tell me about it.” He uses his phone flashlight to check out the elevator and there’s nothing else. “No phone in here, and the ceiling is solid, so I don’t think there’s a way to climb out.”
“Not that I could climb up there,” I say dryly.
He chuckles. “I could lift you if there was a way, but it looks like we’re stuck here.”
I sigh.
From my perspective, assuming we don’t crash to our deaths, sitting here in this quiet elevator with a cute guy is better than spending the afternoon doing what I usually do—reading or studying. I enjoy reading, and I’m passionate about my library studies, but this is the closest I’ve come to having an adventure since I graduated from NYU.
“What do we do now?” I ask finally.
“Let’s see if I have cell service.”
I almost ask him not to but that would be ridiculous, so I wait as he stares at the screen. “Nothing. What about you?”
I dig my own phone out and shake my head.
No signal.
“Nothing,” I say, waffling between disappointment and relief.
How ridiculous am I being? I’m behaving like I’ve never seen a cute guy before.
It’s just that it’s been a while. I don’t get out much, especially now that we moved to a city where I don’t know a soul outside my own house.
“Well, I guess we just wait.” He looks around. “The floor is probably filthy but I’m not sure we’ll want to stand the whole time either.”
