But there are a lot of unknowns in this situation.There’s no room for me to be cocky.
It’s going to be tough, even if we’re only out here for one night.I hope she's strong enough to deal with everything that's about to come our way.
“How bad is it, Evander?Just tell me.I can take it.”She holds the mug in both hands, her face calm and open.I appreciate that she’s so level-headed.
Well, of course she is.She’s a nurse.My brothers told me all about how she took charge when I came into the ER, barking orders, ripping my pants up to the crotch, telling everyone where to go and how fast to get there.
Finn said she was as cuddly as one of our BUD/s Hell Week instructors.
I see the pink returning to her cheeks.Her lips are still pale but no longer a sickly shade of blue-gray.The shaking is minimal.
Under those blankets, she’s still wearing my sweater.
And nothing else.
I kind of like the idea of that.
“It’s going to be bitterly cold tonight, Phoebe.We’ll have to sleep together, wrapped around one another, basically.Fully clothed, but still, I realize that might be uncomfortable for you.We don’t have a choice.”
She lowers her eyelashes and takes a delicate sip.
“This is a beast of a storm and we’re in danger out here.We’ll survive, but I need you to promise me something.”
She looks up, quite serious.
“Promise me that if I tell you to do something, you do it.No questions.No second guessing.If I say move, you move.If I tell you to trust me, you need to trust me.Because your life depends on it.We’re a team.We’re in this together and we have to rely on one another.But there’s a simple chain of command here, Phoebe.I’m in charge.That isn’t up for debate.Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Her eyes widen.She’s a bit taken aback by my blunt instructions.I know I’m not a subtle man, even in the best of circumstances, which these are not.So I won’t be apologizing for telling her how it is and how it’s going to be from here on out.
“I understand.”
“Good.”
“Thank you for saving me, Evander.”Her voice is no more than a whisper, but she holds my gaze in hers, steady and honest.“And I trust you completely.I trust you with my life.”
Something fierce and wild rises up in me.All I want to do is grab her, crush her to my chest, and kiss her until she’s breathless.Of course, that doesn’t happen.
It never can.Never will.
“Drink up,” I say.
CHAPTER 20
Phoebe
I understand that I can’t allow myself to freak out.But I’m wondering which part I shouldn’t freak out about first?
The part about how Evander spent over two hours pressing my naked body to his naked body so that I didn’t die?Because that goes way beyond the ‘seeing me naked’thing I was so worried about just moments ago.
I can barely resist hiding my embarrassed face in his sweater.
Or the part about how much snow is already out there.How crazy the winds are.And how the temperature is still plummeting.
It’s terrifying.
How about the part about how the snow accumulation could cause the roof to collapse?How Evander must keep climbing up there to rake away whatever the wind can’t blow.Which is all completely safe, I’m sure!
“I know it’s a lot to take in.But I figured you should know what we’re facing.”
