I sit up straighter, my anxiety spiking.
“Where’s Tytus?” Noah looks from me to Mercer, then scans the living room, the frown lines in his forehead so deep I can see them from here.
“Here,” a gravelly voice calls from down the hall. A heartbeat later, Ty appears, yawning and scratching the back of his neck. His hair’s a rumpled mess, and he’s changed his shirt. “What’s going on?”
Noah plants his hands on his hips and blows out a long breath. “I just got off the phone with a friend who works for city services. He says the plows won’t make it out this way again tonight.”
He shifts from foot to foot and blows into his cold hands, far too agitated to be this concerned about snow on the roads. With four-wheel drive, he can get us out of here if necessary.
“But that’s not the only issue. There’s been a water main break on campus. Near the Esplanade. They’ve shut off two main lines, but the water’s still rising. Several roads near campus are closed. Tomorrow’s classes are canceled, and all non-essential services and buildings are shutdown.”
Mercer hums. “That’s intense.”
“It is. The snow’s still falling out there, too. I don’t want to be brash, but if you two want to get back to campus, we need to go right now.”
I look at Tytus, only to find his attention already set on me.
Silently, I consider the situation. There’s no class tomorrow, so there’s no reason I need to be on campus. Ty can’t practice, and I imagine the arena will be shut down anyway. If it was up to me, we’d stay put for another night rather than make Noah navigate icy roads.
But this isn’t just about me.
Pressing my lips together, I rise to my feet and adjust my flannel.
Mercer smooths a hand up my calf and affectionately squeezes.
I give him a small smile, then trek quietly across the living room. When I’m close enough to reach out, I brush a few strands of hair from Tytus’s forehead. “Do you need meds?”
He leans into my touch, so I cup his face and bring my other hand to his neck, then wrap both arms around him. He hugs me back, his breath warm on my skin.
When we pull apart, his eyes flit from my face over to Noah. “I’ve been okay alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen. If Noah doesn’t mind keeping me dosed up, I don’t need anything else.”
“Of course I don’t mind,” Noah says. “I’ve got ice packs at the ready, too, if that’ll help.”
Mercer sidles up behind me, brushing his hand along my low back.
The four of us stand in silence, sizing each other up, hovering on the cusp of possibility.
Wrapping my arms around my torso, I rock back on my heels. Only then do I realize they’re all looking at me.
Right.
Okay.
With a shaky breath, I focus on Ty again.
Without getting my hopes too high, I tell him, “I want to stay.”
He nods once, his expression stoic. Then he shifts his focus to Mercer for a few seconds, then to Noah. With a shrug that’s far too nonchalant with the way tension radiates from him, he announces, “We’re staying.”
Chapter forty
Sawyer
We find ourselves in the same seats we occupied at breakfast, but that’s where the parallels to this morning end.
The evening has been lovely.
Mercer cooked, preparing a decadent alfredo complete with homemade pasta noodles. We’ve shared two bottles of wine, though Tytus only took a few sips before he offered me the rest of his glass.
