I feel myself smiling and try to hide it when my dad waggles his brows at me, but fuck it. I’m allowed to show that I’m happy too.
‘Let me see when he’s free next. You can come over for dinner.’
‘Does he cook?’
I wrinkle my nose. ‘A little. Not the best. I’ll help.’
He laughs again as I grab my phone out of my pocket and swipe open the screen. I hadn’t realized I’d turned off the vibration and put it on do not disturb, which was apparently a mistake.
And not just a little mistake. A fucking massive mistake. There are thirteen missed FaceTime calls between Robbie and Thom, and several hysterical messages.
I get through exactly two before I stand up, sending the chair flying behind me. My dad grabs my arm before I can bolt.
‘What’s wrong?’ he demands.
My eyes are wild and wide, and my heart is hammering in my chest so hard I can feel the echoing beat in my jaw. My fingers tremble as I lift them to sign.
‘There’s been a fire at the gym. I need to go. I think Dex is hurt.’
My dad offers to drive me, but I can’t let him. I need to do it. I have to have something to focus on, or I’m going to lose my mind. Luckily, our town is small, so I take less than seven minutes to get from the café to PUMPT, but I don’t even make it to the entrance of the street before I’m stopped by fire trucks.
There’s black billowing smoke in the distance, and the air is foggy from the wind, taking clouds of it across the neighborhood.
Pulling off to the side, I wrench open my door and start running. I don’t see flames, but everything smells like hot metal and rubber and other burning things. I feel like screaming, and hell, maybe I am.
I can’t really tell.
All I know is that I have to get through the gathering crowd in the parking lot to see where Dex is.
This cannot be happening.
I can’t lose him. Not now. Not before he knows how I feel. Not before he knows how much he changed my life.
Not at all.
I see one of the PUMPT employees in the distance, so Imake a loud shout. It must be annoying enough because he turns, and his eyes go wide when he sees me.
‘Dex?’ I sign, fingers shaking and frantic. ‘Where?’ He frowns, and I want to punch something because he can’t understand. I clear my throat. “Where’s Dex?” I have no idea how clear I sound, nor do I care. I don’t have time to remember fucking tongue placement and how much air to push out of my lungs.
The guy shakes his head, but before I can freak the fuck out, he points across a row of cars toward one of three ambulances, and that’s when I see him.
He’s far off, but from where I’m standing, he looks okay. Mostly. There’s a dark smudge on his cheek, and he’s holding on to an oxygen mask. He’s in his gym clothes—the Lycra intact, but he’s barefoot for some fucking reason.
I abandon all sense and begin running toward him. I feel someone grab at me, but when it comes to Dex, I’m too fast. I’m too desperate. I expertly dodge them and barrel toward my boyfriend.
He sees me just as I pass the first row of cars separating us, and he’s out of the ambulance and on his feet as I slam into him. His arms come around me tightly, the fingers of one hand digging into my hair, pulling softly, keeping me against him like he needs me to breathe.
Which, shit! He probably needs the oxygen he dropped to breathe.
I shove him away and see the outrage on his face for a brief flash before bending down to grab the mask. I shove it at him, and he rolls his eyes as he leans back against the ambulance and stares at me.
‘You’re alive,’ I finally sign. My hands are shaking so hard they’re difficult to understand.
‘I’m okay.’
‘Areyou?’ I demand.
He takes a deep breath from the mask, then drops it beside him. When I lunge for it again, he catches me and shakes his head. ‘I’m okay. I don’t need it. Barely inhaled any smoke.’
