Cade swallowed. There was something in his gaze for a minute I couldn’t quite understand, like some kind of latent heat. Then he looked back at the beacon with a stiff nod. “Thanks,” he said. “Now let’s figure out how to turn this thing on and get some help.”
“Thattaboy,” I said, pleased that Cade was back to being optimistic again. I reached out and grabbed the beacon, pressing what looked like a button to turn it on.
And nothing happened.
“Um. Is it supposed to be plugged in?” Cade asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I think you take it out with you when you’re skiing or whatever to make sure you can be found if you get stuck. It can’t possibly need a power source in that case, right?”
“Wait, look,” Cade said, pointing to a faded illustration underneath the button. “Let me get a better look at that by the fire.”
I carried the beacon over even though I could have just given it to him, holding it out toward him so he could see it better. He closed one of his hands over mine, lifting the beacon at the same time as me, supporting its weight. I felt something travel between us – like a spark of electricity. It must have been something coming off the beacon.
“Here,” he said. “It says one tap turns on seeking mode and pressing it down starts the signal.” He held my hand tighter as he pressed down the button, waiting a second before letting go. The device started to flash an orange LED.
“That’s it!” I exclaimed. “You did it. It’s on.”
Cade let go of my hand and I tried not to feel disappointed. It was natural to want the comfort of another human being at a time like this, right? “You should put it by the window or above the fireplace, so it’s closer to our air vent,” he said.
“Right! Good thinking,” I replied, rushing over to put the beacon down.
That done, I glanced around. We’d sorted out the food and drink, turned on a beacon, and set up the fire. What else was there to do?
“We should set up the beds and get everything comfortable,” Cade said. “I know it’s not exactly late right now, but we should get everything done before we run out of energy. We’re probably running on adrenaline a bit still, so we might crash soon.”
“Good idea,” I said. Cade had nothing but good ideas, it seemed. I started to push my bed back into the side of the room where it was supposed to be, picking up the pillows and blankets I had managed to throw off it across the floor when I turned it over. I was just reaching for the second pillow when Cade’s hand shot in and grabbed it before me. I turned to him in surprise, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“See,” I said, tapping him playfully across the shoulder with the pillow in my hands. “You’re a good guy.”
Cade’s shoulders sagged and I felt my gut drop again. How did I always manage to say the wrong thing? And when I was trying to give a compliment, at that?
“You don’t even know me,” he said, with his back to me, his voice dark and sad. “You can’t know that about me. You’re just trying to make me feel better.”
I bit my lip for a moment.
Then I gave in.
I stepped forward and hugged him from behind, throwing my arms around him, instinctively needing to comfort him.
Cade
“Wh-what are you doing?” I asked, bewildered and overwhelmed as I felt Aiden’s arms wrap around me from behind. It felt like the kind of hug that Brody would give me when we were hanging out at his place together or when I stopped to look at the view. Warm, comforting, familiar – and yet jarring because this wasn’t Brody at all. It was Aiden.
And jarring in another way – because I didn’t mind the fact that it was Aiden at all.
“Don’t be sad,” he said. He had such an open way of saying things – like he just blurted out whatever was on his mind without a single filter. I liked it, sort of. It was charming. But on the other hand, I got the feeling that maybe it could sometimes turn out to be harmful. “I know I don’t know you much. But it sounds like your ex was just a straight-up jerk. You shouldn’t let him bring you down anymore.”
“He was anything but straight,” I said with a dry chuckle. His arms loosened from around me and a second later I realized what I’d done. I’d subconsciously reminded him of the fact that I was gay so he would stop wanting to touch me.
So I could stop yearning for him to keep touching me.
“See? You need to do more of that,” Aiden said, and for a minute I was completely confused. “Keep laughing about it. It’s in the past now, right? Let it stop hurting. You don’t have to hold onto it and you’re definitely not to blame for someone else’s actions.”
What was he going to do, psychoanalyze me to death down here before any rescue came? Aiden was sweet but he definitely wasn’t qualified for that. Especially not given that he didn’t know me. He didn’t know if it was my fault or not.
I opened my mouth to tell him as much and make sure he was really put off from offering me any comfort ever again, but a sound from above cut me off.
“There!” I hissed, pointing up. “I heard it again!”
