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“I swear I’ll take my phone so you can GPS track me.”
“You better.” She leveled a stern finger at me. “Rae, I mean it. Don’t rely entirely on your gut tomorrow. Be smart. Think like me, and get the hell out of there if something isn’t right.”
I nodded once. “I will. I promise.”
I couldn’t technically make that promise, but I made it anyway. It was what Riss needed to hear, and it was what I needed to keep in mind when I left with Fox in the morning.
***
I LOST TRACK OF THE days. Had I been here a week? A month? An eternity?
This place would haunt my dreams for ages to come, assuming I ever escaped with my life and my sister.
Lying in bed, I listened to the birds chirping gayly outside. Sunlight slipped through the blinds and warmed my feet under the quilts. I stared up at the ceiling, the taxidermy brown bear in my periphery.
The birds went quiet all at once.
I sat up with a jolt, my heart thundering too fast for first thing in the morning, but five seconds later, there were footsteps sounding on the back steps.
When the screen door creaked, I flung the covers back and raced barefoot downstairs just as Fox walked into the kitchen with breakfast casserole in one hand and a bowl of fresh fruit in the other.
He turned around, eyes wide when he noticed me.
I didn’t have to reach up to feel the volume of my hair this morning. I could only imagine how many different directions it pointed in. Tugging the sleeves of my Ecology Club shirt over my fingertips, I did my best not to squirm self-consciously under the scrutiny of his stare.
Fox looked amazing though.
Unfairly, it was first thing in the morning, and his hair was tussled in a way that made me want to dig my fingers into it. His gray hoodie was large and inviting, like I could burrow up under it, and his black sweatpants tapered all the way down his muscular legs that left little to the imagination.
After my once over, I met his eyes again, finding his lips slightly parted and a knowing look on his face.
“Shut up.”
His lips turned down, poorly suppressing a smirk as he continued his path to the counter to set all the food down. “Good morning to you, too. Ecology Club... Nice.”
I shoved his arm, almost letting out a whine when I realized how solid it was with muscle.
He just had to be perfect.
Hopefully it made up for his crappy lot in life. Hopefully he had lots of pretty privilege to balance out the insanity he dealt with at home. I didn’t particularly want to think about him getting all the girls he wanted, but I hoped he had someone at some point, so he wasn’t alone all the time.
“Eat up,” he ordered. “Where are your friends?”
I shrugged, but the sound of water running upstairs suggested they were just getting up, too. After the terror of the previous night, it wouldn’t surprise me if they all slept in a little later once I left with Fox.
“Where are we going?” I asked after a bite straight out of the pan of egg and cheese casserole.
To his credit, Fox didn’t chastise me. He didn’t look even a little bit judgmental about my poor breakfast manners. “You ever been snowboarding before?”
I shook my head, unsure what that had to do with anything. “No, but I went skiing with Everly a few times when I could afford it.”
“Alright. I can work with that.” He strode past me, moving deeper into the cabin.
“Work with what exactly?” I asked. Shoving another forkful into my mouth, I turned and tore after him, following him to a locked closet in a back hallway where coats and winter gear were stored.
He wrenched open the door I had thought was locked, and it popped open with a groan of old hinges. More winter gear spilled out, along with dust and cobwebs.
Fox knelt to sift through the mess, picking out two ski poles, then rooting around until he found matching skis of a suitable length. Then he stood, holding out the bundle to me. “We’ll need these where we’re going.”
