Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Cam

A shock of cold wakes me up.

"Jesus Christ," a voice mutters. "Why the fuck do you sleep so deeply?"

I frown, eyes slitting open, wiping a hand over my face, the words belatedly processing. I don't sleep deeply, not normally anyway. But two bottles of whisky and a shit-ton of beer over only a few nights and I'm not exactly running on all cylinders. "I'm up," I mutter, realizing my hand is wet again, that Athena has dumped water on me a second time. "Can you dispense with soaking me and the bed every time it's time to wake up?"

"I would," she grinds out, "if you'd actually wake up the first half-dozen times I've tried to rouse you."

I frown, dragging the edge of the sheet over my face and chest and not missing that she watches the movement.

Watches me as though she can't look away.

My heart thuds hard against my rib cage, hope blooming, but it's quickly distinguished because that can't be right—it's the hangover and sleepiness talking.

Oh, and the fact that I've been in love with her for a decade and wanted nothing more than to have her hot gaze dragging over my naked body.

Small details.

And, speaking of small details, the only thing better would be her hands dragging over my naked body…or her tongue.

My dick twitches.

"Cam!"

"I'm up," I rasp.

Too many parts of me are up .

"Yeah," she snaps, turning away, my sweats and tee positively dwarfing her frame. "I see that now. But it took ten minutes of me shouting at you plus the glass of water to get your ass to stir."

Right.

Well…that sounds annoying. So annoying that I don't have to worry about scarring her with my penis any longer.

I push out of bed, start pulling off the wet blankets. "So," I mutter, "what's lit the fire under your ass at"—I flick my gaze to the clock on my bedside table—"five in the morning?"

"It's still raining," she says, turning for the hall and I see that her shirt is dotted with drops, that I can hear the rain hitting the roof.

Okaaay…

"The weather report said that it'd be a big one," I remind her.

She stills for a moment, her shoulders stiff. "Well, it's a fucking big one , that's for sure," she says dryly.

My eyes shoot up.

Was that?

Had she?

I look down at my dick in confusion, see that it's behaving, then shake it off and follow her to the front door, reaching her side just as she wrenches it open.

Immediately, I'm assaulted by wind, and a shock of cold slashes me across my bare torso, but before I can tell her to close it, she's stepping out into the elements and disappearing from sight.

"Shit." I grab my coat from the hook by the door, shove my feet into my boots, and hurry after her.

I don't have to go far. She's standing by my car, staring out at?—

" Fuuuck ," I groan.

Staring out at the river, which is rushing by. Staring out at a tree that's been taken down by the wind or the water, a tree that's currently lying across my bridge.

No lying where my bridge used to reside.

It's mostly dark, so I can't see everything, just the skeleton of the foundation, broken pieces of concrete and twisted metal and…

An unpassable gorge between us and the route home.

"Thanks, Dan," I say, and hang up.

Then groan and drop my phone on the counter.

"What is it?" Ats asks, the energy inside her coiled like a snake ready to strike. "Is he coming by?"

I rub at a throb in my temple. "No," I say. "They'll need bigger equipment than he can get his hands on right now, especially with the storm still hitting hard." She makes a sound and I lift my head, meet her gaze. "There's flooding all up and down the river. He did promise to come as soon as he's able, but that might be a few—" I hesitate because she's not going to like this.

Not going to like it at all.

"Hours?" she asks hopefully.

"Days," I say quietly.

She's still for a long moment then pushes up out of her chair, cursing softly.

"I'm sorry," I tell her. "If I thought for a moment the bridge would go out, I would have gotten us the hell out of here yesterday."

She plunks her hands on her hips and glances up at the ceiling, quiet for a long moment.

"Ats."

She drops her head back down. "It's not your fault."

"I mean, I'm the one who went rogue and made you come out here." I move close to her, rounding to her front and crouching slightly to meet her eyes. "I know you don't want to be stuck here. I'm sorry, cupcake."

Something flares in her stare and I hold my breath.

But she just sighs again. "Tell me you at least have good junk food."

"You saw the contents of my kitchen," I say gently, tilting my head toward the fridge, the cabinets. "What do you think?"

"I think…" An exhale, her nose wrinkling. "I think I'm going to have to go out into the rain and get my backup Car Snacks."

"If I knew you were holding out on your mom's cinnamon rolls, I never would have braved the rain."

My mouth twitches as I pull the plate out of the microwave, thankful that I spent a shit-ton of money last summer redoing the electrical to this property. I'd about pissed myself at the cost of burying the power lines and buying the generator, but considering I can still do things like use the microwave and not worry about the food spoiling, I know the work has already paid for itself.

Plus, it's the first time I've seen a smile on Athena's face since she woke me up this morning.

It certainly wasn't there when she was annoyed about it taking forever to rouse me, definitely not when she showed me the bridge, nor when we brought her belongings inside, including those backup Car Snacks.

I put the plate down in front of her. "I'll even offer you some coffee." I pull out the Keurig from a high shelf, and the variety pack of pods. "Pick your poison," I tease as I plug it in. I pull out a mug, take the pod she selects, and start brewing her some caffeine, hoping to keep that smile in place.

And considering the pleasure on her face as she downs my mom's cinnamon roll, I think that's in reach.

I sit down with my own plate and take advantage of studying her while she's distracted.

Curls and cheekbones. Kissable lips and long, thick lashes.

Beautiful. Mysterious. Closed-off.

Except…she hasn't been that, not since she's been here.

Maybe not since that hug on my porch.

I've seen fury and sass. Strength and focus. And…vulnerability, a glimpse behind those icy shields.

"What?" she says, and I realize I've been staring again. Staring so long that I've been caught red-handed.

"Nothing." I quickly cut off a bite and shove it into my mouth.

"Cam," she says on a sigh. "We're stuck here, and I know I've been a grumpy bitch, but I promise to not throw anymore liquids on you."

My lips twitch.

"I wouldn't waste my coffee that way."

I snort.

"So you don't have to keep staring at me like I'm a bug."

"That's not what I'm doing." Well not the bug part, anyway. The staring I'm definitely doing.

"No?" she asks. "Then what are you doing?"