Dire

“No service.” I called down.

“Wonderful.”

“There’s absolutely no one up here.”

“What did you expect? Traffic?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Want to start walking? We’ll have to hit a town eventually.”

The snow was lighter on the road, but nothing about the walk would be easy. “But it’s going to be hours. It’s freezing out. We have no shelter and look at those clouds.” I pointed up even though I knew he probably wasn’t even looking.

“It’s going to start snowing heavier again.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m going to mess with the engine.”

“What should I do?”

“For now, jump back down. I want to be able to see you.”

“Worried I’m going to run off?”

“Do I need to bring up the wolves again?”

Just the mention of the wolves had me ready to leap. “I’m jumping!”

“Hold on.”

I waited until I saw him directly beneath me before jumping down. He easily caught me and set me on the ground.

“Your face is all red.” He touched my nose with his gloved hand.

“It is cold out.”

“You can wait in the truck if you want. At least you’ll be out of the wind.”

“That’s ok. I’ll wait with you.”

I pride myself on having a substantial knowledge base, but I knew nothing about cars. I wasn’t going to be much help to Gage, but I stood by and watched.

“Can you get in the driver’s side and try to start it?”

“Sure.” I yanked open the door and got in. I tried to start the engine when he told me to. Nothing.

I opened the door and got out. “What do we do?”

“We have two options. One we stay here another night, two we start walking.”

“You’re always supposed to stay with the car. That’s one of the first survival lessons.” I couldn’t remember where I’d seen or read it, but I was positive I had.

“There’s no way anyone is going to be driving through here for days.” He crossed his arms. “Do you have anything else to eat? I doubt that candy is going to last us another twenty-four hours.”

“No.” He had a point. “Maybe we should leave the car then.”

“I don’t like the idea, but being cold is one thing, being cold and starving is another.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll get service a little ways down the road.”

“Maybe. Wait.”

“What?”

“I think I have something.” I walked back to the tailgate and pulled it open. I opened my suitcase and pulled out the wrapped present I’d picked up for my father.

“Taffy?” Gage peered in to the box filled with pastel colored candies.

“Yeah. From Ackenson’s. My dad loved the place when he was in college.”

He wrinkled up his nose. “I hate those.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing, right?”

“Yes. I can’t believe you forgot you had these.”

“Me either. I had no other ideas for a gift.”

“Which kind do you think is best?”

“I tend to go for anything in the red family. I just like those flavors better.”

He reached for a blue one.

“I just told you the red and pinks are the best.”

He unwrapped his piece. “Exactly. I might as well save you the ones you like best.”

I smiled. Despite everything, Gage was concerned that I got the kind of candy I wanted. Maybe things weren’t all that bad.

I wasn’t thinking the same thing hours later when the last of the taffy was gone. We resorted to drinking some ancient bottles of Gatorade he found in the back of the truck to stay hydrated, and I was reminded of why I hated camping, having to pee in the woods.

Despite the lack of food and restrooms, we decided to stay another night to wait out the storm. My prediction was right, another round of heavy snow greeted us during the afternoon. By the time the sun had set I’d decided that I didn’t need to see another flake of snow for the rest of my life.

***

Getting into the sleeping bag with Gage the second night was a whole different experience. Our intimacy the night before had changed things, and we both knew exactly what was going to happen.

“I’ve been waiting all day for this.” Gage ran his hand down my back.

“To enjoy my body heat?”

“To enjoy your body.”

“Who said you get to enjoy my body?” I teased.

“I did.” He left tiny kisses on my neck. “You can’t actually expect me to keep my hands to myself tonight.”

“It’s not your hands I’m worried about.” I shifted to make room for the growing bulge currently pressed against me. He hadn’t bothered to leave his underwear on this time. Much to his chagrin, I had. I was still trying to convince myself that more sex wasn’t inevitable.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were worried about anything…”

“Nope, being stranded in the middle of nowhere in near freezing weather doesn’t worry me.”

“I can take your mind off that.” He unclasped my bra and slid it off me. So much for keeping some clothes on this time.

“I guess I’m lucky you only have two condoms left. I can only imagine what would happen if you had a box.”

“Don’t you mean you’re unlucky?” He ran his tongue over my nipple, breaking down any resistance I might have had.

I closed my eyes, trying to pretend we weren’t in the middle of nowhere.

A loud howl brought me back to earth, and I tried to pull away from him. “Stop!”

“What?”

“The wolf is back.”

Another howl followed. Gage shifted beside me. “And he brought a friend.”

“We have to leave tomorrow morning. Hopefully the snow finally stops.” The last howl had seemed even closer.

“Agreed, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t distract ourselves tonight.”

“Yes it does.” How was he being so carefree? There were wolves outside.

“Why?” His hand cupped my breast.

“Because they’re wolves. We don’t want to set them off.”

“Set them off? What? Do you think they’ll smell us?”

“Maybe. No reason to give them more.”

“You actually think they’re going to smell my semen or something?”