Dire

I ignored Roy. He was really grating on my nerves, and for about the one hundredth time I regretted my decision to go out to dinner with him. It wasn’t that he was bad looking, he wasn’t. He was smart, generally nice, and way better than most of the guys I attracted, but I wasn’t interested. The tiny voice in my head that never shut up reminded me of my problem. I didn’t want to settle for anyone but Gage. I was obsessed, but I had no plans to change it.

“I’m guessing she never told you who was driving her home,” Genevieve answered for me as I texted.

Did you see the weather report?

Gage didn’t reply right away, so I pocketed my phone.

Roy gave me a disapproving look. “Gage is driving you home? Do you really think that’s smart?”

“We’re friends from home. It makes more sense then you going out of your way to stop in my town.”

“It’s fifteen minutes out of the way. What’s fifteen minutes when I get to spend hours in your company?”

Genevieve gave me an ‘I told you so’ look.

I shrugged. The guy was nice, but I was done leading him on.

Roy touched my arm. “Looks like the snow already started.”

I followed his gaze to look out one of the small windows someone had opened. A light sprinkling of snow blew inside.

Genevieve watched with a pout as Tony walked off to talk to another group of girls. “Ready to head home?”

“Sure, nice seeing you, Roy.” I tried to be polite. Lesson learned: don’t date guys you have to take classes with all four years of college.

“Listen, Mary Anne. I think we should try it again. I had a great time the other night, and I know you did too. I was going to wait until after break to ask, but with the weather and all we’re probably going to be stuck here another day. Maybe we can watch a movie or something tomorrow night?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I struggled to find an acceptable excuse.

Genevieve shook her head. I shouldn’t have even given the guy hope, but I wasn’t used to turning people down. It wasn’t something I’d had to do a lot.

I said a polite goodbye to Roy before following Genevieve out of the apartment and into the stairwell. We walked down the stairs and out into the light snow. I regretted bringing a coat without a hood. I looked down as we walked to avoid getting the stinging flakes on my face.

“We’re almost there.” Genevieve shivered beside me. She was probably having the same coat regret I was. “Remind me again why we go to school in the arctic?”

I laughed despite the discomfort. “You think this is cold, try living where I’m from. It’s worse.”

“I’m only visiting in the summer.”

“Are you sure? I’d have thought you’d want to learn to ski.”

She pulled her jacket tighter around her. “The only kind of skiing I enjoy takes place on the water.”

“And that’s the one type I’ve never done.” I pushed open the door to our dorm. Genevieve hurried in behind me, and we let the door slam shut.

We took the stairs up to the fourth floor and automatically went to my room. I was one of the lucky few who’d ended up with a single room. Genevieve had a roommate whose boyfriend had pretty much moved in the first day. I’d been tempted to offer to switch rooms with her roommate, but I loved having my own space when it came time to studying—or pining over Gage. Her roommate had left for vacation already, but some habits are hard to break.

Genevieve glanced at her phone. “Damn it.” She slammed my door.

“What?” I hung up my jacket in the closet.

“They already canceled my flight.”

“Seriously? But the snow’s just starting.”

She shrugged. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about it. I know I’m stuck here.”

I sat down cross-legged on my bed. “They’ll have the airport dug out quickly, and hopefully they’ll rebook you soon.”

“Let’s hope.” She slumped down next to me.

My phone rang from my purse, so I got up to look at it. “Gage?” My heart sped up even though I knew why he was calling.

“Hey, Mary Anne.” His voice changed slightly when he said my name. Either that or I was imagining things. “Are you packed?”

“Yeah, but it looks like we’re going to be here another few days.”

“Not a chance. I’ll swing by to get you in ten minutes.”

“What? Didn’t you see the weather report?”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re leaving now.” His deep voice distracted me until I heard a door slam. “It’s not like I’m dying to get back to my parents’ house, but I don’t want to get stuck on campus without power or anything. I need to go pack the truck. I’ll see you in ten. Will you be outside?”

Ten minutes? He really wanted to leave in ten minutes? “Are you sure about this? What if the storm gets worse?”

“I’ve got the chains ready. We’re good, I promise.”

“Gage, I don’t know—”

“Do you want a ride home or not?”

If it were anyone else asking I would have said no, but it was Gage. Any logical thoughts went out the window when it came to him. “Yeah, I need one.”

“Then I’ll see you in ten.” He hung up.

“No.” Genevieve shook her head. “There is no way you’re getting on the road right now.”

I stared down at my phone. “I think I am.”

“Why?”

“He thinks we’ll beat the storm this way. It would be nice to get home…”

“So what, you’re just going to leave me here?”

“He’s my ride home. What am I supposed to do?” I finally snapped out of my fog enough to start collecting my stuff.

She crossed her arms. “Roy made it clear his offer was still on the table. It makes more sense.”

“I’m going with Gage.” My reasoning wasn’t sound, but it was Gage Marshal. Nothing about me was ever sound when it came to him.

“Don’t let your hormones get you into trouble. Do you really want to spend this storm stuck at some seedy hotel?” She paused. “Wait. Don’t answer that.”

I laughed. “We’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I get in.”

“How much time do you have?”

I glanced at my watch. “About eight minutes.”

“Seriously? That’s it?”