Ten Below Zero(47)

“Arizona?” Mira knew I never traveled. I avoided leaving my bedroom. Leaving the state was something I’d never done.

“Yes.” I wasn’t sure how to explain. I couldn’t lie, not if she’d meet Everett the following day. “Wait, why are you in Colorado?”

“Why are you in Arizona?”

“I’m on a road trip.”

There was a long pause. “Really? You, on a road trip?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain when I get there. What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to be a decoy. You’re a fast runner, you’re good at hiding. It’ll only be for one night, and then you can continue on your…road trip.”

I could tell she would be grilling me the moment I saw her, but I was more focused on the decoy part of her statement.

“Decoy?”

“I’ll explain when you get here. And so will you.”

“Okay. Text me where we need to go.”

“We? Who are you with?”

“His name is Everett.”

“Everett? What’s his last name?”

I racked my brain. I didn’t even know. How could that be? I was on a road trip with him, and I didn’t even know his name. I didn’t know how to answer.

“Uh…” I started. And then I was on the defensive. “No. You’re not going to look him up.” Another pause. I was getting annoyed. I never got annoyed with Mira. “You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

“Okay. Drive fast.”

And then the line was dead. Mira didn’t bother with goodbye, not with me at least.

I sighed and looked out at the desert around us. There were weird noises in the desert, different than the city I was used to. The air smelled different, the heat felt different. I felt different. I turned back to the sliding glass door and slid back into the room. The only light in the room was the lamp on Everett’s side of the bed, the light he’d left on.

Everett hadn’t moved from the spot he’d fallen asleep in. I climbed in beside him and laid on my side, watching him. In sleep, his face was relaxed, free from the lines that furrowed his brow when he was annoyed with me, free from the lines around his eyes when he was flirting with me. He looked so peaceful, and a part of me, a small part, felt a tinge of sadness. He was dying. Soon, he’d always have this look on his face.

Despite it being against my self-imposed rules, I curled up close to Everett, laying my head on his bicep. I wasn’t sure if it was instinctual or not, but his arm curled around me, wrapping me closer to him. I hoped it was instinctual. And I hoped it wasn’t.





When I opened my eyes the following morning, I had the distinct feeling that I was being watched. I was warm, from being in Everett’s tee and under the covers. The fact that I was lying on a warm body was definitely part of that. I lifted my eyes up and met his chest, my eyes moving over the words on his ribcage before meeting his.

“Hi,” he said, his voice raspy from the hour of the day. The room was still dark, so I safely assumed it was early in the day.

“Hi,” I returned. He was facing me on the bed, my head still on his bicep and his arm still wrapped around me.

“Why are you wearing my shirt?”

“Because I couldn’t find mine.”

“Did you go somewhere?”

I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I went for a stroll down the road in just a tee, no pants or panties.”

“Why’d you put the shirt on then?”

I remembered my conversation with Mira. “I got a phone call,” I answered. “From Mira.”

Everett sat up a bit straighter in the bed. “What’s up?”

Was my face that transparent? I thought I had done well to keep my emotions, my thoughts, in check. But Everett seemed to see right through it all.

“Can we go to Colorado?”

“I’d planned on it. To hit the Four Corners.”

“Okay.” I rolled away from him and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I pulled up the text Mira sent after she’d hung up, with a map and a location. “Can we go here too?” I put my phone up to his face.

He blinked and took the phone from my hand, studying the phone. He reached for his phone next and typed something in. A second later he looked at me. “That’s about twelve hours from here.” He looked at his phone again. “It’s 5:30 a.m. We’ll have to get on the road in a few minutes if you want to make it there at a decent hour.”

I climbed off the bed and searched for my underwear. “Let’s go then.”

I kept my eyes averted from Everett’s as I searched for my underwear, hoping he wouldn’t question me about the trip. To his credit, he just started searching for his clothes too. I took his tee off and tossed it at him. “Here.”

I watched him hold the tee up to his nose. “It smells good.”

“Because it smells like you.”

“No, because it smells like you.”

I looked over at him, and saw him watching me get dressed, his eyes warm despite their cool color. Desire flicked low in my belly. “We don’t have time.”

He pulled the shirt over his head. “I know,” he sighed dramatically.

I turned away as my lips tilted up slightly. I wasn’t ready to fully smile just yet.