“Prince,” he whispers, his warm breath soothing against my ear. “Don’t go to sleep.”
I force my eyes open, and he’s right there, so close I can see his pores. The Rip that looked like he wanted to choke me out when we first got here is gone. He’s super close, but not quite hugging me, and his eyes are bouncing between my lips and my eyes like he can’t decide what to focus on.
Oh, God. This is the result of the crippling cold. Neither of us would be caught dead this close if we were in our right minds.
But then he turns his head, and his hair nuzzles against my nose. I half expect him to push me away, but he only sighs and leans firmer against me, trying to keep out as much cold as possible.
Maybe I imagined everything. I’m not in my right mind.
The crazed stare at the ground and the tension in his shoulders make me wonder if Rip is telling himself the very same thing.
It’s so warm.
I yank the blanket and burrow in. I feel like a baby caterpillar, all snug in a cocoon, completely warm and toasty.
But this is an unusual level of warmth, more than my bed has ever given me.
“King,” I recognize the voice as my sister’s.
I try to ignore her, not wanting to be disturbed from my slumber, but when I hear the sirens and other voices around me, my heart freezes. I’m not in my bedroom.
I snap awake, and my eyes go wide, taking in the scene: a fire truck, firefighters, my parents, my sister. A gray thermal blanket is wrapped around me. What in the world?
“I told you not to fall asleep.”
Rip’s right next to me, with his own warm blanket on and a mug of hot chocolate. He cracks a half-smile, then takes a sip of his drink, his nose bumping the cup.
A similar mug is being pushed into my hands before I can even register it, courtesy of my mother. “Drink. It’ll help you warm up.”
I breathe out, watching the air float, my fingers still stiff as if they’ve been submerged in ice water. Meanwhile, everyone else is staring at me like they pulled my corpse out of that cellar and not my alive body.
Mom has a cigarette between her fingers and pressed to her lips. She only smokes when she’sreallystressed out, which is usually from something related to me, my sisters, or my father. Dad’s talking to a paramedic, brows knit tight and stance rigid. He keeps sending glances my way as if he’s worried I’ll vanish. Odie’s sitting in the grass right in front of me, still wearing the outfit she went out in. Either I’ve been out for so long she’s come back from the club, or she left early for me.
Rip wipes the milk-stache on his mouth left from the hot chocolate, then hands the empty cup to Thomas. “How’d you guys find us?”
“We figured since you both didn’t show up to the dinner, you were probably somewhere together,” Thomas says. “But we had no idea where you were or what you could be doing.”
“And after an hour of wondering if you guys ditched, they finally called me. I remembered you were going to the wine cellar,” Odie finishes.
Thomas’ lips press into a line as he shakes his head at Rip. “I told you to leave the wine alone, and what do you do? Ask for it like the greedy fuck you are and get locked in a cellar.”
“It wasn’t my fault we got locked in,” he says. Then, his eyes flicker to me, and he eyes the cup in my hands. “Are you gonna drink that or babysit it?”
Now all eyes are on me.
I bite back a sigh as I bring it to my lips, the warm steam hitting my face. It smells sweet, like hot chocolate should, but it’s not doing a great job at compelling me to drink it. Too bad I need to.
It’s warm going down my throat, my insides instantly warming. Everyone moves on.
“I guess dinner won’t be happening tonight,” my dad says with a disappointed sigh. “But I’m sure you’re still wondering about our decision, yes?”
Rip and Thomas share a glance, and then Rip nods. “We’ve been dying to know all day.”
Mom and Dad turn to each other, doing that silent communication thing they have down pat. The Wright boys are still as a board, eager to know whether they got the permanent job or if they’ll be on the next flight back to England. Shit, I’m dying to know too.
“Congratulations on your full-time position at Beaumont Grand!” Mom cheers.
A look of pure delight spreads across the brothers’ faces, and they share a celebratory high-five. Their excitement is so contagious, I feel like smiling too.
