Page 95 of Where Roads Lead

Placing my cap back on my head, I rolled my sleeves up and walked into the darkness after them.

“And that’s another dead end,” Elsie concluded with a whimper.

She rubbed her hands together, no doubt feeling the chill of the evening.

Damn, I should’ve brought a pair of gloves.

I felt around in my pockets to see if I had anything to give her, but found nothing but a stick of gum and a receipt from the hardware store.

I frowned, staring at where she stood against the corn, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried not to shiver.

The tip of her nose was red, and all she had on was a green quilted jacket that came down loosely to her upper thigh, clearly not warm enough for the night.

That’s it.

No matter how badly Theo wanted more time to make his move on Elsie, it wasn’t worth her getting hypothermia in the process.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said, looking at my watch. “It’s freezing and we’ve been wandering around in the dark for an hour.”

“That’s half the fun of it. It’s kind of spooky, isn’t it?” Theo said, but even he sounded unconvinced.

“What are you going to do, Will? Run through the corn?” Ava asked. “We can’t get out until we find the right route.”

“How late will these people stay? Do they remember we’re in here? If we don’t make it out by a certain time, will they send someone in after us?” Elsie started panicking.

“Relax,” Theo tried to tell her, and my eyes were glued to the hand he moved toward her arm.

I glowered at it.

“That’s it,” I told them, not wanting to stick around and watch Theo’s blatant attempt at PDA. “You guys wait here. I’m going to find the way out and I’ll send someone in after you.”

“Oh, no,” Elsie said, reaching out and grabbing my shoulder. “I’m coming with you.”

I felt smug satisfaction.

“What about us?” Ava asked.

They could stay in the corn maze for all I cared.

“Hey! You know what we could do? We could make it sort of a game!”

“A game?” Ava asked, looking slightly interested.

“Yeah, we can pair up into teams, and whoever gets out first can send the staff after the ones still stuck in the maze.”

“Dibs on Will,” Elsie shouted quickly, the words all merging with the speed they came out.

I froze underneath the hand she used to grab onto me, watching as she pulled herself snug against my side.

It was nothing. It meant nothing.

But it meant something that I didn’t mind her being there. It meant something that not only did I not mind it, but I was already afraid of what the absence of her touch would feel like.

Shit.

“Are you sure?” Theo frowned. “I figured you and I could—”

“Sorry, but I’m not sort of freaked out being here in the dark, and I know that Will can scare off anything that goes bump in the night.” She patted my arm roughly. “So, I’ll be sticking right here.”