From Ashes

After a few shows and a movie, I tried to call Tyler one last time before peeling off my clothes to take a long, hot shower, hoping the water would relax my still-tense body. I had just pulled on a pair of sleep pants and tank top and was running a brush through my wet hair when I heard a key in the lock. I ran out of the bathroom just in time to see Tyler stumble in with a tall redhead attached to his face. He shut the door and pushed her up against it, grabbing behind her thighs and lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

“Tyler?” I choked out, and he turned their bodies so he could see me.

“Oh, hey!” His eyes were glazed and though his speech wasn’t slurred, it was slower, and I knew he’d been drinking. “Cara, this is my sister Cassi. Cassi, this is Cara, she’s in a couple classes with me.”

Sister? Sister?! I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I just sat there watching as he walked them back to his room. Seconds later he walked back out and grabbed a couple beers from the fridge before turning to me.

“Sorry, did you want to say something?”

“Tyler, wh-what are you doing?” My voice was shaky and barely above a whisper.

“Finding someone who will take care of what you won’t,” he sneered, and his eyes narrowed on me. “What do you expect? For me to just wait for you forever? I can’t believe I wasted all that time on you, waiting for you to be ready. I should have just taken it from you.”

“Ty!”

“I have needs that you aren’t filling, Cassidy. Either give me what I want or get out.”

“What? Ty—I—I don’t—”

“Save it, Cass.” He grabbed my hand and led me toward the front door. “I’m so damn tired of being your crutch, find someone else for that.” He shoved me out the door before shutting and locking it.

“Tyler!” I pounded on the door for what must have been five minutes straight and he still never came out.

My teeth were clattering and my body was shaking. It’d been in the low thirties yesterday while I was out grocery shopping, and the sun had been out then. Now the wind was blowing hard and it was pitch-black outside. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what the temperature was. But here I was with wet hair, in socks, thin flannel pants, and an even thinner tank top. No phone. No keys. I didn’t know any of our neighbors, and after getting no answer when I knocked on their doors, I started walking to Gage’s town house. Not even a mile into my already-freezing walk, it started sleeting . . . hard. I could have gone into a store and asked to use the phone, but I didn’t know anyone’s number by heart, and I wasn’t about to ask some stranger for a ride. Hoping to warm myself up, I attempted to jog, but my body was so cold I felt like I was going slower than when I’d been walking.

GAGE

I STOPPED ON the way to my room and turned slowly to look around. I don’t know what I heard but when I didn’t hear it again, I continued on in and shut the door before turning on the TV. Thank God Cassidy had gotten groceries before I’d come back. Even though I’d finished dinner with the guys only a few hours ago I was already starving and about to finish off an entire bag of chips. Another muffled sound from the front of my place had me muting the TV and grabbing my Sig. I crept down the hall and heard a loud thump against the door. Looking out the peephole showed nothing, but I wasn’t stupid enough to leave it at that. Before I could reach the blinds I heard sobs and a soft, melodic voice calling my name.

“Cass?” I asked even before I swung the door open to reveal her little body curled up in a ball at the base of the door. “Shit. Cassidy!” I put my Sig on a table near the door and went back to her.

“G-G-G-Gage?” she stuttered, and looked up at me as I scooped her into my arms.

She was f**king freezing. Her hair had literally frozen and even in the soft light from above my door I could see her face was blue. Why wasn’t she wearing a damn jacket or shoes?! Where the f**k was Tyler? I ran back to my bathroom with her in my arms and turned the hot water on as I sat her on the counter. Flipping the light on, I got my first good look at her and a string of expletives left my mouth. Her lips and the surrounding area were blue, as were the tips of her fingers. The rest of her was bright red and shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to keep them open before she gave up, letting them close. Her lashes, eyebrows, and hair were all frozen and her damn socks were stuck to her feet. I tried to lift her shirt off her but it was stuck as well, causing her to cry out and start sobbing again.

I wanted to scream at her, ask her why she would go outside dressed like this when it was sleeting and at most twenty degrees outside, ask her where her damn boyfriend was and why she hadn’t called me. But I was so scared all I could do was whisper that she would be okay as I hugged her and tried to transfer some of my body heat. The shower was warmed up so I took off my sleep pants, leaving on my boxer-briefs, and took us both into the shower. She cried out again and I knew it must have been burning her, but she needed to heat up—like half an hour ago. I kept my arms around her and rubbed them vigorously up and down her body, and as her clothes loosened on her, I took those off and threw them onto the bathroom floor. She brought her hands up to my body and I flinched as the contrast between the hot water and her frozen fingers hit me. We were in a burning-hot shower, and she was making me freaking cold. My stomach dropped when her head fell hard to my chest and her body gave out.

“No, no, no. Wake up, Cassidy! Wake up!” I shouted, and sank down into the tub, glad I’d put the plug down so it would fill up while the shower ran. “Cassidy!” I grabbed her chin and brought her face up, cringing when I saw how blue her mouth and the surrounding area still were. “Wake up, darlin’!” I pressed my mouth to hers as if I were doing mouth-to-mouth and blew hot air onto her frozen face.