Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 41918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
I crouch down and gather her into my arms. "Hey, I'm here now. Everything's going to be okay."
To my relief, she relaxes a little against my chest, fingers curling into my shirt. "Luke," she says again, this time with recognition. "Thank you. I'm sorry. I just froze and I couldn't think—"
"It's okay," I reassure her. "We'll get you out of here."
I scoop her up and carry her towards the stairs, grabbing a discarded hoodie off her couch on the way. She buries her face into my shoulder, clinging to me tightly. A fierce surge of protectiveness wells up inside me as we descend the eight flights of stairs. By the time we reach the ground floor, the smoke has dissipated and the fire appears to be under control. There are still a few stragglers—other students who are either too drunk to notice what's happening or who were caught on the upper floors and couldn't find the stairs. I catch the eye of a fireman and nod towards Emma. At first, he looks pissed, but once he shines his headlamp over and sees the insignia on my jacket, his expression changes to resignation.
"Iron Guardians. I should have guessed." With a heavy sigh, he jerks his head towards the door, where the lights of the fire trucks are still illuminating the night. "Get her out of here."
Relief washes over me as we step out into the cool night air. Emma stirs in my arms, peering up at me.”We’re out?”
“Yes, baby girl. We’re out.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize how intimate they sound. And how natural. How right.
Instead of pulling away, however, Emma relaxes, letting out a breath that tickles my neck. "Thank you. You keep showing up at just the right time.”
"You're welcome." My hand rests on her head, keeping her tucked against me. "It's over, you're okay."
"I'm just glad you came." Her voice is soft, barely a whisper. "I know this was crazy, but I'm so glad you were here. But how did you know?”
I hesitate, wondering what to say. The truth is, the second I heard the alert go off, I knew I had to get to her. "I heard about the fire and came straight here. I had to make sure you were alright."
Her eyes widen, and for a moment she just stares at me, speechless. Then, she does something I don't expect. She leans closer and presses a kiss to my cheek.
"That means more to me than you know."
And as I carry Emma across campus, towards my bike, towards safety, all I can think about is the feeling of her lips on my skin. Then, a thought pierces the haze. "Don't you have a roommate?"
"Yeah," Emma murmurs, half asleep against my chest. "Sarah. She had to go back to her parents right before the fire. A family emergency. But at least she's safe."
When I put her on the ground, she looks hesitantly at my bike parked haphazardly on the curb—not usual for me, but I was in a hurry to get to her. Emma's expression changes from apprehension to awkwardness as the fear leaves her and everything that just happened in the last hour becomes clear.
I can only imagine what she's thinking. It's the middle of the night, almost morning really, and she's out here in slippers with a man she barely knows in her pajamas. And I just put her down in front of my bike without even consulting her about whether she wanted to come home with me or not. She looks back at the residence hall and winces—no going back inside for a few hours at least—then to my bike again.
"I'm going to hazard a guess and say you've never ridden before?" I ask, handing her the hoodie, which she immediately pulls on.
Emma shakes her head wordlessly and takes a step back. Her arms are wrapped around her middle, hugging herself. I want to gather her up again, hold her close, and tell her everything is going to be okay, but that's not what she needs right now. Not exactly.
"Well…" I try for a reassuring grin. "There's a first time for everything. Here." I grab the extra helmet and hold it out to her. "Put this on."
"Where are we going? If we wait, I'm sure I can go back up—"
"You're coming home with me," I tell her, watching her eyes go large. "Look, it's too late for anyone else to be driving you, and it's not safe here. Your building isn't habitable, and besides, you can't just stand out here in the cold."
"What if people—"
"The Iron Guardians have a reputation," I interrupt. "We're the good guys, Emma. No one will bat an eyelash if you're riding with me."
She bites her lip, clearly nervous, but finally reaches for the helmet. "All right."