Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Just be quick, and don’t be a hero,” Ty says, taking a kiss before we start up the stairs.
Dax’s room is one floor above Jaxon’s, so I head up, noticing a funny smell—chemical almost, and maybe a bit like rubber. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and when I reach the top of the stairs, I see gray smoke at the end of the hall, creeping toward Dax’s room.
Holy fuck.
There’s a voice in my head telling me to get the fuck out of here, followed by Ty’s, “Don’t be a hero.” But I imagine Frat Cat in Dax’s room, frightened as the smoke creeps around him. If we leave, the fire department won’t be able to get to him in time. If there’s something I can do, I need to do it.
“Ty! Ty!” I call out as I dash for the room, scanning Dax’s key card. I doubt Ty heard me, though, and besides, he needs to get Jaxon the hell out of here.
As soon as I open the door, I see smoke everywhere. Must’ve seeped in through a vent. I fear I might already be too late as I hurry in, barely thinking straight, just in a panic, searching for our sick cat.
“Frat Cat,” I call. “Come on. Uncle Lance is here.”
There’s not as much smoke in the room as in the hall, but it’s enough to make me cough as I search around frantically, squatting down and searching under the bed before discovering him tucked in the corner. Poor guy.
“Come on. I got you, little fella.” My coughing intensifies. “We gotta get out of here. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to do this.” He doesn’t budge, so I crawl under and pull him to me.
As soon as I’m out from under the bed, I notice the room’s now filled with smoke, stinging my eyes. I blink, intending to open them again, but my eyes are too irritated. Fuck. This was a really shitty idea, but I can’t regret coming in to save Frat Cat.
“Holy shit!” I hear Ty say in the hallway as I tuck Frat Cat under my shirt, hoping it’ll provide a barrier between him and the smoke.
I hear a cough, and then Ty’s, “Lance? Lance!”
“I’m here!” I call back. “I can’t see.”
It’s not long before we’re both coughing, and I push to my feet, moving toward where I think the door is, trying to keep my shirt over my nose so I won’t breathe in too much of the smoke. But I can tell there’s still plenty getting in.
“I’ve got you! I’ve got you, Lance. Follow my voice.”
It’s hard to tell where his voice is coming from, though, even as he keeps calling my name. And as the smoke gets thicker, fear grips me.
What if I led us both into danger?
What if something terrible happens?
What if I never get to tell him how amazing the past few months with him have been?
That it’s all been so much more than fucking around and hanging.
It feels like a lesson I already learned with Kacey, and I should have said something sooner, told him how I really felt.
These thoughts flash by as I hear Ty beckoning me. “My voice…just follow my voice…”
I listen carefully, navigating until I hear it growing closer, and then I feel a hand, and Ty pulls me into what I assume must be the hall. Not sure, since I still can’t open my eyes.
I hold his hand as he escorts me through the house, and despite being aware that there isn’t as much smoke around, it’s still too much. My lungs feel overwhelmed, my body trembling.
“I still can’t see,” I warn him.
“We’re getting close to the stairs. I’m gonna pick you up. Just be ready.”
I halt in place, and he practically scoops me right off the floor. I feel the jerkiness as he takes me down the stairs, still trying in vain to get the smoke to clear out of my lungs as I endure a fit that reminds me of the first time I had COVID. I can’t get a breath in…starting to feel lightheaded…and then everything goes black.
28
Ty
I pace the ER exam room, my nerves wrecked from everything that’s happened.
When I went to find Jaxon, I discovered him in his room with his earphones on, oblivious to the blaring alarm. After telling him to head out to the yard, I thought I heard Lance shouting from upstairs, so I went up, where I discovered it was all filled with smoke. When I reached Dax’s room, it was so clouded, I couldn’t even see Lance.
Everything else happened so fast, panic setting in as I scrambled to find my boyfriend.
I was relieved when I finally felt his hand, but he was coughing so much, and before I knew it, I was carrying him out of Sigma Alpha. After we reached safety, my relief shifted back to panic as I discovered Lance unconscious in my arms. Jaxon grabbed Frat Cat, and I called emergency services, watching as smoke billowed from the back of our house. Under normal circumstances, it would have been hard enough seeing our place being ravaged by fire, but my only concern was for my boyfriend. Making sure he was still breathing. Getting help to him as soon as possible.