“I’m going to respect the bet,” I said again, resolutely, swallowing over the tightness in my throat. “I promise.”
I pushed out the front doors into the heavy rain, started my car, and put my foot to the pedal.
5
Red
“Um, Red, you might want to get back here—”
Sam’s voice came from the back hallway, but I was still standing in the spot by the front doors where Liam had left.
“Give me a minute,” I called back.
“This is bad, though,” Sam said, his voice alarmed. I was sure his complaint would have something to do with being out of size large tank tops, or something equally innocuous. Sam was always freaking out about something.
And right now, I couldn’t even process what had just occurred, let alone whatever was going on in the back of the bar.
“Oh, fuck!” I heard Mitch say a moment later.
Shit. If Mitch was worried, then it had to be something big. I was still in a daze as I walked through the hallway to find the two of them standing around the inventory computer, looking at a weather site.
“It’s a tornado warning,” Mitch said. “Look at the radar. It’s right here.”
I glanced at the screen. “We get tornado warnings all the time. It’s fine,” I said.
I couldn’t help but notice the list of five right red warnings and alerts for our area, though. The minute I saw where the worst of the storm was on the map, all I could think about was one thing.
“Liam just drove off right in that direction,” I said.
“He’ll be all right, I’m sure,” Mitch said.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “He’s from Los Angeles, though,” I said. “He’s not going to know what to do. They don’t have real weather there.”
“They definitely don’t,” Sam said. “Oh my God, if Liam Hardy gets swept away in a tornado, I’m going to cry for an entire year.”
I clenched one of my hands into a fist. “He should be okay.”
It felt strange talking about Liam so casually, when I’d basically just lost my fucking mind with him, ten minutes ago.
I’d wanted him so fucking badly that I hadn’t been thinking at all. I hadn’t been so completely claimed by lust since… well, since I was last with him. My whole body had needed to be against his.
The worst part was that I’d recognized the same hunger radiating from him.
The power of that mutual desire was dangerous. Liam and I had been feeding off of each other, and I knew exactly how all-consuming that could be. I would have done anything for him in that moment.
I couldn’t handle the thought of him scared and alone during his first Kansas tornado. I was used to them by now, but the first time I’d seen one, I was scared shitless, too.
My phone vibrated in my pants and I pulled it out, secretly hoping I’d see Liam’s name on the screen.
It was a message from Mom, though.
>>Mom: You safe out there, hun? The news is chock full of warnings about Amberfield.
>>Red: We’ll be okay. The basement’s here for a reason. Love you, Mom.
Soon our chef, Perry, appeared in the doorway to the room. His silvery hair was windswept and still damp from the rain, and he had a faraway look in his eyes.
“It’s fucking bad out there,” he said.
My stomach twisted. For Perry, that was rare. He was usually stony, quiet, and kept to himself in the kitchen, nothing bothering him. One time he’d come into work and only after an hour, we’d found out someone had crashed into his car on his way in. He’d shrugged it off like everything else.
If he was worried, too, it was something serious.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked him. “You look like you just saw a ghost. A ghost that told you you had to do public speaking.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mitch asked Sam, a grin on his face.
Sam shrugged. “Public speaking is the number one thing people are afraid of,” he said. “And if you saw a ghost that made you make a speech? Pure terror.”
“I didn’t see a speech ghost,” Perry said, “but I did see what looked very much like a tornado. We should probably head into the basement.”
“What about the bar?” Mitch asked. “It’s almost time to open.”
“Nobody in their right mind is going to be out in this weather. I’m going to lock the front doors until it passes,” I said.
I pulled out my phone to shoot Liam a text.
>>Red: There are multiple tornado warnings. Drive safe and stay in the basement when you’re home, will you?
He didn’t respond. Mitch, Sam, and Perry congregated at one of the windows, opening the slats and gawking at the weather.
I couldn’t help but send Liam another message five minutes later.
>>Red: Please let me know if you're home safe?
After another few minutes, we started to hear the sound of heavier wind and rain battering the roof and windows.