Snowed In

“Then who are you?” I asked incredulously. “Where’d you come from?”

“Outside.”

He took off his ski hat and shook it out. Matted to his head was the thickest mop of hair I’d even seen, all dark with sweat and exertion.

“Y—You mean you’re not from a rescue party?” Jeremy asked, grabbing him by the shoulder.

The big stranger removed Jeremy’s hand calmly and pushed it away. “No.”

“Then who the hell—”

“He’s one of us,” interrupted Shane. “From the trip. From the campus.”

The newcomer nodded.

“He’s a Greek too,” Shane went on. I could see him squinting hard, sizing the guy up. Cycling through all the pre-programmed male dominance bullshit guys always did, whenever they met someone bigger or badder. “Sigma Omega maybe, or—”

“Alpha Rho.”

I searched my brain, trying to remember this guy from any of our other stops. Faith would, without a doubt. He was too big and beautiful to miss.

Right now however, I couldn’t think straight. I was too cold, too hungry, too tired. Not to mention, I couldn’t take my eyes off the new guy’s arms.

“Boone,” Jeremy said, snapping his fingers. “You’re Boone Silva.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve heard of you! You were the guy who…” Jeremy paused as if just realizing something, and his smile of triumph quickly faded. “Well shit! If you’re stuck here too, that doesn’t help us at all!”

It was true. We were back at square one. Only now there were four of us here, instead of three.

“I want to know how you got here,” I said suddenly.

Shane shifted into position beside me and nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”

Boone rubbed at his arms, which were red from the cold. I could see goosebumps all over his perfect skin.

“I walked.”

Jeremy eyed the newcomer suspiciously. “Bullshit. The avalanche was two days ago.”

“Even worse, two nights ago,” I added. “Where’d you sleep?”

“The first night I didn’t sleep,” Boone said. “I walked straight through, to keep from freezing.”

I opened my mouth to tell him he was lying, that such a thing wasn’t possible. Then I looked again at his physique. Everything about him was absolutely gigantic! I could imagine his two big lungs, burning through the cold night air. Carrying him forward on two tree-trunk legs…

If anyone could walk through the night, it would be this guy.

“Fine, and the second night?”

“The second night I stayed here.”

Jeremy and Shane made a show of looking all ar

ound the lobby.

“Where?”