We were already walking slow enough. Any slower and we would be crawling. I peeked around Brody. Ryder was still walking down the center of the road, his long legs eating up the miles. It hurt to see him walk away with no regard for us.
“I’ll try to wrap her ribs again and see if that helps,” Eva told Brody. “Turn around.”
Brody turned, giving us some privacy. The small breeze felt good on my bare skin as I held my t–shirt up. She rewrapped the binding. Stars appeared before my eyes when she touched my broken rib.
After she was finished, Brody picked up my backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Eva took my hand and tugged me along with her, giving me the strength I needed to carry on.
But another hour later, I was struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Eva must have noticed because she started talking about random subjects. School, boys, TV. She tried everything. I commented when she expected me to comment but I wasn’t really listening. My head was throbbing and I was dehydrated. But soon her words got my attention.
“Ryder’s being a jerk but I’m holding back on kicking his ass. I think he’s just worried about you and all you’ve been through the last twenty–four hours.”
“But we never fight like this, Eva,” I said, stepping around a huge pothole in the road.
“I think he’s fighting his feelings, Maddie. I didn’t think the man was capable of feelings but obviously he is.” Eva laughed lightly. “The all–mighty Ryder has been brought to his knees by love. Never thought I would see the day. It has to hurt.”
"I don’t know, Eva."
“I have more experience with men than you do, Maddie, so believe me when I say he’s gaga over you.” She paused and looked around. “Where the hell are we going?” she muttered under her breath. “Does anyone know where we are?” she yelled louder so Brody or Ryder would hear.
No one answered. Brody was yards away and Ryder was just a speck on the road now. I wondered how much longer before I wouldn’t be able to see him at all.
I made the mistake of looking down at my shoes. The world tilted at a weird angle, leaving me lightheaded. I leaned on Eva. If she hadn’t been beside me, I might have landed on the ground, face first.
“Whoa, Maddie! You gonna pass out on me?” she asked, studying me closely as we stopped in the middle of the road.
Her face wavered in and out of focus. The dizziness made my empty stomach churn. I couldn’t answer her as I tried to keep what little water I drank from coming back up. Vomiting would just make dehydration worse.
“Okay, let’s sit a minute.” Eva dropped her backpack and helped me sit down in the middle of the empty road. I really wanted to lie down but not on the heat and grime of the pavement. No, I wanted a nice comfortable bed, crisp cotton sheets, somewhere in an air–conditioned room.
“Look,” she said, tipping her head in the direction of Brody and Ryder. “They didn’t even notice that we stopped. What great boyfriends we have.”
“Ryder is not my boyfriend,” I insisted.
“Pleeeease! You two are a couple. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Why don’t you try to convince him of that?"
Eva scoffed. “Are you kidding? I like to see him suffer. It makes me happy.”
“You are a very bad person, Eva,” I told her, attempting to lighten the mood.
“I never said I was an angel. That’s your job,” she said with a grin.
My smile turned into a grimace when the gash on my head pulled taut. Lying down, I rested my head on her backpack. I really didn’t care if we were in the middle of the road. Wasn’t like we would see a car anyway.
“Maybe we should eat,” I said when my stomach growled loudly.
“Yeah, you need the energy.” Eva put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle.
Brody turned and started walking back to us, his stride slower than before. “You doing okay, Maddie?” he asked, breathing hard and red–faced.
“Not really,” I answered. “Can we eat something and rest for a while?” I struggled to keep my eyes focused on him. Maybe I was worse off than I thought.
He looked back over his shoulder at the empty road. “Ryder has the food.”
And he was nowhere to be seen.
“Shit!” Eva swore as she rose to her feet. Shielding her eyes, she peered down the road. “Where the hell is he?”
I struggled back to my feet. “Let’s go. Maybe we’ll catch up with him.” I didn’t want to slow everyone down.
Eva picked up her backpack and the three of us started down the road again. We hadn’t gotten very far when Eva glanced over at me and stopped. “That’s it! We aren’t moving another inch! You’re white as a ghost!”
I stopped, more than happy to oblige her.
“Brody!” Eva yelled as her hand gripped my arm, holding me up.
He walked back to us, this time exasperated. “What the hell is it now?”
I wasn’t the only one suffering in this heat. One hundred and five degree temperatures could turn a sweet, caring person into the devil reincarnated. Add that to our hunger and we were ready to declare war on each other.
“Don’t ‘what the hell’ me, Brody! Maddie’s about to pass out! We’re not moving until it’s cooled down. Not one more step,” Eva snapped.
Brody looked down the road for Ryder, shielding his eyes against the sun. I had gotten a brief glimpse of him a few minutes ago but now he was nowhere in sight.
“Forget Ryder. He’ll come back when he figures out we’re not following,” Eva said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Fine. Let’s sit under some shade,” Brody said, pointing to some large trees a few yards ahead.
I followed both of them to the grassy shoulder of the road, beneath the thick branches of the trees. The brown weeds were brittle beneath my shoes but they would provide a more comfortable place to rest than the hot asphalt. The temperature in the shade was cooler and the absence of the burning sun felt wonderful. I sank down to the ground, using my pack as a backrest.
Eva dug my water bottle out again and handed it to me. I took a sip, trying not to think of how little was left. In another hour, we would be out of water and in serious trouble.
“Ryder will realize we aren’t following and double back,” Brody said, taking a seat beside me and pulling out the last of his water.
Eva scoffed. “When I see him again, I plan on giving him a piece of my mind and maybe a piece of my fist.”
“Cool it, Eva! He’s just scouting ahead so we don’t walk into a trap again!” Brody snapped.
Eva rolled her eyes at his lame excuse. “When he gets back, first I’m going to kick his ass than I’m going to eat.”
I sighed, knowing Eva wouldn’t touch him but the words she said to him wouldn’t be pretty.
Lying on my back, I stared up through the tree branches. The sun peeked through the leaves every once in a while, making me squint against the brightness. My head throbbed with each blink of my eyes and each breath had me seeing stars.
Miles lingered ahead of us. My dad was days away. I wasn’t sure I had any energy left to go on. But I still had hope.
Chapter Sixteen
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my eyes opened to see Ryder walking toward us, staring at me intently.
I sat up slowly, wondering how long I had been asleep. Eva and Brody still sat a few feet away. The sun was still high in the sky and the heat was still hellish despite the thunder that rumbled loudly overhead. A storm seemed to be brewing. I hoped for rain but knew that summer storms in Texas sometimes produced nothing more than high humidity. All talk and no action.
I watched as Ryder drew closer. His face was sunburned, making his eyes appear bluer and the angles of his face sharper. His trim, muscular body moved effortlessly, full of purpose. At some point, he had changed from jeans to shorts that hung loose on his hips. Exhausted and sweaty, he was still the best thing I had ever seen. But I wasn’t sure what to expect
from him after his earlier words.
“What’s wrong?” he asked curtly when he was near me. His eyebrows were drawn together, the frown on his face directed at me.
Eva jumped to her feet, beating me to the answer. “What’s wrong? You’re what’s wrong, Ryder! You’re going to get us killed! Where did you go? You had the damn food!”
Ryder ran a hand over his face in aggravation.
“Maddie was on the verge of passing out and you were off having a little hissy fit. Grow up!” Eva screeched.
His gaze swung back to me, searching my body for more injuries. The concern in his eyes was blatant and surprising after his earlier words.
“Don’t look at her, asshole! You don’t deserve her!” Eva yelled, getting in his face. Brody grabbed her around the waist and held her back as she went on attack mode.
Any other time, I would have thought the idea of Eva beating up Ryder hilarious but we couldn’t waste precious energy fighting like this.
I got to my feet and planted myself between the two of them. “Calm down, Eva,” I said.
She ignored me and so did Ryder.
“You’re right, Eva! I don’t deserve her! But I would never leave her behind!” he shouted back from behind me.
“Maybe you should! Maybe she’s better off without you messing with her mind!” Eva yelled, scrambling to get out of Brody’s hold.
“Both of you shut up!” I shouted and instantly regretted it. All the blood left my head, leaving me woozy, when my rib screamed in pain.
Ryder’s hand snapped out to grab hold of my arm. “Easy, Maddie,” he said gently, helping me to sit back down.
“Maddie?” Eva whispered, taking a step closer. "I’m sorry."
I waved her off as I put my head in my hands, trying to stop the dizziness. Pain shot through my forehead when I accidentally touched the gash.
“You okay?” Ryder asked, sitting beside me on the ground.
“Sure,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could gather.
He watched me closely before digging around in his backpack and pulling out a can of peas. Using the knife, he cut an opening in the lid.
“Here. You need to eat,” he said, waiting on me to take the can.
I gladly took it. I was starving, my stomach feeling emptier than ever. I popped some warm peas in my mouth. They tasted amazing.
Moments ticked by in silence. Ryder’s eyes stayed on me, making me conscious of how close we were sitting. One little move of his hand and he would be touching me, running his fingers over my leg.
“I would never leave you, Maddie, you know that, right?”
I nodded. His eyes drilled into me, marking me with heat. I looked away, needing to avoid his scrutiny.
“How far away from home are we?” I asked, popping a few more peas in my mouth.
“Walking? Five or six days.”
I held back a groan. Five or six days in this heat? We would have to find more food and water. But what choice did we have? Sitting around waiting for someone to rescue us seemed silly.
I ate a few more peas and handed the can back to him. We needed to conserve our food if we had days ahead of us. I finished all the water in my bottle and looked at the empty container with despair.
“You can have some of mine,” Ryder said, his blue eyes so piercing. His hair was curling slightly around his ears from the heat. The silky strands begged to have someone’s fingers tangled in it, grabbing fistfuls in the height of passion.
What was I thinking? We were in the middle of nowhere, the U.S. was collapsing, and we were on the verge of dehydration. Sex shouldn’t be on my mind.
I cleared my throat and brought my thoughts back on track. “You need the water,” I said to him, indicating his bottle. “You’re bigger than I am and require more.”
He sighed in frustration. “One of these days, Maddie, maybe you will do as I say.”
“Probably not,” I muttered.
With another frustrated look at me, he stuffed the water bottle back in his bag and pulled out a baseball hat. He set it on my head and pulled my ponytail through the back. His hand felt intimate in my hair, sending a spark of want through me.
“You’re getting sunburned,” he explained so low that I hardly heard him. His eyes lingered on my face while his hand held my ponytail longer than was necessary. Clearing his throat, he tore his eyes from me and dropped my ponytail. Pulling another hat out of his bag, he put it on his head.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I watched him pull the hat low to hide his eyes.
He looked up at me then. Our eyes locked and I could feel the desire grow between us.
The desire changed to surprise when thunder cracked loudly above us. I jumped when a few fat raindrops hit the top of my head.
“Is that rain?” I asked in a hushed tone, afraid if I spoke louder it would scare away the storm.
The wind picked up, whipping the tree branches above us into a frenzy. Ryder grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet.
“This might be a bad storm,” he said, looking up at the sky.
We didn’t have long to find out. Within seconds, the sky opened up. Rain came down in sheets, drenching us.
“Get your water bottles!” Ryder shouted over the sound of thunder.
As Eva and Brody fumbled to get their water bottles out and opened, I struggled to stay on my feet against the force of the wind. It battered me, slinging strands of hair into my eyes and trying to knock me down. Against the rain, I watched as Brody quickly tossed the bottles to Ryder. He ran to prop them against a small outcropping of rocks, leaving them open to the elements. It suddenly occurred to me what he was doing — collecting rainwater for us to drink.
"Come on, Maddie!"
Eva grabbed my hand and pulled me next to a large tree. I leaned as close as possible to the rough bark, desperately seeking cover. In a matter of minutes, I was soaking wet. My t–shirt and shorts stuck to my body like a second skin, cooling my overheated flesh.
It felt wonderful.
Ryder ran for the cover of the trees also, stopping next to me. Rain ran down his arms and over the brim of his hat. His wet shirt was glued to his abdomen, outlining the muscles and the black inky patterns of his tattoos.
Heat crawl up my neck.
“You’re wet. Come here,” he said, reaching out to pull me toward him. Wrapping an arm around me, he gathered me close to his chest, providing perfect shelter from the rain. As his hands spread over my back, wrapping me in his arms, our bodies pressed together. I sucked in a breath when his erection nudged my abdomen.
“Sorry,” he said, huskily.
I looked up into his eyes. Rain ran down his cheeks and lips, catching on his unshaven jaw. I swallowed hard. Butterflies took flight in my stomach.
I wanted those lips on me again.
As the rain poured down, he tried to keep me covered but there was no escaping the storm. Rain pelted us from all sides. Ryder held me tightly as the wind threatened to tear us apart.
“Put your injured hand between us,” he said, taking my hand from his back and laying it on his chest, right over his heart. As his hard body pressed against mine, his warmth seeped through my clothes, heating my skin.
Absently, I ran the tip of my tongue along my lower lip, catching a raindrop. His eyes followed the movement, watching my mouth. One of his hands moved to the top of my bottom and brought me closer against him, pushing me against his pelvis.
I sucked in a breath. Oh, my! He wanted me again. He may deny his feelings all he wanted but his body screamed to possess mine again. His hardness made me want him with a need, a craving, that I’d never felt before. What was he doing to me?
His fingers squeezed my bottom gently, kneading me through my wet shorts. His other hand brushed raindrops from my cheek as I dropped my eyes to his chest, hiding my desire from him.
“Water,” Brody said, interrupting the moment by holding out two water bottles to us.
Taking one, I took a long drink while Ryder
’s arm stayed around me. The cool rainwater felt good going down my parched throat. I couldn’t get enough.
I watched Ryder’s strong throat work as he drank from his bottle. I never knew watching a man drink could be so erotic.
After we were done, Ryder returned the bottles to the rocks to refill again. The rain continued to pour down, turning the ground under our feet to mud. We stayed huddled under the trees, soaking wet and chilled.
Ryder stayed near me but didn’t touch me again. I silently reprimanded myself for wanting him. A girl needed a man that loved her, not just lusted after her. By the time my overheated blood had cooled and I told myself that I was a fool for loving him, the rain had tapered off to a soft mist.
Ryder gathered our water bottles and recapped them. I felt a huge amount of relief as he handed my bottle back to me. It was full. We had just been thrown a life vest in the form of water. We could survive days without food but not without hydration.
I wasn’t the only one happy with our luck. A huge smile spread across Ryder’s face, revealing perfect white teeth. The smile transformed his face from sullen and dangerous to lighthearted. I missed the laid back, playful Ryder. Somewhere along the way, he had become lost to me.
“I say we start walking while it’s cooler,” Brody said, trying to squeeze rainwater out of the bottom of his shirt.
“There’s nothing up ahead for a few miles. I say we walk until we find some shelter then bed down for the night,” Ryder said, stuffing the water bottles in our backpacks.
“Should we change clothes?” Eva asked. She was soaking wet like the rest of us.
“No, our clothes will dry quick in this heat,” I answered, pulling my wet shorts away from my skin.
I felt eyes on me. Glancing up, I found Ryder staring intensely down at my t–shirt. I realized my lacy bra was clearly outlined, leaving nothing to the imagination.
I started to tug the fabric away from my body but then stopped. Let Ryder suffer, my inner bad girl whispered. Let him see what he can’t have again. Tease him on what he’s missing. But I didn’t anticipate that the yearning in his eyes would leave me speechless.