Page 20 of Striking the Match (Redwood Bay Fire #3)

Cassius

It all happens so fast.

One minute, all I can see is Teddy, my heart racing with joy as I hold his hands and he tells me he wants to give this a try—give us a try. The rain falling around us actually felt romantic.

Then it was like the ground turned to liquid. I’ve never seen anything like it. For a natural disaster, it sure looked distinctly un -natural.

In a flash, Teddy is screaming at me to run.

It’s like the landslide is aiming for us, which makes sense as the path we’re on is in a sloping valley. Perfect for funneling the wave of earth, trees and other debris right on our heels.

I’ve never felt so terrified in my life as Teddy and I sprint as fast as we can.

Our pace is evenly matched, which is just as well because I’m not fucking letting go of his hand until we’re safe.

But the adrenaline searing through my veins is making it incredibly difficult to think straight.

Part of me knows that the chances of us outrunning this thing before it’s on top of us aren’t looking good.

My brain is just yelling GO GO GO at me.

Teddy’s the professional, though. So when he tugs me and cries, “This way!” I don’t question it.

He darts right, dragging me with him. I look back to see the front of the landslide is heart-stoppingly close, probably only twenty feet behind us. Like me, it appears that Teddy’s realized it’s moving too fast for us to get ahead of.

So apparently, we’re going to get above it instead.

He hurtles himself up the nearest tree, scaling it like a mountain goat in the blink of an eye.

I waste no time following him, my hands trembling as I haul myself higher and higher.

Even as the rubble cascades against the base, filling the valley we only just walked through, we don’t stop until the tree gets too spindly to safely take our weight.

Teddy throws his arms around me, dragging me into a hug with the trunk between us. I do the same, clinging to him for dear life as the ground shakes below us. The volume of debris is staggering as the landslide grows, trees toppling over all around us.

It’s not that surprising when our refuge starts to lean, but my stomach drops sickeningly all the same.

“HOLD ON!” Teddy bellows over the cacophony of sound. His eyes lock with mine. I can tell he’s scared, just like me. But he’s not giving up, so neither will I.

With a lurch, the roots break free from underneath us, and the world tilts. Grit flies into my mouth as I bellow incoherently, our tree slamming down. We find ourselves surfing the wave, thundering through the forest at breakneck speed.

The branches give us some shelter at least, but I’m still getting scratched to shit.

I try and keep my eyes open to see where we’re going, hoping that if something unexpected is up ahead that’ll give me an extra second or two’s warning to brace for it.

But my instinct is to protect my eyes by closing them, especially as my arms are too busy gripping Teddy like a vise to shield my face.

So when our tree flips, it takes me completely by surprise.

I cry out and almost lose my hold, but Teddy’s strong arms aren’t letting me go anywhere.

Then we’re rolling, being bashed about like we’re on the inside of a washing machine.

My teeth feel like they’re getting jammed into my skull, and my skin is burning.

We twist and turn, losing the few branches we had left that were desperately trying to protect us.

And then we slow.

As quickly as it happened, we suddenly grind to a halt. Dust and debris fly around us, but the rain is still gently falling, none the wiser of the carnage that just occurred. I gasp for air, blinking as the ground finally stops shifting.

“Is it over?” I rasp.

Teddy nods, looking ashen. Gingerly, we let go of each other. “I think so. Are you all right?”

I’m still trembling, but I take stock of my battered and bruised body with a wince. “Everything aches, but I think I’m basically still in one piece.”

Teddy pushes himself into a seated position, then rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck. “Yeah, I think I’m good.”

“What the fuck was that?” I ask as I sit up as well, shaking grit and muck from my arms before brushing off my torso. “Other than scary as shit, I mean. That didn’t feel like enough rain to do so much damage.”

Teddy shakes his head, still looking around at the aftermath.

“No, it was probably an accumulation of all the bone-dry weather we’ve had over the past few months, and then the torrential rain a couple of weeks ago was what probably made the area unstable.

The rain today was probably the last straw. ”

“So just a freak occurrence? Global warming?” I ask and he nods. “Lucky us.”

I chuckle darkly, but he’s still worriedly scanning the horizon as dark clouds continue rolling overhead, the rain washing everything clean around us.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened elsewhere today.

There’s a strong chance we could see more landslides and flooding down the line if we get another big storm. ”

It strikes me how lucky we were…how lucky I was. What would have happened if Teddy hadn’t been here with me? I don’t think I’d be sitting here talking about weather patterns, that’s for damn sure.

“I can’t believe we didn’t get flattened like pancakes,” I say thickly. “Teddy, hey.”

I reach out and snag his fingers with my own to get his attention and stop him fretting for a second.

He blinks at me in surprise, but he’s going to have to get used to that.

If he’s really now mine, it’ll be impossible that I won’t want to touch him all the time.

He glances down at our intwined hands, then lets out a relieved little laugh before meeting my gaze again.

My heart aches with pride as I look into his wide green eyes.

“You saved us,” I say, not even embarrassed when my voice cracks. “You saved our lives, Teddy. Just like you saved Kiki. That’s…fuck, that’s so incredible. You know that, right? You’re incredible.”

His throat bobs as he swallows, wet eyes flicking away briefly before he smiles sheepishly. “I was just doing my job,” he says.

I laugh and shake my head. “I was told off recently for thinking it’s my job to save and protect everyone. But that’s not your job, Teddy. It’s just who you are, isn’t it? So thank you. I mean it.”

He blushes, but he’s still smiling as he nods at me. “It was my pleasure.”

I’m still not convinced he’s really listening to me, but I feel like we’ve made progress at least. I’m determined to make him see how exceptional he is. If anyone’s unworthy of being in a relationship here, it’s me.

Teddy squeezes my fingers, and that makes me look down at our intwined hands. “Oh, your cut?” I say in concern for his previous injury.

He laughs and shakes his head, though. “Nah. That’s mostly healed. In fact, I bet thanks to that bandage my palm is now the least battered part of my body.”

I laugh as well in relief. “Well, that’s one bit of luck, I guess.”

We’re in a sea of rubble, but the park is huge, and not too far away there are plenty of trees that are still standing. “I think the rain might be letting up,” Teddy comments, and it seems he’s right. The storm is passing.

“What should we do now?” I ask. I pull my backpack off to get my phone out, but we didn’t have any signal up here even before the landslide. Teddy has sensibly got a compass out instead of his cell.

“Okay. South is that way,” he says, pointing. “I can’t tell where we’ve ended up. But if we head that way, we’ll eventually hit the highway, no matter what. We can either try and make it back to our cars from there, or if we find some service, we can call for help.”

“Good plan,” I say appreciatively. “Simple, but effective.”

He looks skyward, then checks the time. “We’re going to start losing the light soon.”

I nod, understanding what he’s saying. Trying to blunder through the forest in the dark doesn’t sound like much fun. “We better get our hustle on, then.”

With a groan, he gets to his feet, reaching out to help me do the same.

As soon as I try and put weight on my left foot, I know I’ve got a serious goddamned problem.

“Fuck!” I cry, crumpling straight back on my ass. Teddy immediately drops by my side, his expression concerned. I grimace apologetically at him. “I think it’s sprained,” I tell him.

“Not broken?” he asks, his hands flying to my ankle to start gently palpating it.

I wince and suck in a breath as his thumbs find the tender spots. “I don’t think so. I’d have felt the snap. I didn’t even notice this until now with all my other aches and scrapes. But still…”

Guilt and shame surge through me even though I know this isn’t my fault. Facts are facts, however.

“You’re not going to be able to walk very far or very fast, are you?” Teddy guesses. I shake my head, and he exhales, nodding and frowning at the same time. “Okay. New plan, then.”

“You should go,” I say in a rush. I’m not going to hold him back or put him in any more danger. “Get help. I’ll be fine.”

He stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Absolutely fucking not,” he spits out, surprising me somewhat. He’s usually so sweet, I wouldn’t expect such vehemence from him.

It’s kind of hot.

“Leave you here alone and injured as night falls? No, that’s not happening, Cassius.

This is the new plan. I’m going to slowly and carefully help you get away from this disaster zone.

We’re going to find some shelter, I’ll build a fire, and we’ll hunker down for the night.

In the morning, we’ll start slowly moving again, and maybe then I’ll consider running for the highway to flag someone down.

But only if I can leave you in a visible, easy to find location. Deal?”

“Yes, sir,” I say a little breathlessly.

He seems to realize how bossy he’s just been and blushes, but I’m more worried about calming my dick down right now than I am with my stupid sprained ankle.