Chapter Four

Carter

About an hour before reaching Remmy’s hometown, the snowfall increased rapidly, turning the highway to Connecticut into the road to hell. We were at a crawling speed and hadn’t encountered any cars for a while, a strange but welcome change and relief from the clogging traffic we’d had so far, which had slowed us down for a good hour or more. The roads here were icy as fuck, and I could hardly make out where we were headed. I was carefully following the snowy tire tracks along the road unfolding in front of us when suddenly everything went white.

I pushed down on the brakes as slowly as I could, feeling the antilock chatter as they tried to prevent the car from slipping and sliding. Thankfully, a moment later I had a clear view of the road again, if only briefly. I was playing with the thought of stopping, but suddenly the headlights of another car appeared behind us, and I didn’t want to risk an accident. I handled the gas as carefully as possible, but despite winter tires and the slow pace I’d tried to keep, we began to slide on ice.

Remmy screamed as I lost control over the car again, spinning out along the slippery road, snow everywhere. Panic made it difficult to think, and I silently begged the damn car not to lead us straight to our deaths. The snow was coming down harder, heavy and blinding, making it impossible for me to keep going.

We had to stop, there was no way around it.

I gripped the steering wheel as tightly as my fingers would allow and gently pressed down on the brake, maneuvering the car as best as the icy asphalt would allow. I tried again after a second. Damn. The car wasn’t slowing down at all!

Shit. Shit. Shit! We’re going to crash into something any second now.

“Carter! Watch out, we’re going to crash.” Remmy shouted, panicked. “Holy shit! Steer into the slide!”

My heart stuttered and my gut clenched as the car skidded around a wide banked curve. Without thinking of the consequences, I hit the brakes fast. Then there was an explosion of noise: the chatter of the brakes and the sound of Remmy screaming. Everything happened so fast. We’d hit an ice patch and I lost control, the car doing a complete 360 degree spin. It was dark, my hands shaking. Blinking rapidly, Remmy slowly filled my vision.

We had come to a halt, the windshield wipers struggling with the collecting snow, and I stared in horror at the scene in front of us. Somehow we had managed to avoid colliding with a row of trucks and cars parked along the road. Thank heavens, we hadn’t slammed right into them. I didn’t want to imagine the outcome if we’d caused an accident where it would be impossible for any ambulance to make their way out here. I hoped nobody ahead or behind us had gotten hurt.

“Holy shit. Wow. That was so close,” Remmy said breathlessly. I had to fight the urge to throw my arms around him in a hug.

“Behind us, look! They’re starting to back up.”

Remmy peered out the back, and I followed his gaze. The wipers were going at mad speed. Night had fallen at last, and everything around us was snowed in, yet the many headlights were blinding.

I cursed, my chest tightening with terror. “Looks like we’re trapped.”

“Oh God,” whispered Remmy, and then louder he said, “There’s snow everywhere. Look at that wind! Is it a snow squall? Holy shit, it is.”

“Yeah, man, it looks like a blizzard out there. I don’t think there’s a way out for now. The road’s clogged with vehicles ahead and lined up behind us.”

Remmy’s eyes grew comically wide, and he heaved a loud sigh.

“Can’t last too long though, right? The storm, I mean.” Remmy summoned a weak smile. “At least we didn’t crash into those cars there. An accident would’ve been worse.”

“Yeah.” So much worse. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Remmy shook his head. “You?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Glad you’re okay.”

Remmy gave me a wobbly smile. “Same.”

I turned the keys and the car went quiet. Everything was silent, the windows were fogged up. None of the cars in front of us were moving. Outside, the snow accumulated rapidly, and with the motor turned off, the chill in the air intensified fast. I unbuckled my seat belt, letting it snap into place, the clink of metal hitting hard plastic sounding loud in the silent car, then gestured to Remmy to do the same. It would be easier to stay calm if we were somewhat relaxed.

“Let’s catch our breath and…wait it out,” I suggested, since we probably weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Beside me, Remmy nodded and bit his lip, a flush coloring his cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and cup his cheeks to see if they were hot. Why did he have to look so damn cute? Always blushing, and with those sea-green bangs falling into his warm, brown eyes. Then there were his full, rosy lips that made it difficult to focus on anything other than wanting to press him into the seat and finally kiss him for hours. It had been one hell of a drive so far, the most mentally exhausting trip in fact, and I couldn’t wait to either be right up in Remmy’s personal space and devour him, or get as far away from him as possible so he didn’t get a chance to break my heart. Now that I’d gotten to know Remmy a little, I wanted to know more; I wanted to know everything. I couldn’t walk away from this; it was going to be all or nothing with Remmy.

I shot a glance at the rearview mirror and there was…nothing. Everything around us had gone dark, snow building on the windows so fast it was like staring into what I imagined a black hole must look like. The blizzard was beating down with a force I hadn’t ever seen in my life, and we were caught in a swirling storm of screaming silver, the world slowly disappearing under a coat of icy snow.

We were snowed in and freaking stranded in the middle of I-95.

“We should try the news channel. See what they know?” I suggested, fumbling with the keys, accidentally switching on the blinker. Remmy reached for the radio buttons, changing channels again and again, but there was only silence. Station after station.

“They’re all dead,” Remmy mumbled. “Damn reception is nonexistent.”

He was right. Nothing but static. This wasn’t looking good. Leaning forward in my seat, I took a breath and put my hand on Remmy’s leg. “Try again,” I encouraged, but the wan look on his face worried me some. Smiling reassuringly, I added hopefully, “One of them has to work.”

Nothing—wait. Ah. There.

“—storm unleashed a paralyzing blizzard along I-95, creating a nightmare for those heading home for the Christmas holidays. Major highways are being shut down. Airlines have already canceled hundreds of flights ahead of the front.”

Remmy’s head snapped around and our eyes locked. Simultaneously, we hunched forward in our seats to get closer to the radio, as if that would make it crackle less.

“Don’t get stranded, guys. Check your route. Travel in parts of—” A loud screech. “—become difficult to impossible—” A long moment of static. “—are already a mess in North—”

Remmy and I shared another concerned look, and the worry on his face didn’t help to reduce the speed of my pounding heart. Silently, I slid my hand higher on his thigh in an attempt to comfort him, or me, I wasn’t sure.

“—and will quickly become snow-covered and slippery from south to north on the remainder of I-95 in the Northeast.”

Then the radio went completely silent, for good this time.

“Holy— Did you hear that?”

I nodded, my throat tight and my voice stuck somewhere in the back of it. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We should’ve reached Remmy’s home by now; I would have dropped him off and be on my way back to college, where I’d waste my time with video games and junk food until school started again and my friends returned from their Christmas vacation. Remmy should be with his family enjoying their dinner by now, warm and happy, not cold and miserable, stuck in a tiny car with me.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Remmy grumbled, hitting the window with a fist. “After all this, I’m still going to miss Christmas with my family.”

“Hush, Rem.” I squeezed his thigh until he looked at me. “It’s going to be all right. I’m sure we’ll be on our way in no time. You’ll be having dinner with your family tomorrow night and not even remember this moment.”

“What if—” His voice went so quiet I barely heard him. “What if we freeze to death out here tonight?”

“What? No. No such thing is going to happen,” I said and reached for him with both hands. “Promise.” I caught his shoulders in a gentle hold and squeezed. “It’s winter; people get stranded all the time. Emergency crews know what to do and will work on getting the traffic moving, or they’ll get us to safety. We just have to be patient for a bit.”

Remmy nodded absentmindedly, his body rigid. He was honestly worried something would happen to us, wasn’t he? I waited until his eyes refocused on mine. “There’s a blanket on the back seat. How about we get comfortable while we wait it out?”

I could tell it didn’t calm him much. His leg was trembling, and he was searching my face for something more. What, exactly, I couldn’t tell.

“Okay. Sure,” Remmy whispered, and on a whim, I brushed my thumb across his pinked cheek. “You’re right, let’s do that.” The tiny smile tugging at his lips made me want to do something stupid—like lean in, grab the back of his head, and seal our lips in a kiss.

“You know what?” I said, trying to distract Remmy some more. “We should’ve gone snowboarding in the Poconos instead. This trip is turning out to be quite a pain in the ass.”

“Yes! We really should’ve done that.” To my surprise, laughter bubbled out of Remmy. “Might’ve been a lot safer too.”

“It’ll be fine, you’ll see,” I assured him. With the windows covered in a thick layer of fresh snow and ice, we were plunged into darkness. Not knowing what was going on outside made me uneasy. I reached for my phone, swiped my finger across the screen until the flashlight app was illuminating the interior. Beside me, Remmy relaxed a fraction. Then there was the distant sound of sirens. A police car, perhaps? I hoped it wasn’t an ambulance, that someone hadn’t gotten hurt. Maybe they needed help? There was a great chance venturing outside right now would be dangerous as hell, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to check out our surroundings. See it with my own eyes. I hated being helpless, and realizing how afraid Remmy was only intensified the urge to assess the situation and get us out of here as fast as possible.

“Hey, Remmy? I think I’ll go have a look outside really fast.” Remmy stared at me wide-eyed, his pink tongue darting out and brushing his lower lip. “Why don’t you climb into the back seat and relax, okay? I’ll be quick.”

♥