The Outskirts (The Outskirts Duet #1)

“Fuck,” I cursed at the locked door.

I shuffled back a little and with one forceful kick, I managed to break the window of the door free from its frame. I made myself as small as I could and lowered myself down inside. Sawyer was nowhere to be seen. Debris was tossed all around the inside since the floor was now a wall. The mattress from the bed was leaning against the wall.

I stepped over the cabinets and flipped the mattress up. Sure enough, there she was, unconscious. A trickle of blood staining her hairline on the right side of her forehead. I knew I shouldn’t move her but if another gust of wind came through she could be tossed around again and risk even further injury. The only problem was I couldn’t lift her out of the camper. The window was too small for us to both fit through at the same time. The wind whistled outside and reminded me that I had to try.

I bent over and lifted her as gently as I could. Her limbs were limp, flapping over my arms. I did my best to support her neck as I climbed over the cabinets, adjusting her so I could unlock and push open the camper door above us. The rain soaked us through in seconds. I climbed out on my ass and swung my legs over to the side, dropping us down. I fell to my knees in order to take the severity of the impact, suddenly grateful for the soft wet mud.

It felt like a fucking eternity to get her into the house but once inside I jogged to my bedroom and set her down on my bed as gingerly as I could. “Sawyer,” I said roughly, leaning above her. “Sawyer!”

Sawyer moaned softly and stirred, but didn’t regain consciousness. Streams of pink tinted water dripped down her face. “Shit,” I cursed, trying to remember where the fuck I’d put my phone. I ran to the kitchen and opened drawer after drawer, emptying them of the contents and tossing them to the floor until I found my phone in the very last one. I powered it on and thankfully the screen came to life.

I pushed the emergency button and within seconds a familiar voice answered the phone. “Outskirts 911,” Miller said. “What’s your emergency.”

“Miller, it’s Finn.” I could feel his surprise on the other end of the line.

“Finn, what are you…what the fuck is going on?”

I walked back over to Sawyer who hadn’t so much as budged. I knelt down next to her and had no choice but to say my least favorite words in the English language. I tugged at my hair and lowered my voice. “I need your help.”





Chapter Eighteen





Sawyer





The line between consciousness and unconsciousness was still a blur when I heard voices floating around above me.

“Wait, where are you going?” Finn asked.

“The roads are flooded in and out of town. I’ve got to set up some barricades,” Josh answered.

Josh is in Finn’s house?

“What do I do?” Finn sounded frantic. Panicked even.

“Just get her out of those wet clothes and keep her awake until Miller gets here.”

Everything was still fuzzy around the edges until a hand grabbed me by my ankle. My eyes shot open to find Finn crouched beside me. His hair was wet, some of it had fallen forward and was matted against his temple and cheek.

“I have to get you out of these wet clothes,” he said, reaching for the waistband of my shorts.

“No!” I shouted, scrambling up the bed but not getting far.

Finn climbed over my lap and caged me in with his muscular thighs. He stretched his arms, resting his hands on the wall above the headboard.

“You don’t have a choice. You hit your head. Your clothes are soaked. They’re coming off.” Finn pinned me to the mattress with his determined glare.

“No,” I repeated, trying to wiggle out from his grip. All I managed to do was sway an inch or two from side to side. The motion made my head swim. I closed my eyes tightly and suddenly felt the need to sleep.

“Hey,” Finn shouted, snapping me back to the present. “You need to stay awake.”

“I can do that,” I started. “I can also take my own clothes off,” I said.

Finn considered me for a moment before easing up off me, giving me room to sit up slowly.

“You have to leave the room,” I said, reaching for the hem of my shirt. The room started to spin around me, faster and faster until Finn’s arms were around me, holding me upright.

“Not a chance,” he growled.

He sat me up and reached for the hem of my shirt.

“Don’t look,” I managed to say. The cold material of my shirt clung to my skin, my teeth chattered as I spoke. Finn was right. My clothes needed to come off.

“I can’t promise you that,” Finn said, slowly lifting my shirt to my shoulders. He pulled my elbows through the sleeves once it was around my neck. “I wish I could promise you that, but I can’t.” He lifted it over my head and it landed with a smack against the floor.

He’d seen me naked before, but somehow standing in a shower and lying in a bed might as well have been two different planets because the embarrassment and uncertainty and rush of dizziness I was feeling couldn’t all have been from hitting my head.

I covered my breasts with my arms and shut my eyes tightly as if I couldn’t see him looking at my naked body then it wasn’t happening.

“Are you covering up because you’re embarrassed or because you don’t think I’ll like what I see?” Finn asked. He wasn’t teasing. He wasn’t mocking. And when I opened my eyes to meet his, all I saw was sincerity and concern etched on his face.

“Both,” I admitted, feeling my entire body turn red.

Finn gently pushed against my shoulders so I’d lay back down against the pillow. It smelled like him. Clean and woodsy.

He unbuttoned my shorts and hooked his fingers in the elastic of my panties. “Don’t be embarrassed,” he said, which had the opposite effect, making me squirm inside my skin. “Because you’re beautiful.” He wriggled the material over my hips and butt and tossed the wet garments on top of my shirt. “All of you is beautiful.” I glanced up at him to find Finn’s gaze was between my legs. “And I can assure you that I like what I see. Very much.” He cleared his throat. “Too much.”

Finn’s words seemed to help me feel slightly more at ease. Well, his words and the blanket he covered me with. I turned to my side and he was quiet. So quiet I’d thought he’d left the room until the mattress dipped and cool air hit my backside from the blanket being lifted.

“What are you doing?” I croaked, feeling panicked yet again. I glanced over to find Finn tossing his wet shorts to the floor.

“Making sure you don’t fall asleep.”

“You can’t do that from the other side of the room?” I asked, scooting as far over to the edge of the bed as I could. “With clothes on?”

“Of course, I can,” Finn said; reaching out and grabbing me by the waist he dragged me backward across the bed until I was flush against his hard body. I don’t know if it was because it felt so good and I’d been so cold, or because of my head injury, but I found myself closing my eyes and momentarily enjoying the feeling of his warm skin. “But isn’t this better?”