Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Rocky
The quiet of the empty locker room surrounded her as she let the hot water of the shower beat on her tired muscles.
The last of the cheerleaders left as she’d limped toward her locker.
After calling out goodbyes to her, the door closed behind them and she was alone.
After the day’s practice and its whistle blows and players yelling plays the quiet was heavenly.
Practice was over early for a change. Thank God for small favors, she thought as she turned off the shower and grabbed her towel.
After Butch had found out about her stalker he’d stopped his hazing. He could be a nice guy when he wanted to. They’d had a long talk over beer after she’d made the police report and they were, not friends, but not really enemies either.
She’d just pulled on her clean shirt when the lights went out.
Well, shit. Security must be closing up the stadium for the night.
She didn’t think she’d taken that long in the shower but…
the exit sign over the door glowed, giving her just enough light to find her phone.
Tapping the flashlight app, she used her other hand to throw everything in her bag.
After checking the shower to verify she had everything, she turned to the door.
The light from her phone dimmed and went out, leaving her in the dark. “Well, shit,” she mumbled when she realized she must have forgotten to charge her phone last night. Slowly, she made her way toward the exit, walking carefully so she didn’t run into any of the benches.
The darkness surrounded her as she stepped into the hallway. Thunder rumbled as she crept toward the end of the hallway. Once she got there, she should be able to see the outer doors.
A sound caught her attention. She stopped and listened, the sound seeming to come from somewhere in front of her. Peering into the darkness, she wondered what was making that sound.
The thunder came closer together, louder and louder, until it sounded like a train running though the building. She could feel the rumble in her chest as a boom shook the building before the air whooshed past her. “What the…?” she screeched as she turned to run toward the outer door.
Strong hands grabbed her arms and held her in place. “This way,” she heard in her ear as she was dragged back toward the locker room.
“Let go,” she screeched, trying to pull away from the unknown assailant. She was surprised to see it was Butch. “What’s going on?” she said as she wrenched herself out of his grip. What the fuck was his problem?
“Quit fighting me! There’s a tornado and we need to get somewhere safe right now.”
The rumbling intensified and seemed to be coming from the walls and the floor. “What?” she yelled to be heard above the noise.
“Move your ass, there’s a tornado headed this way.”
She stumbled behind him as he pulled her back toward the cheerleaders’ locker room. She was sure she was going to have bruises on her arm from his hand.
More rumbles and then breaking glass. The air whipped around her as he pulled her into the locker room and slammed the door behind them.
She could hear the wind howling through the hallway.
He pushed her into the far corner of the shower and covered her with his body as the locker room door swung open and the wind blew through the room, carrying dirt and who knows what else.
She held onto him, afraid the wind would rip him away from her.
Growing up in Indiana she knew about tornadoes but thankfully had never experienced one until now.
Terrified she was going to die, she hugged her knees and prayed they’d be spared.
Another crash and then everything went dead silent.
She opened her eyes and raised her head as Butch let go of her.
“Is it over?”
Butch
He’d been standing just inside the door watching the wind blow the rain almost sidesways, waiting for the rain to let up a bit before he headed for his car.
He saw Rocky’s car was still there and wondered why she hadn’t left yet.
His phone blared with an alert. There was a tornado headed toward the stadium.
Had she heard the alert? Why was he worried about her?
That didn’t matter, he needed to make sure she was somewhere safe. Yeah, he didn’t want her on his team but that didn’t mean he wanted her hurt or worse. Frowning, he hurried toward the cheerleaders’ locker room, the light from the glass doors enough to see where he was going.
Thunder boomed overhead in an almost continuous rumble as the daylight dimmed. He ran faster when he saw her creeping toward him. He had to get both of them to safety.
Grabbing her arms, he pulled her back toward the locker room, not caring if she stumbled, his only thought was getting them into the shower room where the walls might give them some extra protection.
“Let go,” she screeched as she pulled herself out of his grasp. “What’s going on?”
Well, she obviously hadn’t heard the alert.
“Quit fighting me! There’s a tornado and we need to get somewhere safe right now.
” He heard breaking glass and then the wind was whipping through the hallway.
Once the door was shut behind them, he pushed her toward the showers.
Shoving her toward the farthest corner he covered her with his body, just knowing he had to keep her safe.
Where that feeling came from, he didn’t know but he didn’t have time to worry about it now.
The wind forced its way into the room and whipped around them, trying to pull him away from her.
He didn’t know if he really believed in God but he mumbled a prayer anyway as the world seemed to be tearing itself apart around them.
Then nothing. It didn’t taper off, it just stopped. The silence was almost worse.
He heard Rocky’s voice, “Is it over?”
He raised his head and looked around. “I think so.” He used the flashlight app on his phone to scan the locker room, he couldn’t see any damage. Reaching out to help her stand, he ran his hands up and down her arms and legs. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay thanks to you. My phone was dead and I didn’t hear the alert. How did you know I was here?”
“I saw your car as I waiting for the rain to let up when the alert came through. I’m glad I was here, otherwise you might have been hurt or worse.” His heart thumped crazily in his chest from adrenaline and fear.
She brushed at her clothes, wrinkling her nose. “I think all the dirt blowing around stuck to me.”
“You look pretty good to me,” he admitted without thinking about it. Crap, he hadn’t meant to say that.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Don’t you know how beautiful you are?” he asked and she gasped.
“What? You think I’m beautiful?” Shock was plain on her face.
“Well, yeah, who wouldn’t? Just because I don’t want you on my team doesn’t mean I didn’t notice how pretty you are.” Wow, this adrenaline or whatever needed to wear off fast before he told her everything. That he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her eyes and kiss those lips.
Something crashed to the floor and she jumped into his arms.
Oh, what the hell, he could blame it on the tornado. He kissed her. Not some little peck on the cheek, a full on, tongue invading kiss that had his blood buzzing with want. He couldn’t get enough of her.
She pulled away. “Dude, what the hell?” shc screeched.
Contrary to her words, he could see the want in her eyes.
“Sorry, I don’t know what…” He was well and truly fucked. She was untouchable.
Sirens approached as they carefully made their way out of the stadium