Chapter 22
Kyle
The ground is spongy under my feet, and I can barely see anything in the downpour, even with the small flashlight held between my teeth.
It’s so cold I can’t feel my fingers, but the tap of water hitting the leaves in the canopy above urges me on like a war drum.
I grab a large branch and drag it toward Jekyll’s desperate barking.
I lose my focus when he goes quiet, but then my boot starts sliding toward the hole that swallowed my dog minutes ago.
I pull back and lean over the void surrounded by undergrowth, blinking away the raindrops falling in my face.
The glow of the flashlight catches Jekyll’s eyes below, and he yelps as soon as he spots me above.
His fur floats in the muddy water already reaching his neck, and if I don’t do something, he might never cuddle up to me again.
I should have paid more attention, driven with more care. Or not driven drunk. Such a bad fucking idea, but I guess I’m filled with those. From proposing to Madison, to following a dude just because the sex was good.
I’m a fuckup.
And if crashing my car into a tree during a storm wasn’t bad enough, I ended up having to call Logan for help after Jekyll dashed into the woods and ended up falling into a sinkhole.
“Kyle! Where are you?” I hear Logan’s voice from afar as lightning strikes in the distance, briefly turning the darkness into a blurry day.
My heart leaps, and I turn toward the voice, flashing my light to attract attention. I’m beyond my pride. “Over here! Help!”
“Stay where you are!” The other voice belongs to Levi, and I all but leap with joy when I realize that Logan brought reinforcements.
Moments later, Logan emerges from the wall of rain first, dressed in a Rainbowology T-shirt and a worn coat. “Where is he? Are you okay?” he asks, as if our… whatever it was, hasn’t ended so brutally only hours ago.
Emotion floats up to my chest, because despite the angry words I said earlier, he’s still come to my aid.
But as the boom of thunder rolls above, I gesture toward the hole and squeeze the branch.
“He fell in, and it’s filling with water, and the walls are so slippery that I can’t just get in to help him! ”
Logan pats my shoulder. “It’s good you waited. You could have both gotten stuck in there otherwise.”
Levi shakes his head, his long hair soaked and dripping. “You shouldn’t have been driving!” But he’s brought a long rope and is already unwinding it.
“We talked it through on the way,” Logan says, taking off the jacket. “I’ll go in, get Jekyll, and then you two can pull me up with the rope. But are you sure you’re okay? We’ll help him either way, but if you have a concussion, or something broken, we need to know.”
I shake my head. “What? No, I’m fine. But I should be the one to get him.
It’s my fault that he ended up there,” I say, unsure the branch I dragged here will be of any use after all.
I kind of hoped Jekyll could in some way climb up its length but realistically, it would have been way too vertical for him.
“You’ve been drinking and crashed a car. There’s no way we're letting you go down there,” Levi says and wraps the rope around Logan.
They’ve brought two large flashlights, which Logan puts them in the grass, close to where the muddy hole slopes down.
“He’s right. And if worst comes to worse… you can’t swim.” Logan glances to the rapidly-filling pit. “Hang in there, Jekyll!”
The dog recognizes him and lets out a little whine. I don’t have the energy left in me to analyze the things their connection makes me feel.
I want to protest, point out that Logan’s newly healed leg might cramp, and that Jekyll is my responsibility, but he checks the hold of the rope and then squeezes my arm as I stand still, like an idiot who’s swallowed his tongue.
I flinch when lightning cuts across the sky again, but when Levi whistles at me, wrapping the other end of the rope around a tree, I join him after one more glance at Logan.
“Be careful.” Because no matter how much he hurt me tonight, of course I want him to be safe.
I’m left stunned when he leans in and kisses me on the lips, but before I can say a thing, he slides into the muddy hole and disappears from sight.
I shiver, but when I step toward the edge, Levi calls me over again, and this time I rush to his side, grabbing the rope.
My head is stormy as the sky above, but I choose not to think of the electric sensation still lingering on my lips.
They might as well have been struck by lightning, but my questions don’t matter when Jekyll is in danger.
I freeze when the rope tightens, but then, I swear I hear Logan shout, “Jekyll, baby! Jekyll baby!”
Despite being unable to see them, I know what he’s doing, and when he calls for us to help him up, I grin, knowing that my dog leapt into Logan’s arms like he had at the hospital.
“Good boy,” I mutter even though he can’t hear me.
“Wrap it around your wrist if that helps you hold the wet rope,” Levi says, and then we pull.
I stand close to the hole but can barely see inside. Right now, it feels like the edge of an abyss, and Logan is trapped there with Jekyll.
“You doing okay?” Levi yells to Logan as I strain, digging my heels into the slippery mud to pull another few inches.
“Yes! But I’m holding Jekyll! Wait. Kyle, come over, I’ll pass him to you!”
Levi makes another loop around the tree, and I let go, overwhelmed by worry. What if Logan falls farther in and breaks his neck? What if the hole is part of some old mine and can sink even farther?
I’m breathless by the time I get to my knees to lower the risk of the mud sucking me into the hollow. The rope digs into the fork in a bare root likely belonging to the tree we’re using for leverage. Mud soaks into my jeans, but I crawl forward, following the spooky glow of the large flashlights.
When I lean over the hole, Logan’s face remains in the shadow, but he’s close, and I want to grab his hand. But when Jekyll whines at the sight of me, I remember what I’m meant to do.
“Come here. Come on, boy,” I say in as steady a voice as I can muster.
With a strained grunt, Logan lifts Jekyll over his head. The poor dog is tucking its tail in terror, his bright eyes on me, and I pray that he isn’t spooked by lightning again, because that’s what prompted him to run off when I crashed the car.
“Go on, Jekyll, go to daddy.” Logan gives Jekyll’s behind a push into my arms, but we’re dealing with sixty five pounds of dog, so I bet he can’t wait to have him out of his outstretched arms. I sink deep, ready to help them both, and when I pull at Jekyll, he understands what’s needed of him and crawls over me like I wanted him to do with the branch.
“Yes, good boy,” I shout as his paw digs into my shoulder, but moments later, he’s safe, and I’m left staring down at Logan. I can barely breathe, but blood rushes to my head as I grab the rope and pull despite it cutting into the flesh of my hands.
We’re both covered in mud, and he’s waist-deep in murky water. All I can think of is getting him out of there. Levi is in tune with me and while Jekyll isn’t helping us with his whining, at least he’s not approaching the edge of the hole.
Logan grabs the rope and as we pull, he clenches his teeth and climbs up the muddy wall of the pit.
“All good there?” Levi yells, but while my heels sink into the mud, and I have to shift my position to keep myself from falling over, I can sense Logan making steady progress even before his head emerges above the edge of the hole.
“Come on. Please,” I whisper, staring at him, but all I can do is keep the rope steady while he pulls himself up. At least I know that after two months of using crutches he’s got arms of steel.
I could cry with relief when I see one of his hands emerge from the dark pit. All I want to do is pull him up, but it’s too early, and if I let go now, he might just slide back in, so I brace myself, even though the wait is excruciating.
We pull until Logan crawls out as if the earth is giving birth to him. He’s covered in mud, panting, but as soon as I can, I let go of the rope, and drag him farther away from danger.
He’s tired and gasps into my ear when I tighten my arms around him, pressing close despite it making me shiver even harder as cold water is released from our clothes.
“Thank you. I thought he’d drown. And then I’d drown trying to get him,” I mutter as fatigue turns my limbs into lead.
Jekyll pushes between us, just as dirty, and starts licking Logan’s face.
“That’s okay, boy, I know, I love you too,” Logan says, stroking the dog’s wet head.
“Let’s get going, just in case,” Levi says, untying the rope, but I don’t feel strong enough to walk yet and hold on to Logan as our surprising kiss returns to the forefront of my mind. Why did he initiate that if he doesn’t want to be with me?
Logan raises his hand and waves at Levi. “Just give me a second, man!” He pushes Jekyll’s muzzle away and reaches for the jacket he’d left on the ground.
Lightning illuminates everything, but I only see Logan’s face?wet, with a brown streak on the cheekbone, which I wipe off with my thumb. The anger that brewed inside me less than two hours back means nothing now, because he’s here when he’s needed.
“I’m sorry I left. It was so unnecessary.
You just wanted to help,” I say even though the thought of him seeing other people cuts my heart into tiny pieces.
But he told me from the start that he couldn’t give me anything beyond his friendship and sex, and it was me who refused to acknowledge that he meant it.
Logan cups my face, looking frantic. “No. Don’t apologize. You were right. You bared your heart, and I was a coward. And for the record, I have to believe in love, because you exist. I have no alternative. I guess I’m still a shithead, because I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.”
I swallow, leaning into his touch as my whole body starts pulsing. What is happening? “What do you see?”
He lets out a trembly breath and reaches into the pocket of the jacket. He pulls out a simple ring, and presents it to me, right there, kneeling in the mud with me.
“Marry me. Be mine. And never leave.”
I can’t breathe, and for a moment there’s bright spots at the backs of my eyelids, but he isn’t laughing it off as a joke and keeps holding my face so gently I wish to just lean into him and rest until the rain stops.
“I… what?” I utter.
“Is that a ring from my Lost & Found box?” Levi asks, his voice penetrating our bubble like a knife.
“I’ll give it back when I buy a new one,” Logan says dismissively, but never even bothers to spare our friend a glance, completely focused on me. “I don’t know how I missed it. You make me packed lunches.” He takes deep breaths as rain drips from his chin.
I’m so dumbfounded, I still kind of feel like this is some kind of metaphor, not an actual proposal, so I laugh. “Yeah, I’m a good roommate. Even my dog does chores.”
Logan huffs in frustration, stroking my face with his thumb.
“Kyle. You’re not listening. I’m serious.
Stay. Be my roommate forever. I know it’s soon, and that we both have shitty almost-weddings as baggage, but I want this.
I’ve been denying myself for dumb reasons, so if you want me, I want us to do this.
Marry me?” he asks again, and this time it hits me he’s serious.
He’s really proposing after only two months together. Who does that?
I did.
And yet, my mouth stretches into a wide smile, and everything inside me flutters, as if all the sleeping butterflies in my stomach have awakened. “You’re faster than I was with Madison,” I joke, cupping his face in my hands. “All this because of my cooking?”
His eyes light up, and he smiles. “Yes, I need to lock that steak down for life. I remember it being very juicy.”
I chuckle despite tears stinging my eyes.
Nobody’s gonna see me cry with this rain though, so I don’t try to stop them and lean in, pressing our lips together.
A warm wave passes through my body, and as I curl my toes, his tongue slides in my mouth, so hot I can’t stop the little moan leaving my lips.
I love him so much.
I missed his kisses more than he’d ever know. I could melt into his hands when they slide around me and pull me close.
But all good things come to an end, and once lightning strikes again, Levi clears his throat loudly enough to make his intention clear.
Logan pulls away, after one more peck on my lips, then holds up the ring again. “So?”
I feel a choking sensation in my throat, so I nod, grinning like an idiot. He attempts to put the band on my ring finger, but when it doesn’t fit, the ring ends up on my pinkie, and while it’s probably just a cheap thing, I already want to keep it forever.
Jekyll can’t hold his excitement in any longer and licks my face.