AllFreeNovel
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He sat up and frowned. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know.” The car was dark, completely covered by snow, but sunlight slipped through the cracks where the wind left the covering thin.
She dug through her purse for her phone and shivered. No missed calls. “Just after seven. Maybe we can flag down a plow driver and they can give us a lift back to town.”
“I’m staying at the Motor Inn up the road.”
She frowned at him. “Why? I mean, how come you’re not staying with your family?”
He shrugged and didn’t answer as he climbed back into the driver seat, but she sensed there was a reason he chose not to stay at his parents’. They were all crazy in that family anyway.
“Shit. My shoes are still soaked. They’re ruined.” He wrung out his socks and cold dribbles fell into the cupholder on the consol.
She tried to open the passenger door but it was iced shut. “Can you get your door open?” She didn’t like small spaces.
He pulled the handle and shoved the door, but nothing budged. He dug his shoulder into it and shoved harder. “It’s frozen.”
Claustrophobia set in. “Ram your back into it. Use your leg muscles.”
He did as she said and shoved harder. A small seal gave way, but the door wouldn’t fully open. She began to sweat despite the frigid temperature.
“You’ve almost got it. Push harder.”
“I’m pushing as hard as I can.”
Her lungs tightened. What if they suffocated? What if they couldn’t get out? How would she pee? The moment she thought about pee, she really had to go.
Twisting her knees together, she squirmed in the passenger seat. “Oh, my God, I have to get out of this car!”
Realizing she was having some sort of fit, he frowned at her. “Are you okay?”
“Just open the door!”
“I can’t!” he snapped defensively.
She scrubbed her hands over her face, pushing her hair back and trying not to panic. She couldn’t breathe and she was going to pee her pants.
“Jesus, you’ve got a killer shiner.”
Her hand absentmindedly touched the bruise on her cheek and she winced. The heavy rumble of an oncoming truck roared closer and she climbed over him, shoving at the door and accidentally kneeing him in the balls.
“Aurghhh—fuck, Erin!”
“Help! We’re trapped in here! Please!” she screamed and slammed her hands on the window.
Giovanni winced and covered his ears. “You’re crazy!”
She jerked the handle and beeped the horn, pushing and shoving until the door finally snapped open. Icy snow fell down his collar as his upper body toppled out of the car and she climbed over him, frantic to breathe in the fresh air and be out of that car-shaped coffin.
A plow truck barreled out of reach and she slid onto her feet. Standing in a knee-deep pile of snow, she screamed, “Wait! Come back!”
“He can’t hear you.”
“How do you know?” She glared at him.
It was no use. The truck hustled down the interstate, disappearing in the distance.
“Damnit!”
