Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle

Author:Katie Ruggle [Ruggle, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

Although Dahlia dozed off easily, the creeping cold woke her soon after. No matter how small she curled up inside her sleeping bag or how tightly she drew the drawstring closure over her face, she couldn’t seem to get warm. The icy air soaked right through her sleeping bag. Judging by the sound of Winston’s steady, deep breathing, he wasn’t having any issues staying warm.

“Rated for temperatures as low as thirty below, my foot,” she grumbled under her breath. Although her words weren’t much louder than a breath, she went still for a second, listening to make sure she hadn’t woken her tent buddy. Listening to him breathe brought back the memory of how his thinly covered chest appeared in the dim light earlier, and her heartbeat sped up, making her blood whoosh in her ears. That should’ve warmed her, but Dahlia was pretty sure she was beyond hope. She was destined to be a fashionista-shaped icicle for the rest of her life. A fashionista pop.

Once she was reassured by the audible sound of Winston’s breathing—not quite snoring but loud enough to convince her he was still asleep—she wiggled a little closer to him. All that muscle mass had to work like a furnace, she figured. If she could get close enough, it’d be like having a huge, warm rock next to her. If it worked for a cold-blooded lizard, then why not for her?

The problem, she decided in frustration, was all the layers of extremely insulating materials separating them. Two sleeping bags blocked Dahlia’s warm-rock access, and having a heat source so close that she couldn’t access was making her wild with frustration. She considered herself a reasonably considerate person who respected other’s boundaries, but this was the very definition of an extreme situation. Forget personal space—her feet were frozen.

“Winston,” she whispered, and his breath immediately caught and went silent. Not a deep sleeper then. She opened her mouth to make her request but then shut it again. As cold as she was, she was suddenly embarrassed and had no idea how to phrase such an intrusive question.

“What?” he asked at a normal volume. His voice was a little huskier than his usual growl, but overall he sounded shockingly awake for someone who’d been asleep a literal second ago. “Dahlia? You okay?”

The concern in his tone, as rough as it was, eased her awkwardness until all she felt was cold again. “I’m freezing. Let me in.”

His pause was louder than his words had been. “Let you in…where?”

“Where do you think?” Bracing herself for a rush of cold air, she whipped her sleeping bag zipper down and kicked her feet free. It was terrible, but she reassured her goose-bumped skin that she’d soon be in a much warmer place. “Your sleeping bag. Open up.”

“My…what?” It was the most bewildered she’d ever heard him, which was quite impressive, since they’d spent several days glued together at the hip. She needed to start upping her daytime game.

“Sleeping bag. Please?” She was rapidly approaching a fully frozen state, so she wasn’t going to shy away from a little begging.

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