Page 54 of The Love Chase

A beeping sound came from the screen I was holding, and I flinched. Emma glanced over, her entire face lighting up as her eyes widened.

“Yes!”

“What?” I shouted over the pounding rain. “Yes, what?”

She slid a smug look my way. “Radar indicated rotation.” Emma stepped on the gas. “We’re going in.”

Bluebell zoomed forward, and the force of it pressed me back into the seat.

“Em, I don’t think this is a good—”

She silenced me with a look. “I warned you, Liam. You didn’t have to come.”

My hands latched onto my knees, squeezing the life out of them. Was it too late to ask her to turn around and take me home before I threw up in her car?

The rain screamed against the windows, drowning out the pounding of my heart in my ears. Emma suddenly slammed on the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder. We were in the middle of nowhere, nothing but barren fields surrounding us.

“W-what are you doing?” I asked, hating the terrified whine in my voice.

“Look!” Emma pointed in the distance. “Touchdown!” She raised her hands in the air as if she were watching a football game and not a terrifying twister touching the ground.

I looked where she indicated, and sure enough, the thing I wished to never see in real life—a tornado—was on the ground in the distance.

“Get us out of here,” I breathed.

Emma didn’t take her eyes off the storm. “We’re fine.” She reached across the seat and grabbed my hand. I wasn’t sure if she did it to comfort me or just from sheer excitement. Nevertheless, I clung to her hand for dear life. She didn’t seem to notice.

“See the left side? How it’s rotating? It’s moving away from us. We’re safe. I won’t get any closer with you here.”

My mouth went dry as cotton, and I couldn’t get air to move into my lungs. A choked gasp came out of me.

“Liam?” Emma finally tore her gaze from the tornado, looking over at me with her brows furrowed. She squeezed my hand. “Hey, look at me.”

A zing went up my arm as she laced her fingers between mine, and it barely suppressed the fear coursing through me. The windshield wipers whipped back and forth at their fastest speed, trying to keep up with the torrential rainfall.

“Liam,” she repeated, and I finally looked at her. Her brows were low over her eyes as she studied me. “I’m not getting any closer. I promise, everything is fine. You’re safe.”

She looked back at the storm, not releasing my hand. “I know it can seem scary. They’re huge and destructive and dangerous. But look at it. It’s a force of nature. The perfect conditions came together at just the right moment for the tornado to form and stretch toward the ground. It’s beautiful.” There was awe on her face, and I swore I could feel her own racing heart through my death grip on her hand.

“I’m going to let go of you so I can get a few pictures, okay?” she asked, turning those hazel eyes on me. My stomach dipped, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the weird feeling I had in my stomach as our gazes connected, or if it was a result of the fear coursing through my veins.

When I didn’t respond, she gave my hand a squeeze and then let go. I fought the urge to scramble after her hand and hold on for dear life.

Get it together, Liam.

Wind whipped against the truck as Emma reached beneath the seat and pulled out a case which held a camera. She quickly slid on a rain jacket that had been in the backseat, threw the hood up, and opened the door to get out.

“Emma!” My mouth spoke before I could think. She froze and closed the door, looking back at me with questioning eyes. “What are you doing?”

She just smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t even have time to respond before she was out of the truck, the door slamming closed from the force of the wind. Emma braced herself against the wind and rain and started snapping pictures. I wasn’t even sure how she was going to capture anything with the rain pelting her like that.

A moment later Emma slipped back in the truck, wiping the rain from her face. Despite the hood, her hair was soaked, hanging in damp strands around her face.

She looks beautiful.

Whoa. Where did that thought come from? We’re literally within sight of a tornado and she’s sopping wet. What the heck is happening to me?