Page 17 of Only His Girl
"Holy shit!" Heath grabs my hand and yanks me off the counter.
Water pours down, quickly soaking everything in the kitchen.
"Where is all the water coming from?" Panic rises in my throat as I frantically scan the ceiling, half expecting flames to appear.
"Fire alarm must've malfunctioned." Heath's jaw clenches as he surveys the rapidly spreading water damage. "We need towels, fast."
"Towels. Right." I snap into action, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I dash to the linen closet. I grab an armful and rush back, shoving them at Heath. "Here!"
We work in tandem, desperately trying to contain the mess. Heath throws a towel over the stove to protect the electronics while I scramble to cover our abandoned breakfast.
"So much for a relaxing morning," I mutter, feeling my earlier contentment evaporate. Leave it to my shitty apartment to ruin a perfect moment.
The sprinklers sputter and then miraculously shut off.
Heath and I stare at each other, breathing hard, hardly daring to believe our luck. Water drips from the tip of his nose.
"Maybe that's it?" I venture hopefully. "Maybe it's over and everything will be -"
A gush of water explodes from the sprinkler again, twice as forceful as before. It slams into me, knocking me back a step.
"You were saying?" Heath yells over the thunderous downpour.
"Shit, shit, shit!" I watch in dismay as water pours down the walls, soaking into the carpet. It's like someone turned on a fire hose in here. At this rate, my apartment will be flooded in minutes.
Frustration boils inside me, mixing with an edge of hysteria. This cannot be happening. Not now, when things were going so well. I want to scream or cry or throw something.
But Heath is already moving again, all traces of humor vanished. "We're fighting a losing battle in here, Willow. We need to shut off the water main before this place becomes an aquarium."
Chapter Seven
HEATH
Water drips from the light fixtures as I stare at the wreckage all around us.
“This is a disaster,” Willow whispers beside me, her eyes wide. “What am I going to do?”
My heart aches seeing her beautiful face crumpled in worry. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, and she leans into me. I breathe in the sweet scent of her hair. Even with the musky odor all around us, her fragrance is intoxicating.
Thank goodness we got the water shut off when we did. It could have been much worse.
When a knock sounds at the door, Willow tears herself away from my side to answer it. I instantly miss the warmth of her body pressed against mine. Drew and Eliza step inside, their faces grim as they take in the scene.
“Oh, Willow, I’m so sorry,” Eliza says, pulling her into a hug. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just... processing,” Willow replies with a weak smile.
“What can we do to help?” Drew asks.
“Let’s see if we can salvage anything from my old room,” Eliza suggests.
As the two women head down the hall, Drew turns to me. “You okay, man?”
I nod, dragging a hand over my face. “Yeah. It’s just... seeing her place like this, knowing how much it meant to her to be independent...”
“It’s not your fault. You know that, right?”
I shrug. Maybe not directly. But I still feel responsible. Protective. Like I should have done more.