She yanked her phone from the charger and ran out the door and across the yard as the angry clouds overhead let loose with huge drops of cold rain. By the time she reached the stables, her hair and shirt were drenched, but she only cared about making sure he was okay.
Slamming the barn door shut against the wind, she leaned against it, chest heaving as she sucked air into her tight lungs. “Reyes?”
A second louder call over the thunder received no response as the lightning pierced the darkness through the windows with an eerie strobe effect. Using the flashlight on her phone, she hurried up the stairs to his apartment.
Though she gave a brisk knock, she didn’t wait for an answer before turning the handle. The door swung open easily. “Reyes? Are you up here?”
“Raine?” The relief in his voice was edged with panic.
“Yeah, it’s me.” She shut the door behind her as she shined her light across the room.
He pushed to his feet from where he’d been sitting with his back pressed against the kitchen cabinets. His chest was bare, and black sweat pants hung low on his hips. His hair was a rumpled mess, as if he’d been sleeping—or run his hands through it over and over.
Recognizing the hunted air about him, like the night in the pool, she guessed the second. Her heart thudded with sympathy when she saw him grip the counter with white knuckles.
Definitely the second.
“The storm knocked the power out,” she said, striving to keep her voice casual. “I wanted to check on the horses.”
His head snapped up. “Shit. Are they okay?”
“I came up here first.” When his gaze met hers, she offered a quick smile. “I was hoping you’d come with me. It’s a little creepy down there” —in the dark— “with the storm.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed hard, but he nodded. “Yeah.”
When his deep breath sounded choppy as all hell, she started across the room. “Do you have any regular flashlights, or a lantern or something? My phone battery is barely at three percent.”
He dropped his gaze to the countertop, his jaw clenched. He closed his eyes with a grimace, but then popped them open again as if he couldn’t bear the darkness.
Raine was at his side by then, and he flinched when she reached out to firmly grasp his forearm. His gaze rose to hers, and her heart jolted at the dark torment in his eyes.
“Everything’s fine,” she said softly, the reassuring words tumbling out as she gave a light squeeze of her fingers. “The power’s out, that’s it.”
His muscles flexed beneath her hand. “I panicked. I have a flashlight in the drawer next to the sink. And I have my phone…” He paused, a frown creasing his brow as he swept his gaze along the length of the island counter. “It’s still in the bedroom on the nightstand. I panicked.”
The second time he said those words there was a note of angry disgust in his voice.
“You’re not alone.”
“I should’ve been better prepared.”
She set her phone on the counter, deliberately facing the flashlight down. Then she reached her free hand up to his face to cup the side of his jaw in the dark, grounding him with her touch. “Maybe it’s time to face this, Reyes. When you have a friend to help you through it.”
His hand rose up to cover hers, pressing her palm to the rough stubble alongside his goatee. “We’re not friends,” he said gruffly. Achingly.
“Yes, we are. We have been since that night in the pool. Now, let’s get the flashlight out of the drawer and check the horses.”
When she lowered her hand from his face, he surprised her by keeping hold of it. He didn’t say a word as he threaded his fingers wi
th hers, just held on tight, and she did the same.
Lifting her phone with her free hand, she aimed the light toward the drawer next to the sink. She noticed her battery was down to two percent as they moved together to dig out the flashlight. Once he clicked on the light, the beam glowed strong for a moment, then dimmed to half its strength.
When it flickered and dimmed more, Reyes shook it, cursing under his breath.
“Are there more batteries?”
He rummaged in the drawer. “No.”