I could see why. This wasn’t a tiny half-finished, forgotten basement that most people would expect to have in tornado-prone areas. This was a specially built bunker that had been finished just as much as any of the rooms in the house above us.
“Over there, behind the cupboard doors,” Daniel continued, pointing to the opposite end of the room, “we have a tinykitchenette with a toaster, microwave, kettle, and a mini fridge. There’s enough food to feed us and Bucky for a few days if we need it, and the sofas fold out into beds if we need them.”
“Holy cow,” I murmured under my breath as I looked around the room in awe. It was exactly like a hotel room, just without a window. My mind started wondering about how much this would have cost, and I took another look at Daniel, sitting next to me in his raggedy clothes. Anyone glancing at him as they passed him in the street would assume he’d not be able to afford something like this, but he obviously had enough money to build or buy a house with a purpose-built storm shelter. Or was it a panic room that doubled as a storm shelter?
And yet it didn’t change my opinion of him. He’d already shown me who he was as a person when he held my hands back at the gas station shelter and talked me through a panic attack.
He was a good man, and having a ton of money rarely seemed to guarantee that fact.
“What’s the weather guy saying?” he asked Rose now that the shelter tour was done.
She swallowed the popcorn she’d been chewing on. “The tornado warning is still in place, and something about them giving us an update around eight tonight.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. It was almost five in the afternoon. Three more hours.
Daniel hummed. “Okay. You know the drill. We’ll leave the door closed but unlocked unless we get a tornado emergency warning. Do you have your bag?”
“Mm-hmm,” she responded absently, her focus still on the TV, but she pointed to a bag half hidden behind the end of her sofa.
“Good. Let’s settle in.”
Five hours later, and I was on the ground and twisted up like a pretzel.
The tornado warning had been extended, which meant we’d been stuck down in the shelter for longer than any of us had anticipated, but it had been surprisingly fun. The weather guy was still talking away in the background, but now his voice was mixed with the sound of Bucky snoring from his spot next to Rose on her sofa.
“Left hand, red,” called Rose from her perch, watching us carefully for any stumble.
Both Daniel and I grunted as we shifted into place.
We’d all been taking turns playing Twister for at least an hour, with Rose winning all the games she played. She took immense delight in being the judge, watching us force ourselves into more challenging positions each time she called out a new instruction.
I was beginning to wonder if Daniel had a little sadist in training on his hands.
“Right foot, green,” she said when neither of us toppled over.
“Oh shit,” Daniel muttered under his breath at the same time that I realized what position that would put us both in.
If we moved where she had told us to, he’d be draped entirely over me, with barely an inch between us.
Not for the first time, I wondered if she was doing this intentionally. I looked over at Rose, who had the widest grin I’d seen yet on her face before she gave me an incredibly obvious wink.
Holy fuck, this girl was doing her best to act as my wingman. Wing-girl? I didn’t know if I should be impressed or terrified.
Wait.
That meant that Daniel wasn’t straight, right?
Shocked, I blinked at the implied confirmation and tried not to get too excited.
“Come on, guys. Right foot, green,” she repeated. “I know you can do it.”
Daniel glared at her, only to have her wiggle her eyebrows back at him.
Letting out a shaky breath, I slowly moved my right foot to the easiest green dot I could find, trying hard to keep my dick off the ground, performing a perfect plank that was going to tire me out way too quickly for me to be in any way proud of.
Once I was in place, Daniel sent an apology my way before he shuffled into place.
As expected, he was now draped over me. He was so close that I could almost feel the heat emanating from him.
