Burning Up: Firefighter Contemporary Romance Series Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  “Aren’t there people here who do that?” Cassie wondered dryly, looking around at the bar as if she was disgusted with the place.

  “I’m sure there are, but I’m already headed that way, so why not?” I said, trying my best to be friendly to Melody’s sister. It was going to be so hard to get through the wedding with her attitude and snippy comments, but I had to remind myself, it was just one more day. Then I’d rarely ever see Cassie again. Unlike Justin, the idea of not seeing Cassie again didn’t bring about any sadness whatsoever.

  The three of them walked into the back room as I headed for the bar. I noticed Logan was already there, holding his head down as if he was trying not to be seen. There were three glasses in front of him, two already empty. He’d been there awhile apparently.

  I walked over to my brother, putting an arm over his shoulder. “How’s the groom?” He seemed startled, and he looked up at me. His bachelor party hadn’t even started yet, and he was already plastered. My brother wasn’t much of a drinker, so I brushed any concerns away, thinking it was just wedding day jitters.

  “I’m good,” he slurred, waving down the bartender as he finished his third drink.

  As the bartender approached, I quickly ordered the drinks for the girls and told him, “That’s all.” He looked over at Logan, and I added, “He’s cut off for now.”

  “Sis,” Logan said, turning on the bar stool. “Don’t do this to me.”

  “Logan, you don’t want to start the night wasted, do you?” Though it was already too late for that. Maybe he’d sober up a bit before the trivia started.

  “But it’s my bachelorette party,” he said.

  I chuckled at his mixup. “Bachelor party, you mean? Jesus, you really are drunk.”

  The bartender handed me my drinks, but once he noticed I was also dealing with my brother, he called one of the cocktail waitresses over to help me. She took the drinks on a tray and I took my brother, guiding him into the back room. On the way, we ran into Jax and Finn. We were only waiting for our brother, Mason, now. The guys took over with Logan, helping steady my brother on his feet.

  I hoped we had a little time for Logan to sober up before getting started. But when I stepped into the room, I saw that Mason had slipped in while I was ordering the drinks. We were all there.

  Melody ran over to her fiance and kissed him deeply. He seemed confused at first but kissed her back.

  I whispered, “He started the party early apparently.”

  Melody’s face scrunched up in worry as Jax and Finn took him over to the guy’s table. The waitress passed out the drinks, but Melody continued watching Logan from where we were seated.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked. “Did you two get into a fight or something?”

  Melody sighed. “Not really. I mean, we didn’t fight, but I can tell something is wrong.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that...” Melody bit her lip and shook her head. “You know, it’s nothing. He’s just got jitters about tomorrow, that’s it. He’s dealing with a lot, you know.” She rubbed her belly and gave me a weak smile. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” she said.

  Justin called out to me over the mic, “Hannah, oh Hannah, where art thou?”

  Melody giggled. “Seems you’re being summoned.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I muttered. I didn’t want to leave the conversation like that, but maybe Melody was right. He was just nervous. Once the party got started, everyone would be having fun and forget all about the stresses of planning a wedding.

  I joined Justin on the stage just as he started playing the theme music to Family Feud. I couldn’t help chuckle at his melodramatic, over-the-top arm movements, and everyone else laughed along with me. He was a character for sure. This type of gig was absolutely perfect for someone like him. Thankfully so, because God knows, I’m terrible at stuff like that.

  He looked at me and asked, “Are you ready?”

  I nodded, butterflies rising in my stomach. I wasn’t really ready, but I had to be. I’d performed in high school, but this was different. Performing in front of strangers didn’t scare me nearly as much as performing for people I knew.

  I swallowed the fear and let Justin take control. He explained the rules and everything, adding in jokes here and there that had the entire room in laughter.

  He pointed at several screens behind us. “The questions will display on these screens in case you can’t hear me,” he said. He glanced at me, covering the mic and pointing out the screens in front of us. “And we have the questions on these screens to read. See? Easy peasy?”

  I’d written everything on notecards, which I’d kept in my purse. But the screens were a nice touch.

  He continued talking to me. “I set everything up before, thought it would make it easier.”

  It made things a lot easier. My nervousness subsided a bit, knowing I wouldn’t risk dropping a note card or getting one out of order. Justin had taken care of everything, even going above and beyond to make things easier for me.

  It really made me wonder if he had changed, and if so, what that might mean for us.

  Ooo000ooo

  “Congrats to the ladies for their epic win,” Justin said as he handed out sashes he’d picked out that said “We are the Champions” on them. He clearly had this all planned out, and for once, I didn’t. I’d let it slide, and if it wasn’t for Justin, the entire night would have fallen flat.

  I seriously owed him now.

  Melody and Izzy were smiling wide, accepting their sash with pride. Cassie scowled and resisted, taking it in her hand instead of wearing it.

  “And one for you too,” Justin said, handing over mine.

  “I didn’t play,” I argued.

  “You still kicked ass tonight,” Justin said with a wink. “I think you deserve one.”

  It was weird hearing such high praise from Justin, even though I felt terrible for how little I’d done.

  “If anyone deserves it, it’s you,” I countered. “You did all this on your own.”

  “Nah, you were my co-host,” he said, nudging me playfully in the arm. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  The awkwardness from earlier was gone, but there was still something odd in the way Justin treated me. It wasn’t just me trying to keep my distance. We’d been friendly to one another, almost too friendly. This wasn’t like him at all.

  “Come on, Hannah, dance with us!” Izzy said, grabbing my arm and yanking me away from Justin. I glanced over my shoulder at him and couldn’t stop myself from smiling. He smiled back at me, sinking his hands into his pockets. The other guys pulled him over into a game of pool while I danced with the girls.

  Melody gave me a knowing smirk.

  “What’s up?” I asked her.

  “I should be asking you that question,” she said. “What’s up with you and Justin?”

  My cheeks burned, and I looked away to avoid Melody noticing that I was blushing. “What do you mean? There’s nothing going on.”

  “Come on, Hannah. You can’t lie to me. I’m your best friend. I see the way you look at him,” she observed. Her eyes widened. “Was he the guy who stayed over last weekend?”

  Melody had questioned why I’d been mostly undressed, plus there was food for two on the coffee table from the night before. She’d picked up on a few other things, like the man’s belt lying on the bedroom floor and the random socks there too. I’d managed to avoid the topic since Izzy and Cassie had been with her, but she’d pestered me all week about it. She knew someone had stayed over, but not who.

  Well, at least she didn’t know prior to the trivia night.

  “It was him, wasn’t it?” she squealed a little too loudly.

  “It was who?” Izzy asked curiously. She stopped dancing and joined the conversation. A conversation I really didn’t want to be having in the first place.

  “Melody is just giving me a hard time. She thinks I like Justin or something,” I said, rolling my eyes
for effect.

  Izzy perked up right away. “Oh, I thought there was some chemistry between the two of you up there! And he’s so hot! Hannah, why wouldn’t you go for him?”

  “Enough,” I said, holding my hands up to stop the discussion. “I don’t want to talk about Justin.”

  “Why not?” Melody wondered, a teasing glint in her eye. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Hannah. Justin’s changed a lot, according to Logan. He’s calming down and seems to be less of a dick.”

  That last part was certainly true, at least from my experience. I searched the room for him and found him with the guys at the pool table. He was bent over, preparing to take a shot, and I got a nice view of his tight ass. My insides turned to jelly.

  “I just don’t trust him,” I revealed. “I’ve known him for too long. I’ve seen how he’s treated relationships in the past. I don’t have time for that level of drama in my life.”

  Melody took my hand in hers, stroking it. “Sweetie, I trust you, of all people, to be careful, but sometimes you have to take a chance. If you like him, go for it.”

  “But what if it doesn’t work out? That would cause problems for Logan and him,” I said softly.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Melody shrugged. “We always do.”

  I knew Melody was right, but I was still scared. How could I have developed feelings for my brother’s best friend, the bane of my teenaged existence? How could I have let this happen?

  Justin stood up to high-five Jax and caught me looking at him. He shot me one of his sexy smirks, and I knew it was too late to turn back now.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk to him,” I announced.

  Melody and Izzy encouraged me before I set off across the bar toward him. Taking a deep breath, I crossed the room and found myself standing next to him. Clearing my throat, I said, “Justin, can I talk to you for a minute?” Seeing the guys staring at me, I quickly added, “About wedding stuff, of course. What else would we have to talk about?”

  I chuckled nervously, hoping I hadn’t let on to the real reason I wanted to speak to Justin.

  He got the hint that I meant alone and nodded. He followed me to the bathroom - the same bathroom we’d hooked up in before - and locked the door behind me.

  “What’s up? Trivia get you all horny?” he kidded. His arms were crossed in front of him, almost in a defensive manner.

  “No, Justin, listen, we need to talk--”

  “Talk or fuck, then you throw me out again?” he asked. His tone was sarcastic.

  “What? No, I explained myself, Justin. I just didn’t want Izzy and Melody to walk in on us like that.”

  “Why are you ashamed of me, Hannah?” he asked. “You can’t even ask to speak with me alone without giving a lame excuse as if you’re so afraid someone is going to find out we’ve been hooking up.”

  “I’m not ashamed of you, Justin,” I defended. “I’m just a private person. It’s no one’s business who I’m hooking up with.”

  “I don’t buy it. I’ve been around the block, met a lot of girls, but none of them kicked me to the curb twice after sex.”

  “Probably because you kicked them to the curb first,” I stated. “Maybe I’m just protecting myself and the people I care about. I don’t want this to cause drama amongst our group of friends.”

  “Hold up. Let me make this clear to you,” he said, stepping closer. I stood on my tiptoes and got right up into his face. “Never have I treated a woman as badly as you’ve treated me. No one has ever had to sneak out my fire escape first thing after hooking up the night before.”

  “Oh, right, like I’m supposed to believe that,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Yeah, I’d hope you would,” he retorted. “Because I’m not like that. Every woman I’ve slept with knew the deal going in. They were looking for the same thing - a hookup or a fling, nothing serious. I’m always up front with everyone ahead of time.”

  “Right, like you were up-front with me,” I muttered.

  “Hannah, what did I have to be upfront with you about?”.

  “Your intentions?”

  “I--I don’t know what my intentions are yet,” he stammered, taking a step back.

  “And see? That’s the problem,” I pointed out d, tears welling up in my eyes. “Because you don’t know what you want, and there’s no way we can have an adult relationship until you do. You need to grow up and realize what you want out of life, Justin. You can’t just keep playing it by ear and hope you’ll get lucky.”

  I didn’t want him to see me cry, so I pushed past him. I walked out of the bathroom in a huff, hurrying back to my friends. I don’t know what I’d hoped for, but that wasn’t it. I’d wanted to tell him I had feelings for him, but he couldn’t reciprocate. He admitted that to me, straight up. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, which meant he wasn’t sure about me.

  I found Melody sitting down away from the crowds of people, rubbing her feet. I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat down beside her.

  “It didn’t go well, I see,” she murmured, reading my face.

  “Not really, no.”

  “Wanna get out of here?” she asked, giving me a sad smile. “I’m tired and ready to get out of these clothes.”

  Justin stormed out of the bathroom, and we looked at each other for a second. He seemed to think about coming over to me, and my heart ached in my chest. Before he could come over, however, I stood up and said to Melody, “Yes, let’s get out of here.”

  Justin

  “How much has he had to drink?” I asked.

  Finn and Jax looked at one another, then back at me and Finn shrugged.

  “It’s hard to say,” Jax said. “He was pretty wasted before the trivia even started.”

  “I’d say he had three or four beers since we got here,” Finn added. “But who the fuck knows how much he had before that.”

  I turned around, expecting to find Logan in the chair where we’d left him, but he was gone. I searched the bar and found him ordering himself another drink - alongside a familiar looking blonde.

  “Fuck no,” I said, marching over to Logan at the bar, hands balled up at my side.

  It was Jessica, the flirty woman from the fireman’s picnic - Simon’s ex. And the two of them were looking awfully cozy. I walked up and purposefully put myself between them at the bar.

  “Logan, hey, I think it’s time we left,” I suggested.

  “No, Jess just got here,” Logan slurred.

  Jessica smiled at me, but I didn’t return the niceties. My focus was on Logan and getting him out of there before he did something stupid.

  “Logan, listen to me,” I said, grabbing his shoulders. “You’re getting married tomorrow. You need to sober the hell up and get some sleep.”

  I glanced at Jessica, hoping she’d get the message that she wasn’t wanted.

  Instead, she leaned closer to me, showing off her cleavage intentionally. Not for me, but for Logan. “If he wants to stay, you can’t make him leave.”

  I turned my attention to her completely. “Why are you even here?”

  Jessica shrugged, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. “Logan texted me and asked me to come,” she revealed. “So I came.”

  Ah, great. This was premeditated. What the fuck was he thinking?

  “Come on, you’re leaving. Now,” I said, taking Logan’s arm.

  He slipped free, stumbling and nearly falling to the ground in the process. Jax and Finn joined me, so it was three against one. Well, I guess against two, if you counted Jessica, but none of us even paid attention to her.

  “Come on, bud, let’s get you home,” Jax offered. “You’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

  “No,” Logan argued. “I don’t wanna go, and I don’t wanna get married anymore.”

  He flagged down the bartender, but thankfully, the guy shook his head. He leaned over the counter and said, “Sorry, Logan, you’re cut off. You’ve had enough.”

  “See? Even the ba
rtender thinks you’re too drunk,” I said. “Come on. I’ll get you home.”

  Logan continued arguing, but the three of us were able to strongarm him and pull him out of the bar. Jessica followed, but once we got Logan to the door, I turned to her and said, “He’s going to be a married man after tomorrow, and his wife is pregnant. If you’ve got even a shred of decency, you’ll turn around and leave him the fuck alone.”

  Jessica opened her mouth as if to argue, but she knew there was no winning. Not against the three of us. Without saying a word, she turned and walked in the opposite direction. Logan was oblivious at this point. He didn’t know if we were coming or going.

  “Let me call a cab,” Jax said, reaching for his phone.

  “Nah, he only lives a few blocks away,” I said. “Walking will sober him up a bit too. You guys can go on home, I’ve got this.”

  “No way. We’ll come with you,” Jax offered.

  “Dude, you have a sick baby at home,” I reminded him. “I’m sure your wife is exhausted. Go home and be with her. I’ve got this.”

  Finn nodded. “I’ll stick around. No worries, man.”

  With the two of us, I had no doubt we’d get Logan home - and hopefully sober - before long. Jax finally agreed and called himself a cab. Finn and I walked toward Logan’s place, one of us on each side.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” Logan said after a block of walking.

  “Only a bit further, buddy,” I cajoled.

  “No, I mean the wedding and the baby,” he said. “I’m not ready for this shit.”

  Finn and I shared a look. I hoped he had some insight into the matter, considering he was married with kids and I wasn’t. And like Logan, he married his high school sweetheart. Though unlike Logan, the two of them hadn’t been together since high school - they reconnected as adults.

  “Dude, listen to me,” Finn said, patting Logan on the back. “It’s normal to be nervous. It’s a lot to take in, but you’re going to be an amazing dad and husband.”

  “Nah, I don’t think so,” Logan muttered, stumbling. I caught him before he fell to the ground. He looked up at me as if seeing me for the first time that night. With a confused look on his face, he asked, “Hey, why did you go into the bathroom with my sister?”