Alpha Hero: The Complete Series

by Hope Ford

  I stare at it and realize she lives at least fifteen minutes away. She probably hasn’t had time to get there. I stare at my phone and when I’m about to set it down, it dings.

  Yes. Thanks for tonight. See you tomorrow.

  As soon as I read it, before I can respond, another text comes through. Remember that we’re keeping this between us. No need for Terry and April to know.

  I grip the phone tightly in my hand. I know what we agreed to, but for some reason I’m not liking it now.

  Shannon

  I’m staring at my phone, waiting on another text to come through. I thanked him for tonight. I’m sure he thinks I’m a loser. So before he could think I’m getting attached, I remind him about not telling Terry and April. My phone dings and I look at it. It’s a thumbs-up sign. He sent me a thumbs-up sign.

  I take a deep breath and drop the phone on the kitchen counter. I knew what I was getting into. He made sure that I did. But heck, I never dreamed it would be that hard to leave. The longer I lay there, both of us breathing hard, his heart racing under my ear that was lying on his chest, the more I knew I had to get out of there.

  I honest to God thought I could do this. One night with him and walk away. Well, I don’t really have a choice. We had the one night and I walked away. Now I just have to find a way to get it out of my memory.

  6

  Shannon

  It’s not going to be awkward. It’s not going to be awkward. I chant all the way over to April’s house. I know that Zach is going to be there. I’m ready for it. I’ve prepared myself all day. I’ve looked at myself in the mirror to practice my poker face. No emotion, Shannon. Show no emotion.

  I no sooner get out of my car than Zach is coming out of the house to meet me on the sidewalk.

  “Hey,” he says softly, looking me straight in the eyes.

  I know what he’s looking for. He’s wondering if I’m going to act crazy or not. Be obsessed over what happened last night. Well, I hate to disappoint him, but no, I’m not. I got this.

  “Hey! How’s it going?” I ask him and don’t wait for an answer. I breeze past him and up the steps.

  I think I’ve made it but before I can walk in the door he grabs my hand. “Wait.”

  I turn around and pull my hand back.

  He looks at me with confusion. “I, uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  I laugh. “Zach, women lose their virginity every day. I’m fine. I promise you can chill out. I don’t plan on throwing myself at you or having my dad come over with a shotgun, forcing your hand in marriage. I’m good. Don’t worry about me.” I stare him dead in the eye, hoping he believes me, praying that practicing my poker face worked.

  He looks rattled. He pushes his hand roughly through his hair. “So that’s it?”

  I shake my head in confusion, about to answer him when the front door opens and Terry pops his head out. “C’mon, guys, dinner’s almost ready.”

  I don’t even look back at Zach. I walk in the house, hoping that there’s a bottle of wine somewhere. Shoot, no wine for me; I have to work early in the morning.

  I walk into the kitchen and Ella is lying in the bassinet. I lean over, kissing her little toes. “Hey, Ella.”

  She smiles up at me and I swear she’s almost giggling.

  April is talking to me as she’s pulling things out of the cabinet. I keep smiling at Ella and rubbing her feet as she coos and gurgles. She’s so beautiful and such a good baby. I can’t stop smiling at her.

  I feel someone looking at me and when I turn to the side, Zach is standing in the doorway staring at me. His look is intense and I raise up to my full height, staring back at him. His gaze is burning into me. Just that one look from him causes my lower belly to pull. He takes a step toward me and I turn away from him to go help April.

  “What…” I croak. I clear my throat and try again. “What can I do to help?”

  She turns around and puts a stack of plates in my hands. “Will you set the table?”

  Zach

  Watching her with baby Ella made me feel things I’ve never felt before. We sit down to eat and April has loaded my plate up with chicken, potatoes, and green beans. I look down at the food and although I can always eat, I just don’t have an appetite today.

  April’s watching me and I smile at her, putting a forkful in my mouth. “Mmmm. It’s great,” I tell her and when she smiles and looks away, I look over at Shannon. She’s all smiles, seeming to be totally unaffected by everything that happened last night.

  We talk about work and baby Ella. She makes herself known every once in a while and when she does she has four pairs of eyes smiling at her.

  After we’ve cleared the dishes and April is bringing dessert to the table, she says, “You know, Shannon, I’ve been thinking about it, and Baker would be perfect for you.”

  I about spit out the drink I just took. “What?”

  Terry slaps me on the back. “Are you zoned out, man? They’ve been talking about finding Shannon a date.”

  I look over at Shannon and her face is beet red. Even more red than it was last night when she saw my cock for the first time.

  I clear my throat and look at Shannon. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Her clear blue eyes look back at me. “Why not? He’s your friend, isn’t he?”

  I shift in my seat. “Well, yes, but he’s a player. Not really boyfriend material, if you know what I mean.”

  April sets a plate down in front of me with a big piece of strawberry shortcake on it. “You’re one to talk.” She snorts. I glare at her and she laughs even harder, throwing her hands up in front of her before saying “sorry” with a smirk.

  Terry jumps in. “Actually, Zach, I was talking to him the other day and he was talking about settling down, wanting what April and I have.”

  I look over at him, ready to punch him in the gut. We’re brothers, we’re supposed to have each other’s backs, but he’s smiling at April and the love on his face has me turning away.

  I turn to Shannon and she’s playing with the dessert on her plate. “It’s a bad idea, Shannon.”

  She turns to look at me and smiles. It doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s okay, I’m not really looking for a relationship anyway.”

  She says it so quietly, I have to lean forward to hear her.

  She takes a bite and I watch the fork disappear between her lips. When she moans around the dessert, I squeeze my legs together because I swear she made the same sound last night. Her eyes pop open, like she just remembered the same thing, and we stare at each other.

  I don’t know how long we sit like that, but I hear Terry clear his throat and we both look over at him and April. They’re staring at us and they both have big smiles on their faces.

  April lifts up her fork, looks between us and smiles at Shannon. “Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

  I look at Shannon, but she’s avoiding my stare. She guts me when she answers, “Yeah, okay, I’ll think about it.”

  I barely make it through the rest of the meal. April and Shannon go off to take care of Ella and I hang out with Terry. He tries to ask me what’s going on with me, but I just grunt and answer, “Just been busy, that’s all.” He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me, so I change the subject and start talking about baseball.

  When Shannon goes to leave for the night, I hurriedly say my goodbyes and follow her out to her car. “Are we going to talk about this?”

  She just shakes her head. “There’s nothing to talk about, Zach.”

  She goes to open her car door and I put my hand on it, stopping her. “But I think there is.”

  She turns around, arms crossed across her chest. The action pushes her breasts up and it pulls my gaze to them. She just laughs and drops her arms. “Okay then, talk.”

  “Why me?” I ask her.

  She looks confused and shakes her head. “What are you talking about?”

  I take a step closer to her. “Why did yo
u pick me to lose your virginity to?”

  “Honestly?” she asks me.

  I nod my head at her, a little unsure of where this is going.

  She puts her hand on her hip. “Because I wanted you. And I thought the best way to get you out of my head was to get you out of my system. So I did it… and now we’re done.”

  There she goes, telling it like it is. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t stop myself. “Well, did it work?”

  Her head drops between her shoulders. “It would if we could forget all these side conversations and go on about our business.”

  I take a step back from her. She’s doing exactly what we agreed to. I’m the one that is screwing this up. She turns around to get into the car, but I put a hand on her shoulder. “I wish it was different. I wish I was different. But I can’t do relationships.”

  She turns her head to the side, but she doesn’t look at me. “I didn’t ask you to.”

  She sits down and I squat down beside her. “As a friend, I’m telling you that Baker’s a bad idea. He doesn’t do relationships either.”

  She doesn’t argue like I expect her to; she simply nods her head. “Noted.”

  I just sit there staring at her before she reaches around me for the door. “Can I go now?”

  I back away then, telling her bye and watch her drive away, pretty sure that a part of my heart is going with her.

  7

  Shannon

  I barely slept a wink last night. All I could do was toss and turn, thinking about Zach. Even now, two days later, I feel the pull of the muscles in my legs from the other night, reminding me of everything that happened. Images of him above me and below me fill my mind and I can’t get it out of my head.

  “We’re almost there. One minute out,” my partner, Philip, announces.

  I’m in the back of the ambulance and we just got a call for a 901. As we approach the accident, I take some deep breaths, determined to focus on the job at hand. In a lot of cases, it is a matter of life and death and I don’t want to be off my game.

  I jump out, grab my bag and start walking over to the wreckage. Everyone seems to be fine except for the man stuck in his car. Philip goes and checks on the other driver and I go to the one still in his car. It seems to be leaking gas and I know I need to hurry to get him out. The fire sirens are loud as they pull in behind us and I briefly look up to see it’s Ladder 49. A calmness comes over me knowing that Zach will be here.

  I start talking to the man that is going in and out of consciousness. His head is covered in blood and he keeps mumbling the name Kendall.

  “Sir, I’m Shannon, and we’re going to get you out of here.”

  He mumbles some nonsense and I look over at Zach running toward me. “It’s leaking gas; we have to get him and you out of here.”

  I start putting a head brace around the patient and tell Zach, “His leg is caught. We need jaws.”

  Zach turns to his squad and yells, “Bring jaws.” But someone is already running toward us with it his hands.

  The hood catches fire and the firemen surround us, doing everything they can to put it out. The heat in the car goes up twenty degrees in an instant.

  Zach has a fireproof blanket covering me and the man in the driver’s seat. His mouth by my ear, he tells me, “You have to get out of here, Shannon.”

  I appreciate the sentiment, but I can’t just leave them. I have to get the man ready for extraction. I keep working, doing everything I’m trained to do. “I’m not leaving him.”

  Zach turns his head. “Let’s go, boys, get it done.”

  The scraping and screeching of metal is terrifying if you’ve never heard it before. But I tune it out, talking to the man, preparing him for what is about to happen.

  “Sir, sir. I need you to stay awake,” I tell him.

  He opens his eyes and looks at me. “In my jacket pocket.”

  I didn’t quite get it the first time and he mumbles it again. “In my pocket.”

  I reach inside his jacket pocket and pull out an envelope. It has the name Kendall clearly written on it. I squeeze it in my hand. He reaches up and points to the letter. “Give it to her.”

  I can see how important this is to him and I promise I’ll do it. I fold the envelope and stuff it in my pants pocket.

  “We’re clear!” I hear behind me and everything starts happening fast. Philip and another paramedic help me pull the man out and stabilize him on the gurney.

  We’re walking toward the ambulance when Philip turns to the other two paramedics. “Can you take him? My partner needs stitched up.”

  They turn and look at me and nod their heads before walking away.

  “Wait, I’m fine…” I start, but Philip holds his hand up.

  “You’ve cut your head. You have blood pouring down your face.”

  I stop trying to follow the man on the gurney and instead turn to our ambulance. I open the back doors and sit down, pulling off my gloves and tossing them into the hazardous container.

  “All right, clean me up.”

  Philip just shakes his head. “You know we’re supposed to go to the hospital for this, right?”

  I just roll my eyes at him. “Just do it, Philip. It’s probably just a cut from the metal of the door or something. I’m up to date on my tetanus, if that makes you feel better.”

  He opens his kit and starts working on me. By this time he’s had all the intel from the police and fire department. He tells me that the man we saved was hit by a drunk driver and the other driver doesn’t even have a scratch on him. I cringe thinking about it. I hate drunk drivers.

  I feel Zach’s gaze on me before I see him. He walks up to us, crowding Philip.

  “What happened?” he demands.

  Philip just shrugs his shoulders. “Probably stray metal. Lucky it wasn’t her eye.”

  He starts to stitch me up and Zach winces. “Don’t you want it numb or something?”

  I just smile at him. He’d probably freak out at the number of times Philip’s had to do this and we never numb it. It seems every accident, I get a cut somehow. “No. I’m good.”

  Philip cuts in and snorts. “Yeah, this is an everyday occurrence around here.”

  I give him the stink eye and he shuts up, going back to cleaning up my head. Zach just stares at me and I avoid his gaze.

  “You’re all good,” Philip says before shutting his case. “I’m going to write it up.”

  I stand up and stuff my hands in my pockets. “So thanks for your help back there,” I tell Zach.

  “You’re crazy. You know that, right?” he asks me.

  I just smirk. “Says the man that runs into burning buildings.”

  We both laugh until I look over and see the melted car we just came from. Yeah, quite honestly, we’re both probably a little bit crazy. It’s sobering looking at the burnt car.

  “Hold up, hold up, I have to meet the badass that willingly got into that flaming car.”

  Zach and I both turn as another fireman walks up to us with Terry right behind him. Terry muscles him to the side. “You okay, Shannon?”

  I tell him yes.

  “Thank God. I didn’t want to tell April otherwise. Good job out there.” He pats me on the back and starts to walk away before turning back around. “So this is Baker. I think April mentioned him last night.” He does this funny thing with his eyebrows, shaking them up and down before walking away.

  I hide my smirk behind a cough. “Oh yeah. Hi, I’m Shannon.”

  I hold my hand out for Baker to shake it, but Zach steps between us. “So, buddy, let’s go… let’s get back to work. You need to get the pipe rolled up.”

  Zach tries to steer him away, but it doesn’t work. “So Terry was telling me about you. What do you think, you want to get a drink later?”

  “She can’t,” Zach says.

  I look over at him questioningly before looking back at Baker. He seems oblivious to the undercurrents here. “Yeah, uh, I have to go by the hospital, bu
t then I’d say they’ll send me home. How about six… at The Tavern?” I ask him. I completely avoid Zach’s gaze. I know one look at him and I won’t be able to go through with it. I thought one night would get him out of my system, but that didn’t work. I don’t want to go out with Baker, and I know already that I’m not attracted to him in the least, but hey, maybe a drink is what I need.

  “Sure, great. I’ll see you there,” he tells me as he’s walking backwards to his truck.

  I turn to the ambulance and shut the back doors. I ignore the expression on Zach’s face. He’s acting like I’ve hurt him or something, but we both know that’s not the case.

  “Hey, did you get the vic’s name?” I ask him.

  He quietly answers me. “Dr. Brian Cooper. He’s a heart surgeon.”

  “Great. So thanks again for back there. I’ll see you later.” I walk around to get into the passenger side of the ambulance. I have to walk away before I fall apart in front of him.

  8

  Zach

  “You’re not going out with her,” I tell Baker for the third time.

  He just smirks again and I swear, brother or not, I’m about to punch him in the face.

  “Are you kidding me? Did you see that hot piece of ass? And she’s got innocence written all over her. I’d be stupid not to go out with her.” He reaches down and grabs his dick while he’s talking.

  His words and his gesture goes all through me. I push him up against the wall, my forearm against his neck. The other guys all jump up, but I hear Terry hollering for them to stand down.

  I sneer in his face. “Fuck you, man. You better not look at her, you better not even say her name again because I will fuckin’ end you. Do you understand me?”

  I hold my arm, hard and steady, cutting off his air supply, but I don’t care. Nobody is going to talk about her that way.