by Nella Tyler
Hector walked into the workout room right as I was finishing up my run and slowing the speed on the treadmill to a fast cooldown walk. He was all smiles, his dark eyes shining as he looked at me.
“What’s up, man?” I asked, only a little out of breath. My endurance was getting better. Soon I’d be able to bump my run up to six or seven miles. I’d still never be the rock star Hector was during a run, but we couldn’t all be that good. “You just win the lottery or something?”
Hector’s smile widened, and I could see whatever was going on with him was better than money could buy. “Last night, Juanita told me she was pregnant.” He let that hang in the air for a second while my eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Baby number three’s due in eight months.”
“That’s awesome, Hector. I’m happy for both of you.” I grinned at him, really meaning it. Hector was from a big family — he was the third of six kids — and he always talked about how much he wanted as many kids as Juanita, who was an only child, was willing to give him. She’d leaned pretty consistently towards two or three since I’d known her, so this might be the last little Alvarez baby.
Hector’s face changed, he was still smiling, but his eyes were different, like he was about to share something deep with me. I slowed the speed on my treadmill even more, wanting to be ready for him to tell me he had cancer or something earth-shattering and terrible like that. It was going to be heavy — I could see that by the way he was staring at me.
“You know, I never thanked you properly for what you did at the call last week,” he said, swallowing his smile completely, leaving nothing behind on his face but seriousness that unnerved me to see.
I frowned a little. I had no idea what he was talking about. “What do you mean?”
“You saved my life, Blaze.” His eyes widened, the sincerity in them making it hard for me to meet his gaze. “If that debris had fallen on me, I wouldn’t be here today. I’d never get to meet my third child, see my other kids become adults, or grow old with my wife. There’s no real way to repay you for that besides telling you that I have your back and that I’m grateful.”
I cut my eyes away from his, staring down at the digital face of my treadmill for a few seconds, not really looking at it, just needing some time to collect my racing thoughts. Hector had never been one to mince words. He came right out with what he wanted to say and was always willing to thank someone for doing him a solid or admit when he’d been wrong. He was easygoing, but intense at the same time. I could feel his eyes burning into the top of my head. I looked up to meet his gaze again, smiling sheepishly as I waved off what he’d just said.
“We all have each other’s backs, Hec, you know that,” I said. “Everybody in this station has saved someone else’s ass at one time or another. It’s part of the job.”
But Hector wasn’t about to be swayed that easily. I could see the determination in his dark eyes that matched the stubborn set of his cleanly shaven chin.
“I didn’t tell you this before, but the day of the apartment fire, Juanita called me, begging me to come home. She said she’d had a premonition the day before that something bad was going to happen to me. She’d struggled with whether or not to tell me because she didn’t want to worry me and cause something bad to happen, but she couldn’t shake the feeling and it was starting to freak her out. You know how steady and logical she is, but she was in tears on the phone, Blaze.
“I blew it off, but gently because she was so upset. I told her nothing was going to happen, that I was well trained and had the rest of the department watching my back, just like I always did. I calmed her down and didn’t think anything else of it…until you saved my life.”
I blinked, even though I knew what had happened. The entire ceiling above Hector’s head had collapsed, sending more than a hundred pounds of debris crashing to the ground. He really would have died had I not pulled him out of the way. But I hadn’t done anything for him that he wouldn’t have done for me. That was what this brotherhood meant. We looked out for each other and didn’t have to thank each other for doing it.
“Hector…” But the words I’d planned to say just fizzled as his eyes changed again, becoming more open, the depth of sincerity shutting my mouth again.
“I think it might have been my time to die that night. Juanita knew it, and it upset her more than I’d ever seen in the nearly 20 years we’ve been together. When fate speaks, you have to listen.” He smiled, but it was without humor, his dark eyes grave. “But you saved my life. I have more time with my wife, with my kids, because of you.”
I didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t seem to need my input because he continued without me.
“Juanita and I spent a lot of time talking this over, and we decided to name this child, boy or girl, after you.”
I was unable to speak for a second, I was so stunned. But then he beamed, casting all the heavy seriousness out of the room. I smiled, too, but weakly, still not sure how to navigate the conversation. “I don’t know what to say, Hector.”
He shrugged as he climbed onto the treadmill next to me. “You don’t have to say anything at all.” He fiddled with the digital face of his treadmill, starting his run, increasing the speed until he was running at a seven-and-a-half-minute pace, his steps light, as though the weight of the world had lifted from his shoulders. He looked like a free man jogging along beside me.
I didn’t really believe in things like premonitions and fate, but I did know that any one of us could have died the night of that call. None of us had — even the guy in ICU was going to make a full recovery — and I was happy to leave it at that.
Sami
Late March
The girls had finally managed to coordinate a much-needed night out on an evening when Blaze was working and I wasn’t too fried from a long day full of showings and closings. Business had really been booming since the New Year, and it felt like I was always running between showing clients houses and sitting in on closings for properties I’d successfully sold. It was exhausting, but I couldn’t complain as it sure as hell beat the alternative.
Amy, Lisa, and I met up at the Thirsty Fox, where I’d first seen Blaze several months ago. It was hard to believe that this was our first girls’ night out since then. We’d met up for brunch a bunch of times and had done things in groups of two, but nothing that included all three of us and copious amounts of alcohol. We talked a lot about getting together, but were so busy doing our own thing, our lives getting in the way whenever we wanted to relax.
We huddled around one of the high-top tables, nursing the first of several drinks, just happy to be out together. We’d all taken taxis so we could get as drunk as we wanted without worrying about needing to drive home. None of us had work first thing the following morning, which freed us to have as much drunken fun as we wanted tonight.
“So, how are things going between you and the fireman?” Lisa asked, blue eyes blazing and lips pressed into a secretive little smile. “I’ve hardly seen you since you started dating him.”
My cheeks colored a little as I sipped on my drink. It was true. I’d spent most of my free time with Blaze over the weeks since we happened to run into each other at that grocery store. I hadn’t been this happy in a long time. And to think of how firmly I’d chastised myself for even giving him the time of day after the humiliating scene at the New Year’s Eve ball. Going out with a man I didn’t know from Adam, as Mom would say. But even she was happy for me, inviting us to visit so she could meet the man who was in the process of sweeping me off my feet.
“Things are great,” I said, smiling like the lovesick fool I was. “I actually can’t believe how great they are. I never expected this. The more I’m with him, the stronger our connection grows. I didn’t think that was possible. I keep expecting him to get tired of me or vice versa.”
Amy pushed me a little as she made a sour face. “Bitch.”
The three of us exploded into gales of high giggles, drawing eyes from all over the bar unt
il we quieted down. I’d missed this, just hanging out with them and sharing all the details of our lives. We had to make more time for it. Our lives were busy, but that only made this sisterhood necessary now more than ever.
“I’m happy for you,” Amy said, grinning. “Even if you haven’t hooked me up with one of Blaze’s hot friends yet.”
“I’m working on it!” I said, and I really was. But when I told Blaze that Amy was interested in Johnny, he warned me that the man went through women like he was running a race, going so far as to inform me that he’d never seen Johnny date a woman for more than three weeks and that had ended in a teary scene in front of the station while all the other guys in the department watched. Amy was a big girl and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but that didn’t mean I had to encourage her to start a relationship with the “biggest player in Seattle” — Blaze’s words, not mine.
“Well, work faster, woman. I want a smoking hot guy in uniform, too!” she cried, making people at other tables stare pointedly at us again. It was quiet in here for a Saturday night, but it was early, only six o’clock. Things were bound to get louder as the evening drew on.
Lisa groaned as she slowly rotated her head on her neck, stretching the muscles, her blonde ponytail bobbing. She was dressed casually, in jeans and a dressy dark blue tank top, her heels only two inches tall, which was low for her. But we weren’t here to pick up men. Well, I wasn’t, at least.
“I cannot get out of this dry spell. I haven’t dated a decent guy all year.” She looked at both of us, her light eyes wide. “I’m just going to bide my time until the next fine ass man crosses my path. Every time I choose someone, he ends up being a jerk, a pervert, or both.”
Amy giggled, her dark eyes flashing, the color rising to her bronzed cheeks. “I started dating a guy I used to work with,” she admitted.
I raised my eyebrows. “What? Since when?”
She shrugged. “A week or so ago. I’m not exactly feeling it. So as soon as Blaze’s boy from the fire department is ready to give me a call, I’ll be good to go.” She laughed as I shook my head at her. “What? I’m bored. Some of us weren’t lucky enough to have the man of our dreams just show up at our doorstep on Christmas Day.”
“My house did almost burn down that night, though,” I pointed out.
“I still think you set that fire on purpose just to get some hot firemen out there,” Lisa said, her grin sharpening at the ends as she looked at me.
I giggled. “So what if I did?”
Amy laughed, too. “I was there. That motherfucker just burst into flames all by itself while we were watching a movie.”
I lifted my drink. “To trees spontaneously combusting.”
The girls lifted their drinks and we clinked glasses. When the waitress went by, we ordered another round.
“This year is almost a quarter over and we’re still stuck in about the same places we were last year,” Lisa said glumly, dropping her shoulders.
“Speak for yourself,” Amy replied. “Sami’s got a man, and I just got a mega raise combined with a promotion at work. It only took me threatening to quit for those assholes to realize how much they need me.”
“To cracking the glass ceiling!” I cried. We toasted to that, too, clinking glasses and downing the rest of our drinks.
“I do have a few leads on a new job, too,” Lisa said, grinning.
“That’s great, Lisa!” I said. Things had only gotten worse at her job since the end of last year, with yet another man she’d trained getting a promotion while she was passed over. She’d been at her wit’s end for weeks. Amy and I had taken turns talking her back from the edge — and for Lisa, the edge meant going into work and telling her boss to fuck off and die. Every morning, she texted messaged us about how much she hated her life.
The waitress brought over fresh drinks for us, remarking with a secretive grin that we were already having a great time without the alcohol. As soon as she left, Lisa leaned over the table to tell us the best part in a low voice.
“One of them pays double what I’m getting now. I have a second interview in a week. If I land that shit, I’m not even going to give two weeks’ notice to the assholes I work for now. Fuck ‘em.”
Beaming, Amy held up her fresh drink. “To Lisa picking up the check wherever we go!”
Lisa and I laughed as we lifted our glasses in yet another toast, sipping instead of gulping this time.
Lisa looked at me, her light eyebrows raised, her eyes gleaming in a troublemaking way I knew well. That light hadn’t changed much since middle school. I smiled at her innocently, but knew nothing I did or said was going to derail whatever she had in mind to ask me.
“So, do you think Blaze is the one?” she asked, resting her elbows on the table. Amy leaned in, too, her brown eyes wide with interest and a sly grin on her face that matched the one Lisa was wearing.
I didn’t answer right away, though my gut knew. Besides the rough start, things had been perfect with Blaze. I couldn’t wait to see him again when we were apart and I didn’t want to leave when we were together.
To be honest, it was a little disgusting how much we enjoyed each other’s company, but I couldn’t get enough of him. His warmth drew me in, not just in his smile and eyes, but in his touch. And, I’d never even imagined such mind-blowing sex was possible, let alone that I’d get to experience it several times a week — just thinking about it nearly pushed me into an orgasm.
I tried not to think too much about what was going on, not wanting to jinx it when it was enough to ride that pleasurable current that always seemed to lead to him. But being with Lisa and Amy while they questioned every aspect of my relationship with Blaze made me realize how strong my feelings were for him. I drew in a deep breath as the truth broke over me in a warm, dazzling wave.
I was in love with him.
“I think so,” I said. It was the first time I’d admitted it to anyone, even myself. I was so frightened to ruin what we had, to break the dizzying spell of our connection by mentioning it aloud. But I felt brazen tonight, bolstered by alcohol and girl power, and I suddenly wanted the world to know how I really felt about Blaze.
I couldn’t swallow my grin as I looked around the table at these women who were closer to me than my own family. “I’m in love with Blaze Simmers.”
Amy and Lisa cheered, drawing the eyes of the other patrons in the bar to our table yet again, but some of them were smiling, too, amused by our antics and bolstered by their own alcoholic beverages.
Lisa lifted her drink to lead us in another toast. We were toast crazy tonight, but it felt right. “Here’s to love.” She smiled so warmly, it brought tears to my eyes.
Amy and I lifted our drinks too and said, “To love!” in unison. Then we all took a sip while several people at neighboring tables cheered and toasted to the same thing.
Blaze
Early April
I’d just finished mopping the hallway and scrubbing out the bathroom, my chores according to the chart newly posted in the TV room. I put the cleaning supplies away and went to the kitchen for a drink. A few of the guys just coming on shift were in there, too, putting groceries away in the pantry and fridge. I nodded to them before pouring myself some water and sitting down at the long kitchen table to drink it.
My shift ended in less than thirty minutes, giving me a good five hours to get home, change, and get dinner started before Sami came over. She still seemed to find the fact that I could cook more than one simple dish amazing. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted, but really, as long as she showed up to eat, I didn’t care what she said.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. We all kept them on silent while we were on duty, but our station uniforms had pockets, so it was never a problem to carry them around as long as we weren’t on a call. I pulled my phone out, frowning down at Lacey’s name and picture flashing across the screen. She’d been radio silent for over a month now — no calls, no visits to the station or my apartmen
t, no spying on me when I took Sami out, at least not that I’d noticed or she’d called to tell me about.
I had to admit that I was curious to know why she was suddenly calling me now. I was irritated, too, and I didn’t plan to do a damned thing to encourage her to keep calling. It was true that I’d told her one day we might be able to be friends, but today wasn’t that day. Things still felt too raw between us for that, and I didn’t want to jeopardize what I had with Sami by reintroducing Lacey into my life at this point.
I stood up from the table and left the busy kitchen and dining area to take the call in the hallway. “Hello?” I asked in a gruff voice, not wanting to sound too accommodating.
“Oh, good!” she said, sounding relieved. “I didn’t think you were going to answer after the last conversation we had.”
I didn’t recall being rude to her, even after she admitted to spying on me and my new girlfriend, not that it was worth bringing up. Lacey wasn’t the type of woman who’d ever accept blame, no matter how fucked up whatever she’d done had been. I just wanted to find out what she wanted and get off the phone.
“Was there something you needed, Lacey?” I asked, not really trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. I didn’t owe her anything. I’d been pretty damned nice to her, considering how she’d acted in and out of our relationship. But my tolerance for her bullshit was nearly at its limit. If this was more of the same needless drama, I planned to hang up.
“I have something really important to tell you,” she said, voice sticky sweet like it got whenever she needed something from me. This wasn’t about money — she made more than I did — but something was definitely up. “I know you’re busy, but I really want to tell you this in person. As soon as possible.” When I didn’t speak right away, she added, “Please, Blaze.”
