by Xyla Turner
Why the man’s honest words rubbed me the wrong way was no mystery. I liked to do things well without making mistakes but neither time when I punched that entitled prick, did I think I was doing anything wrong. He had it coming.
“So, folks thinking I’m not equipped now?” I asked with a slight edge to my tone.
“Fuck, here you go. No need to get all emotional and shit,” Rex countered. “I’m just saying, as your friend. This probie is under your skin and it’s showing something terrible. It’s also not cool. The first hit and maybe the second. But every fucking week, it’s stupid. Ignore his ass. Shit, listen to the mediator and fix the shit is all I’m saying. You might be the Lieutenant one day and even keep going to be the Captain or Chief, but not doing this shit.”
I grunted at him talking about my future in the field. My pops was going to be the Chief, even before Whitley. The one thing about him, and the Chief always said it, he was a leader’s leader. My pops could run for office that way he ran shit. Apparently, I was letting a probie keep me from that legacy.
Fuck.
“You coming out with us tonight?” Rex interrupted my musings.
“Naw, going to meditate or some shit,” I scoffed. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” he replied, and the phone went dead.
I didn’t know the first thing about meditation but I figured I could look it up or something. Instead, I thought of the hot mediator and got off to the thought of her bouncing her ample ass on my cock. She was a tease, I could tell. But either way, she was also off limits.
The next day I was ready for a new start. I had planned to meet with Toad so we could bury the hatchet, I’d planned to meet with the team, so we could hit reset and make our resolution board for the upcoming year.
None of that panned out for me, because as soon as I settled, a call came in for a car crash that needed the Jaws. Right after that, a hazardous materials incident near one hundred and thirty-fourth street and around three o’clock, there was a fire in an apartment building that required medical intervention. Everybody wasn’t on call, which was great because that meant, I didn’t get to see Toad’s ugly mug. It also meant when I returned in time for dinner, I did not expect to see the woman that was sitting next to him, chatting.
It was Trecia, the mediator.
Before I could think, I blurted, “I thought you quit.”
Toad’s head jerked up, but she put her hand on his, which caught my eyes, and said, “If you’re referring to me, then no. I’m still here.”
“You weren’t here yesterday,” I noted.
Her eyes were bold and daring but I held them anyway.
“Yes, I was told I should come in today, instead. As you suggested, Oscar, and I had a lot to discuss, so we spent the day together.” She was smiling, but it was a mockery.
This woman did not like me at all.
“Good,” I said and lifted her plate. “Got to chat with you about something. Meet me over here.”
I jerked my head and picked up her plate, bringing it with me. I heard her scoff, but I kept going. She could swallow all that shit because I was on a mission.
“Hazard,” she called as the door closed behind her. “I do not appreciate being forced or told what to do.”
“Yeah, lady,” I snapped back. “Neither do I. Now, have a seat. I have a plan.”
She did not have a seat, just crossed her arms over those luscious breast, causing them to rise. My cock stirred but luckily the table I was sitting at hid my excitement. I could imagine her body being a nice deep brown all over. Those areolas were probably darker but sweeter than the blackest cherries.
Fuck.
I needed to not think of her like that. The magnetic force that kept us apart was growing weaker. However, that’s not what she was here for.
“Sit and finish eating,” I told her. “I won’t bite.”
She continued to glare at me but then she said, “Hazard, rule number two for mediation is to—”
I cut her off. “Listen. I know.”
“So, if you know, then why don’t you do?” she asked. “You’re not even listening to me.”
“I did listen to you. I’m not forcing you to do anything.” I shared as I scarfed down some leftover lasagna from yesterday.
The cabbage and potatoes did not do anything for my stomach today. Trecia remained standing, and I had to keep eating, so I didn’t stare at the way her turtleneck hugged those buxom breasts that were begging to be sucked. God, all I needed was a reason or the high sign.
That was it.
Trecia put one foot in front of the other and proceeded to strut toward her food that I placed on the other side of the table. Then she sat down and asked, “What’s this plan of yours?”
“I’ve had some time to think…” I started, but the vixen interrupted me.
“I heard,” she said with a smirk before she lifted her fork to eat the cabbage.
“Let me finish, will ya,” I snapped and nearly laughed at our magnets hovering near each other but never connecting. “I want to have a meeting with Toad and clear the air. What do you call it, a mediation session? Then I want to have a meeting with the team and I’d love to get some pointers from you about the things I should discuss. I want us to come together as a team.”
One of her eyebrows went up like she didn’t believe me.
“What? I do,” I snapped at her. “Listen, lady. You don’t know me, okay. What, it’s been two days but I’m telling you, I have dedicated my life to this job. Not because I’m from a generation of firefighters, but because I believe and love what I do. I believe in that so much, when I see loose cannons, it bothers me. A little too much.” The fork was in my hand with the steel cutting into my palm as I white-knuckled the utensil. Abruptly, I let it drop to my almost empty plate, and I kept speaking. “I want this to work and I’m saying to you, help me.”
Trecia was no longer eating, but leaned back in the chair with her arms over her chest again. God, I wish she didn’t do that. I forced my eyes to meet hers, before she said, “You want to make this work, huh? Fine, I’ll help you. But on one condition.”
Condition.
What the fuck was she talking about?
“What condition? This is your job,” I asked.
“It’s a personal question but I don’t have to help you achieve your goals as I can help the team achieve theirs,” she answered.
Ah, a personal one. I would gladly ask for a personal one.
“Shoot,” I said.
She leaned forward and her aroma crawled up my nostrils, holding me hostage to that mesmerizing gaze of hers.
“That night at Lenny’s. Rex pointed me out to you and said something. You shook your head in the negative and I’m just curious why,” she said just above a whisper. “I just want to know what was said and why the response.”
Trecia’s eyes met mine, but she didn’t seem as bold or ballsy as she had before. The woman was making herself vulnerable and shit, my pulse spike and my cock hardened. I cleared my throat and answered her,” he said, she’s hot. I’m sure she can help you get over the holiday blues.”
I stopped talking because I knew that my response would make me vulnerable and I wasn’t quite ready for that.
“And…” She let it hang.
“And…” I mimicked her.
“Your response.” She nodded her head, waiting for me to continue.
Exhaling out loud, I said, “My response was to shake my head. I told him I didn’t have time for shit like that. Had enough on my plate.”
“I see,” Trecia answered with a nod of her head. “Thanks for sharing.”
“What I didn’t say,” I continued, stupidly. “Was that it was fucking Christmas day, and I was working, not because I had to, but volunteered because I didn’t want to be alone. What I also didn’t say was that I liked everything I saw and would have loved to know why she was in Lenny’s on Christmas by herself. The other thing I didn’t say was she was the most beautiful
woman I’d ever laid eyes on, but there was no way she’d give me the time of day. She needed a man that would worship her, always and in every way.”
She cleared her throat and started fidgeting with her hands. Twice, Trecia opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. I would have bet my salary that if she was a tad bit lighter, her face would have flushed red. However, those eyes stayed on me and mine on hers for what felt like seconds but could have easily been minutes.
A knock on the door, disrupted us, then Chief stuck his head inside.
“Hey, Hazard. See me before you leave today.” He nodded at me, then turned a sweet smile to Trecia and said, “Ms. Wilson.”
“Chief.” She smiled back at him.
Once Chief left, Trecia stood up and said, “I’ll just go and get Oscar, now.”
Before I could even stop her, she was out the door with her plate and mine.
Fuck.
Why did I say all of that?
Idiot.
She and Toad came back inside the small conference room where she sat at the head and he sat directly across from me.
“Gentlemen, this is a mediation and I will serve as your mediator.” She pulled two sheets out of her bag and placed one in front of both of us. “Please take a moment to read over these rules for mediation.”
There were twelve items listed on the sheet and the first two I knew all too well from yesterday. Stay Calm and Listen to Understand. The other ten felt fairly simple, but we’d see how our first session went before I made a judgment.
Oddly enough, for one hour, I sat and listened to Toad tell how he felt like he entered a community that was already established and he tried to find his niche but quickly saw how even though he was doing everything right, nobody seemed to have any appreciation for that. Then I shared how I felt like he disrupted our community by flaunting his strengths when that wasn’t something we focused on here at Station 71. I shared that he was a probie, so he wasn’t expected to come in and excel at everything and being a know it all, was damn sure not the way to find friends easily no matter where he went or what industry he decided to go into.
Toad shared more items and I, in turn, did the same. From utilizing rule number two, if what I heard was correct, he was just trying to find his way. I never looked at it that way. I just thought he was a tool and an entitled bitch. I didn’t share that, but thought the session was one step toward mending the fences between the two of us.
Trecia closed us out and said, this would be one of a few mediation sessions. However, our homework was for the two of us to find three positives traits or qualities about the other and we’d have another meeting in a couple of days. Then she left and said nothing about what I shared with her when it was just me and her.
I checked in with Chief, who was on the phone with his daughter in Pennsylvania. She was graduating college this year, and he was super proud of her. When he hung up, he looked at me with a little of the disappointment he had from yesterday. So, before he started, I shared, “Toad, and I, just had our first mediation with Trecia. It was actually good.”
“Good,” he sighed. It seemed to be more of a relief than I expected. “Sit.”
I did as he commanded and then he rested his tired eyes on me.
“Son, I’m not going to be around much longer. Would love for you to hold this seat and even if you don’t have the title, you’ll always lead this bunch. So, you need to be able to do that. The right way.” He sighed but continued. “Doctor is saying it’s high blood pressure. This is a fucking pressure packed job and if I keep it up, I could have a heart attack. Ha. Never thought I would go based on my heart. I always had a lot of heart. Nothing like your pops, but I was close. Now, that’s the thing that might do me in. Anyway, told you, that I’d tell you. Need to change my diet and shit. However, this job...” Chief leaned back against the worn leather chair and didn’t finish his statement but said, “There you have it.”
That was not the news I was hoping he would share. This man had been nothing but kind and favorable to me and the thought I might lose him was not sitting right with me.
At all.
“Fine,” I tried to snap out of it. “We’ll change the food and make sure you don’t have to deal with the bullshit you been dealing with. Okay? Toad and I will be okay. Trecia will make sure of it. Good call with her, by the way.”
I was rambling, but I didn’t know what else to say. This man single handedly made the death of my father bearable. My dad was married to the job, but he was a great father. I lived at the station and learned from these men that I served with. The man that sat before me. They were my family and for a slight moment, I got why Chief was so adamant about us sticking together.
It mattered.
Family mattered.
“Yeah,” he said with a slight nod. “What joy.”
I’m sure he was talking about the food but I didn’t stay around to go into all the details of why this man had to stay around and how I planned to ensure he went nowhere.
“Alright, Chief it’s settled.” I told him as I left to find Lionel. Who was not too happy about this change of dietary needs but I shared that it was for the health of the Chief and all of us. He still gave not one damn, but said he would ensure Chief had healthier food, less salt and find some recipes.
The next day Trecia was still doing more of the same, as she spent time with Rex, Chief and Joe. She barely spoke to me, which grated my nerves more than I realized. Especially since I shared all I did with her. She had nothing to say.
Not one word.
By the next day, I was hotter than a bull charging for a red cape. I’m sure it was sexual frustration but what did the woman expect from me?
When Trecia arrived, she grabbed Toad from the day room and brought him toward the couch I usually occupied with my basket of tennis balls.
“Hazard, when do you think you’ll be free to meet with Toad for the second part of your mediation today?” She was smiling, but I had no doubts I was scowling.
“After lunch is fine for me. He has some chores to do now, but will be free afterward, right?” I looked at Toad, who nodded in agreement.
“Great, then. After lunch, we’ll meet in the conference room,” Trecia noted. “Hope you both completed your homework.”
“Fine. Now, you and I need to chat,” I said with my eyes on the mediator.
“You and I?” she repeated.
“Yes, you and I.” I stood up and started walking toward the beds in the back.
I wanted us to have privacy and anyone could walk into the conference room. So, I took her to the back where we bunked in the open bay sleeping area. As before, I never turned to see if she followed me but could hear her heels clacking on the tile floor in the distance. Once I was through the door, I kept it open as she strutted through almost a minute after I did, taking her damn time.
“You just like bossing people around, don’t you?” she said with a smirk.
“Something like that.” I narrowed my gaze on her.
“What would you like to talk about Hazard, that required us to come back here?” she asked with both arms crossed over her chest.
Fuck.
I turned my head and sighed.
“Look, I shared some things with you two days ago and you haven’t said shit about it,” I said. “Why?”
Trecia blinked and then she answered, “I didn’t think that a response was necessary. You shared, and I heard. It was an answer to my question.”
I turned my head so I could give her a sideways look. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I most certainly am not,” she responded.
That’s when I took that step to close the distance between us and she cleared her throat before saying, “What did I tell you about stepping to me trying to intimidate?”
“That’s what you think?” I kept moving into her space. “Think I’m trying to intimidate you. Bully you? Far from it, sweetheart.”
Before I could bat an eye, I fe
lt a death grip on my balls that caused a groan to escape but she not only grabbed my balls but a part of my cock. Which began to harden in her hand. Fuck, she didn’t know I like it rough and so did every part of my body.
Those brown eyes grew with the knowledge she was turning me on, and her breathing became hitched. Fuck, her mouth parted and like Rex said, I’d have no regrets. I went in for a small kiss that turned into a big one.
Trecia pushed me into the wall with her hands still on my balls but not in a death grip, just cupping them. My tongue found its way inside her small mouth and I began to take my fill of the woman as her aroma made me high. My hands found both sides of her face where I framed them to take all I could. Her fingers began to slide up my chest and then she slid those talons down my skin, which made the animal come out in me, as I nipped her lip.
“Fuck, woman,” I hissed and kissed where I bit her.
Moving her neck to the side, I began to nip her jaw and moved my way to the bottom of her ear. She was so damn delicious, and I wanted everything that she’d give me.
“Hazard,” she moaned when I hit that spot on the side of her neck.
Her hands tightened on the waist of my pants as I continued to suck on that spot, driving her crazy.
“Fuck,” she breathed in my ear. “Hazz….”
Before she could finish, a throat cleared, and we both stopped mid breath. I pulled her to me, but she pushed away.
“Sooo,” a familiar voice said in the dark, behind the last bed. “I’m glad that you guys have mediated.”
There was a light tone in the tone and fuck, I wanted to deck his ass for interrupting like that.
“Rex,” I called.
“Yeah, brother,” he stepped outside of the shadows, so we could see him.
Trecia was three feet away, trying to put herself back together, while I willed my cock to go down.
