Burn It Down

by Jess Anastasi

  “Is that your car alarm?” Jared looked as dazed as he felt, which for some reason filled him with gratification. At least he wasn’t the only one who’d experienced a little melting over that undeniably hot kiss.

  “Yeah, the damn thing has a mind of its own. Seems to go off for no reason sometimes.” He leaned sideways and pulled his keys from his pocket, pressing the button and hoping against hope they were still within remote range, but no such luck. The noise continued splitting through the stillness of the encroaching darkness. At some point the sun had finished sinking below the horizon, leaving them in lavender twilight. How long had they been making out? Like they were horny teens or something. Apparently he’d lost time while Jared had been detonating everything he thought he’d known about kissing.

  “Come on, we should probably get going before the mosquitos start biting.” He pushed to his feet and then held out a hand to pull Jared up.

  Once he was upright, however, Jared kept hold of his hand and stepped into him.

  “So?” Jared asked, running his tongue along his own lower lip like he was savoring the taste of something and honest-to-God making Troy’s cock jerk. “How was your first kiss with another man?”

  Awesome. Mind-blowing. Fucking amazing.

  Instead of blurting any of that out, however, he cleared his throat.

  “It was okay, I suppose,” he managed to say in an even tone with a completely straight face.

  Jared arched an eyebrow at him, that wild, hungry look flaring in his eyes again, as if he had something to prove. But then he must have seen something in his face because a grin tugged at his lips.

  “Maybe you need another demonstration.” Jared shifted even closer so they were pressed flush against each other. Troy’s hands automatically landed on Jared’s hips, fingers flexing as he enjoyed the sensation of Jared’s solidly muscled body imprinting on his own until he was inundated with the urge to drag him in even tighter and rock his erection against him so he could find some relief.

  “It’s definitely something we need to try again. Probably more than once.” His voice came out rough and ready, giving away every ounce of his desire.

  Jared’s lips parted, and Troy was certain the guy was going to kiss him again, until he groaned and pushed himself away, putting a good half-dozen steps between them. Jared muttered something along the lines of not the time or place, reaching down to adjust the obvious bulge in his jeans with a wince.

  Troy could sympathize; his own pants were tight in all the wrong places. He’d be lucky if he could walk straight to the SUV.

  “Come on, that car alarm isn’t going to turn itself off.” Jared shoved his feet into his shoes but stuck his balled-up socks in his pocket. Troy didn’t have the luxury of the same quick fix; his boots would rub like a son of a bitch if he didn’t put his socks back on. At least by the time he had his footwear sorted his lust had come down from somewhere around volcanic levels to a simmer. He got the feeling that around Jared, he’d always be simmering.

  As they made their way up the trail to where he’d left his SUV parked, he periodically pressed the button on the remote for the alarm, trying to get within range to cut the racket off sooner rather than later. It finally worked when they were almost at the top of the trail.

  “Finally,” Jared said when the noise stopped. “If the thing is faulty, why don’t you just get it disconnected? Not like you really need it. Who’d be dumb enough to steal an SUV with park ranger slapped all over it?”

  “You’d be surprised,” he muttered in return, thinking of the park resources vehicle that’d been stolen from one of the other ranger stations the summer before and torched after the idiots had finished joyriding in it. Almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of specialized custom vehicle up in flames.

  “It’s more about the equipment I carry,” he replied, pausing to hold up a low-hanging branch so Jared could duck underneath. The guy paused, staring at his arm, gaze trailing to his shoulder and neck until he reached his face.

  “Sorry, what?” Jared said in adorable confusion, as if he’d completely missed what he’d said.

  “My equipment,” he replied. And damned if Jared’s gaze didn’t drop to his crotch.

  “In the SUV. That’s what the alarm is for,” he clarified, resisting the simultaneous urge to laugh and squirm under Jared’s frank gaze.

  “Oh, right. Of course.” Jared sent him a quick smile and then ducked under his arm. Since the trail was obvious ahead, he let Jared lead through the last few yards of thick, leafy green brush, using the opportunity to watch the way he moved with an easy athletic grace that no doubt came in handy considering his profession.

  Once they cleared the tree line, however, Jared pulled to a sudden stop.

  “Shit, Troy. I don’t think your car alarm went off by itself this time.”

  Troy stepped around him and took in the vehicle, looking for signs it’d been broken into but not seeing any obvious damage. For a moment he didn’t know what the hell Jared was talking about until his perusal finally landed on the tires. He could only see two from this angle, but they were both flat. And considering the way the vehicle sat, he was guessing all four were completely deflated.

  “Damn it to hell.” He brushed past Jared and quickly did a lap around his SUV, confirming he had four flat tires. Luckily they weren’t slashed. Looked like someone had just let the air out of them. But why the hell would anyone do that?

  Jared stood nearby with his arms crossed and forehead creased in a concerned expression. There was a tension in his posture that hadn’t been there before.

  “Why would someone let the air out of your tires all the way out here?” Jared glanced around, as if the culprit still might be hiding in the trees or something.

  “No idea. Maybe just kids pulling a stupid prank? I confiscated alcohol off some local boys one night last week. This is probably their idea of revenge.” It was the most obvious explanation. Still, he couldn’t shake a creeping sense of paranoia it was something more sinister. Like they were being watched from the trees and whoever had done this was just waiting for their opportunity to strike. Hell, he’d obviously watched too many movies.

  He shoved a hand through his hair, a little stressed about the SUV and a lot annoyed that his evening with Jared and wherever all that kissing might have been going had been interrupted. Four flat tires didn’t exactly make for a romantic outing.

  “What are we going to do?” Jared asked, pulling his cell phone from his pocket like maybe it held all the answers. He needn’t have bothered; reception was spotty at best out here. He had a sat-phone in the SUV, but things weren’t dire enough to bother calling anyone.

  “There’s a portable air compressor at the rangers’ station. I can use it to pump up the tires. It’ll probably take a little over an hour to walk there and back. If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. You can hang here—”

  Jared arched an eyebrow at him. “Sitting in a car with four flat tires, alone in the dark in the middle of a creepy forest? Have you never seen a horror movie?”

  He glanced around the encroaching darkness, trying not to let the fact Jared had echoed his own thoughts make him more on edge than he already felt. “There’s nothing creepy about this place.”

  At least there wasn’t usually. Until tonight, these woods, this forest and the nearby lake had always been a kind of sanctuary for him. Now it was like the sacrosanctity of this place had been corrupted. Which was kind of ridiculous and overdramatic. It was probably like he’d told Jared—someone’s lame idea of a prank. Nothing sinister at all.

  “Still, someone let down those tires. They could be watching us right now while they sharpen their butcher knife.”

  Troy gave a quick uncertain laugh, though he guessed Jared wasn’t serious from the grin tugging his lips up. Still, the humor hadn’t quite reached his eyes, as though Jared was worried about it but trying to lighten the situation.

  “Maybe I’ll grab my gun out of t
he lockbox in back, just to be on the safe side.”

  “Why, Mr. Park Ranger, sir, are you going to let me handle your weapon?” Jared batted his eyelashes comically, leaving him laughing more genuinely this time.

  “Only if I get to handle your hose in exchange, Mr. Firefighter.”

  Jared chuckled in warm surprise, obviously enjoying his comeback. “It’s a deal. So how about we get these tires fixed now that negotiations are complete?”

  “Sure, just give me a minute to grab a few things.” He went to the back of his SUV and grabbed out a heavy-duty flashlight. There wouldn’t be a moon out tonight, so once it got fully dark, it was going to be pitch-black. Next, he grabbed his small hiking pack containing important basics like first aid, matches, space blanket, water, and those dehydrated meals like they used in the military—standard emergency kit. Yeah, they were only walking an hour on a clearly marked trail to the rangers’ station and back again, but he never went anywhere in the park without it, just in case. Lastly, he took his gun out of the lockbox, then quickly lifted his shirt and unbuckled his belt to slide the lower-back holster on, concealing and securing his weapon. Again, just in case. Not because he was thinking twice about walking around in the dark, deserted park for the first time in his entire career. Nope, not at all.

  Once he was ready, he locked the SUV and went to where Jared was waiting, leaning against the front grill of the vehicle.

  “Ready to go?” he asked, handing Jared the heavy flashlight.

  Jared took it, fingers brushing over his with a sexy smile. “You sure do have some very large equipment, there.”

  He snorted a laugh. “Is this how it’s going to be between us from now on? Corny innuendos?”

  Jared tilted his chin up with a sniff, pretending to be insulted. “When they’re no longer funny, good sir, then and only then will I stop using them.”

  “God, you’re so cute when you’re being a dork.” He shook his head as they started away from the SUV on the access track.

  “Yes, I am known to be adorkable on occasion. But I save it for special people.” Jared flashed him a quick smile, and Troy’s stomach flipped over itself.

  Hell, how could one person he’d met only three days ago affect him so strongly?

  As they made the trek to the rangers’ station at an unhurried pace, they started chatting, first about their jobs and then about stuff they each liked, finding they had some TV shows and music in common.

  Inside the rangers’ station, Jared grabbed them each a bottle of water from the small kitchen while Troy got the portable air compressor out of an equipment storage room in the back. They took a few minutes’ break as they drank the water, the temperature still warm out despite the sun having set. It was probably going to be one of those nights where it didn’t dip below seventy degrees.

  The walk back to the SUV was a little more intense; he and Jared swapped the air compressor between them a few times. It wasn’t exactly big or bulky, but it had a little heft to it, and the humid night air probably made it seem like it weighed more than it did.

  Once they got back to his vehicle, they worked seamlessly to get the tires pumped up, almost as if they’d teamed up a million times before and could anticipate what the other needed or was thinking. He couldn’t remember ever being so naturally in sync with another person. It was probably a little freaky if he thought about it too closely.

  With all four tires inflated, he tossed the air compressor into the back of the SUV, along with his pack, the torch, and lastly returned his gun to the lock box. When they finally got rolling, he was surprised to see it was almost 11:00 p.m.

  “You going to drop the air compressor back?” Jared asked, stifling a yawn.

  “No need. I can put it back tomorrow. You look beat.”

  Jared let his head drop back against the seat and sent him a lazy look. “Came off my third twelve-hour shift just before I got to the bar. One more tomorrow before my three days off. After that I’ve got four night shifts in a row.”

  “That’s some schedule you’re on.” Not that he could talk. With the park being understaffed and underfunded, he was on call twenty-four seven for any emergencies, even when he did get days off.

  “Yeah, I almost prefer the twenty-four on, forty-eight off I used to work in Houston.”

  He glanced at Jared in surprise at that information. “You were a firefighter in Houston?”

  Jared’s lips pressed together, as if he wasn’t going to answer. Or was debating how to answer.

  “I did all my college courses, EMT, and firefighter training in Houston, so it just made sense to take a position at a firehouse there once I was qualified,” Jared finally answered. “I transferred to Everness eighteen months ago.”

  He swallowed down the urge to ask more questions. Whatever was behind Jared’s move back to his hometown, where his parents had disowned him years before, he guessed it hadn’t been pleasant. It was like the light went out in Jared’s eyes. His expression shuttered and lips pressed into a tense line.

  Troy hated seeing him like that, wanted nothing more than to put a smile back on his face, find the charming Jared from earlier in the evening who kept coming up with all that dumb innuendo.

  “Well, I guess we better get you home to bed.” He was totally dangling bait, seeing if Jared would make some kind of flirty remark out of it, but the guy just nodded and turned his attention out the window to the dark scenery whizzing by as they drove back into town.

  Hell. He was kicking himself for sticking his foot into what he thought would be an innocent question.

  He cleared his throat, debating whether to attempt to draw Jared out of his silence or just leave him to it. “Do you want me to drop you at home or—”

  “I drove my truck to Monroe’s, so you can just drop me back at the bar.”

  Troy tried to ignore the disappointment that their night was apparently over. Had he thought Jared would invite him back to his place with his drunk brother? Or that Jared might want to come home with him when they barely knew each another and he still didn’t quite know what this whole thing between them was?

  He’d gotten ahead of himself, clearly. Yes, he and Jared had enjoyed a fun evening together and some undeniably hot kisses, but he couldn’t expect any more than that, even if the idea of being in bed with Jared made his insides turn to pudding. And he wasn’t even imagining the fun naked bits—well, yes he was. But mostly he was imagining the holding each other and falling asleep together bit. God, he was such a schmuck. No wonder Jeanie had chosen her career over him.

  Troy shook the dour thoughts out of his mind as they reached the bar. All the parking spaces along the main street were taken, so he went around the corner and down a side street, finding a spot in a pool of darkness between streetlamps.

  He turned off the engine but left the radio murmuring softly in the background, the lights from the dash gently lighting the interior.

  “I had fun tonight, despite the flat tires,” he said, turning a little in his seat to look at Jared, who still had the pensive expression on his face. “Sorry if I said something out of line—”

  “No, you didn’t.” Jared sighed and dragged a hand over his jaw, before twisting to face him. “I’m just tired and being an idiot. Ignore me.”

  Before he’d even thought about it, Troy reached out and caught his hand, the need to comfort Jared, to chase away the shadows of pain in his gaze, stronger than any reservations he had.

  “If something happened in the past— If it’s something that still upsets you, it doesn’t make you an idiot. Your feelings aren’t invalid, Jared. No matter how big or small the issue might be. And don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  Jared stared at him for so long—features unreadable—he was almost convinced he’d made things worse by opening his stupid mouth, talking about something he had no clue about and trying to comfort a man he barely knew.

  Except Jared leaned across the space between them and caught his mouth in a sud
den kiss. It wasn’t a simple exploration in lust; there was a whole lot of banked emotion behind it, and when Troy caught Jared’s shoulder to pull him closer, he could practically feel the guy vibrating with it all.

  Concerned, Troy leaned back but cupped the sides of Jared’s face in both palms, holding him in place so he could study his features in the low lighting of the car.

  What he found was too many emotions colliding in Jared’s shimmering green eyes to name any one for certain.

  “Jared—”

  Jared cut him off with another kiss, this one brief but no less heartfelt.

  “Troy.” His name wasn’t much more than a breath ghosting over Jared’s lips. “No one has ever said anything like that to me before. No one has ever made me feel—”

  Instead of finishing whatever he was going to say, Jared kissed him again, and this time there was nothing but white-hot need when their mouths sealed together.

  Well, if there was one way to make up for saying the wrong thing, it was by saying the right thing.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  JARED COULDN’T decide if he was in heaven or hell when he pressed as close to Troy as the center console of the car would allow him to get. He probably should have just said good night and gone home. Or maybe he shouldn’t have let his reasons for moving back to Everness ruin what had been the most enjoyable evening he’d had in years. Or maybe he shouldn’t be letting Troy’s kiss erase all of that in a whitewash of consuming heat, replacing it with a need radiating from deep in his heart and soul. A place he’d stubbornly closed off and refused to let the light of day into.

  In a matter of hours and with a few simple kisses, Troy had smashed his way into that place and flooded it with a warm light so intense, his entire body was aching from it, like a numb limb reawakening with a prickle of pins and needles. It was dangerous, though. He wasn’t sure he was ready to be here. Wasn’t sure something wouldn’t trigger him into an outright panic attack like he’d struggled with in the first few months after he’d walked out on Kevin. The last thing a guy-virgin like Troy needed was his bed partner freaking out midfuck. That’d give the poor man a complex for sure.