Brotherhood of District 23 Complete Series

by Amy Briggs

  “By the doe-eyed look on your face, I’m guessing that was him?” Jess asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

  “Yeah, he’s going to pick me up at 7. I’m like super nervous, Jess. Is this normal? I feel like I’m gonna puke,” I joked with her, only half joking.

  “Yep, totally normal. All right, text me a picture of your sexy ass later, then I hope not to hear from you until tomorrow, if you know what I’m saying,” she said giving me a smirk while making her way out.

  “Sounds good. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for your help!”

  “Anytime.” She waved and made her exit, taking my coffee mug with her.

  I decided to go for a quick run before getting my workday started and shake off some of those nerves. I had a few appointments that afternoon with clients, but other than that, I pretty much had the day to myself. Realtors are generally quite busy on weekends, but I didn’t have a whole lot scheduled, which was fine with me, I had been so busy lately.

  I preferred to try to get all of my appointments into clusters back to back, particularly when I had open houses or showings of a particular property. One, it was safer for me as a female to have back-to-back appointments, because as one was ending another was beginning, and so someone was always on their way to see me. It also gave the buyers an implied sense of urgency, because other people were interested in the same property. It happened to help sell properties faster when potential buyers thought there was competition.

  I popped my earbuds in and set out for a quick few miles. I couldn’t run without music; for some reason music, had become extremely important to me over the years. It could instantly enhance or change your mood. I had been on a country music kick the last year, and was listening to Garth Brooks’ Greatest Hits album on repeat when I was running. I ran down the street singing Thunder Rolls to myself, when I started to get emotional. It was another unseasonably warm morning for October, and I had a later start than normal because Jess had been there, and as my sweat mixed with my tears, I started to get short of breath. I stopped for a moment to regain my composure.

  Leaning against a telephone pole, I ran my hands over my face, rubbing away the sweat and tears that had pooled around my eyes. I had such a good morning that it was frustrating for me to suddenly start feeling all of these emotions again. I hadn’t cried in quite a while, yet in that moment it was all I wanted to do. I finally just gave in to it, and let a sob out, which compelled more, practically choking me.

  After a few minutes of my uncontrollable mini breakdown, I got myself together. Stretching my legs and taking a few deep breaths, I regained my composure and decided to just walk home. I was only about a mile from home, so I put my earbuds back in and headed back.

  Wondering what came over me, I tried to turn my thoughts back to happier things like my date-non-date, whatever it was. I shook my head at myself thinking I better get my mind right before he picked me up, or he’d think I was some kind of basket case. Which maybe I was, but I didn’t want him to know that, certainly not on the first time we were spending time together, or it would be the last.

  I knew I had been laying it on a little thick with my text messages to her, but everything I said was true. I wanted her to get the impression that it was a date; I was just too weird about the whole dating thing to flat out ask her on one, and I was kind of afraid she’d say no if she thought it was a date out of the gate.

  I had some errands to run and wanted to clean my truck before I picked her up, so Matt and I took off after work to run around together on our day off. He had some shit to do too, and this was a pretty standard morning of our day-off routine for us to do all of our adulting crap together.

  “So, what are you up to tonight?” he asked me as we walked out to my truck.

  “I’m taking Vivian out to dinner tonight.” I hesitated telling him, but I’m not a liar, so I figured I’d just be honest about it and he knew it was coming.

  “That’s tonight, eh?” He gave me a skeptical glance.

  “Yeah, I want to wash my truck before I pick her up. It’s a fucking mess in here.” I pointed around it.

  “Yeah, it sure is.” He laughed. “So, where are you going to take the youngster?”

  “Fuck off. She’s not that young,” I said. “I’m not sure. I haven’t figured out where to take her where we could have an actual conversation,” I admitted.

  Rubbing his chin in thought, he offered some actual helpful suggestions. “Why don’t you take her that new place over on Virginia? They have a nice patio, and the music isn’t that loud. I heard the food was really good. Isabel has wanted to go there too, and you know how picky she can be about where to eat. So you can check it out with your lady friend, and then report back on the food,” We both laughed. Isabel was laid back about many things, but not about what or where she ate.

  “That’s a good idea, and it should be fairly nice out.” I paused for a moment, contemplating telling him why I was interested in a normal date all of a sudden. Part of me thought he’d understand, but the self-consciousness caused my jaw to clench, so I simply explained that I found her interesting, and that it wasn’t a big deal. “You know, I realize everyone thinks it’s weird that I’m going on an actual date or whatever, but honestly, I am curious about the market and she also seems like a cool chick.”

  “Dude, we’re just busting your balls. I know you wouldn’t do anything to make my business with her weird, and honestly, I have no beef with you dating someone. Look what happened to me. I have absolutely no room whatsoever to talk.”

  He was right. He didn’t have any room to talk at all. He was my wingman until he fell for his girl, and while we still went out, it wasn’t like it used to be. We were all growing up, and at the end of the day, it was probably time for me to grow up too. Even if it didn’t go anywhere with Vivian, it felt like a positive step in getting over whatever it was that was keeping me in the darkness. Getting to a place where I wasn’t constantly reverting to the solitude in my head was important, and if Dr. Rosen thought this was a good idea, I was going in headfirst. I trusted his judgment, he hadn’t been wrong about anything so far. I also considered the fact that finding someone might be quite nice.

  We ran around doing our usual bullshit errands of going to the bank, getting the truck washed, stopping at the hardware store. There was always something one of us needed at the hardware store, and we always managed to spend way more time than we needed to; same thing would always happen if we went to the auto parts store. Some things about us guys are as typical as anyone would guess.

  After we were done, I dropped Matt off at the firehouse, where we had left his truck, and I headed home. It was mid-afternoon, so I still had plenty of time to fuck around at home and get out of my own head before picking up Vivian. I still needed to get her address, so I sent her a text.

  Hey beautiful, hope you’re having a good day. Need your address so I can pick you up promptly.

  She replied right away.

  Hey there, busy day, but not bad. It’s 224 South Orange Ave. You’ll see my car in the driveway. 7pm still good?

  Sure is, looking forward to it.

  Me too. See you then!

  ;)

  Girls love emojis. Every girl I’ve ever texted used them constantly. I used to find it stupid and annoying, however, I thought it was cute she sent me a smiley face. So I sent a wink back. I didn’t know why, but I liked sending the last text too.

  As it got closer to the time to pick her up, I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, thinking about what I was doing. I was completely out of my element, causing the anxiety to creep in. I ran my hands through my hair one last time and muttered “It’s just dinner” under my breath before heading out.

  Vivian only lived about ten minutes away from me as it turned out, so I was in her driveway before I had too much time to psych myself out. I noticed she had lots of flowers planted around her front door in little pots, and what looked like a bunch of herbs and stuff too. Feeling my heart
rate pick up, I took a few deep breaths before I rang her doorbell.

  When the doorbell rang, I jumped. I practically ran to answer it, stopping by the hall mirror really quickly to check myself out, fluff my hair one last time, and check for lipstick on my teeth, of course. I opened the door, and I couldn’t stop my mouth from falling open. Standing before me, leaning up against my doorway, he looked like a model. He had on a greenish plaid button-up shirt, tight at his biceps and rolled up to his elbows showing his tattoos, with a white t-shirt, jeans, and brown boots. I knew how good-looking he was, but every time I saw him, I was floored anyway.

  Quickly getting my bearings, I invited him in for a moment. “Hi, there, please come in. I’m almost ready. I just have to grab my shoes and purse.”

  “You’re looking absolutely stunning today, darlin’.” He smiled at me, causing my temperature to rise.

  “Thank you, Seth. You, uh, too.” I tried to recover from the moment, stumbling over my words.

  He walked in past me, and as I caught a whiff of his manly scent, a mix of cologne and that same fresh soap I remembered smelling before; I was definitely swooning.

  “Your place is really nice.” He looked around, seemingly admiring my condo.

  “Oh, thank you. I just bought it last year. It needs a little bit of work, but it was a steal,” I said as I rummaged through the closet looking for the gold heels I wanted to wear. Putting them on, I walked over to him now standing in my kitchen leaning up against the island. “Um, I’m ready now if you are?” I asked hesitantly.

  “Ok, great, do you want to bring a jacket or anything? I thought it might be nice to sit outside?” he asked.

  “Oh, that’s a good idea. I have one hanging by the door. I’ll grab on our way out.” I started to lead the way as he followed, hands in his pockets.

  “Those shoes are really sexy, Vivian,” he said quietly from behind me. I turned around and flashed him a little smile.

  “Thank you very much.” I grabbed my purse and ushered him out in front of me, so I could lock the door. When we got out to his truck, I went over to the passenger side and realized it was a lifted truck that was way too high off the ground for me to get in without some help.

  “Oh, shit,” he said quietly behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him, confused about what to do. “Let me help you.” He opened the door, gently grabbed me by the waist, and lifted me up into the cab, causing me to giggle. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  Now looking down at him from the inside of the truck, I said, “You just lifted me up here like I weighed nothing.”

  Giving me that handsome yet devilish smirk of his, he replied, “Darlin’, you are a tiny thing.” He shut the door and walked around to his side and hopped in the truck.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to bring my laptop so we can go over comps and things like that for your property?” I was fidgeting with my hands, unsure of what this was still.

  “Yeah, about that.” He turned to me, placing one hand on the steering wheel and the other between us. Leaning closer to me, he said, “I’m really more interested in talking about you than about my property tonight.”

  Surprised and flattered at his honesty, I went ahead and asked the question of the day, “This isn’t really about business, is it?” I’m certain I was whispering, slightly afraid of his reply.

  Turning back to the steering wheel and revving up the engine, he said without looking back at me, “No, it’s really not about a business at all.” Grinning, he backed out of my driveway, and to my excitement, we headed out on our confirmed, actual date.

  I’m usually good at small talk, but in this case I really didn’t know what to say, so I just asked how his day was.

  “It was a good day. I was looking forward to picking you up most of the day. Other than that, I ran errands like I usually do on my day off. Tell me about your day, darlin’. I’m sure it was much more interesting.”

  Seriously, something about the southern twang in his voice when he called me darlin’ was panty-melting. If I weren’t a responsible adult, I would have jumped over to his side of the truck and insisted he had his way with me. I didn’t even care that I barely knew him. If he kept calling me darlin’ and giving me that million-dollar smile, I knew I’d never be able to behave myself.

  “Well, I had a few showings this afternoon. They were all pretty standard. Two couples, and then this single guy. He was a little creepy, but whatever. Uneventful for the most part.” That guy today was really creepy.

  “What do you mean, the guy was creepy? What did he do?” Jax snapped a little, surprising me.

  “Umm, well, he didn’t seem that interested in the property, really. He had me give him a tour, during which he was very quiet and just kind of stared at me a lot. When my next appointment showed up, he took off. It was weird, but whatever.”

  “Do you always do all of your appointments by yourself like that? It doesn’t seem safe at all to just be meeting strangers alone in empty houses.” He seemed more concerned than I would have expected. We pulled into the new restaurant I had heard opened but hadn’t had a chance to go to yet, making my stomach growl from the thought of some food.

  “Well, sometimes I do. Um, most of the time I do.” I looked over at him as he parked. “That’s just kind of the nature of the business, really. I line all of my appointments up back-to-back whenever I can, so that I always have another one coming up except for my last one of the day, of course. But I’m always in touch with someone, so I’m expected someplace or people expect to hear from me. It’s my job.” I explained it the best I could, really; he was right, it’s not super safe, but you have to trust that people are inherently good. And I had a system, sort of.

  “I can see I’m going to have to worry about you, Viv,” he said before hopping out of the truck and walking over to help me get out. It never really occurred to me that someone would worry about that kind of thing besides me; it was endearing. He was protective, which was attractive, like everything about him.

  He reached in to help me out of the truck, which was obscenely big, and as he let me down slowly, my body glided along his, giving me goose bumps. The fact that I hadn’t really touched a man other than a business handshake was messing with my senses, and I’d become super sensitive to touch it seemed. He placed his hand on my lower back as we walked toward the restaurant and got seated on the patio outside. There was a guy singing inside, and while we could hear him lightly through the speakers on the patio, it wasn’t so loud that you had to yell to each other, thankfully.

  Being ever the gentleman this evening, Seth pulled a chair out for me, then sat across from me at the table looking at me with a sly smile.

  “What?” I asked. I was sure I had a booger or something and he was staring at it.

  “I’m honestly just enjoying the view, darlin’.” He leaned forward, placing his palms together on the table in front of him. I didn’t have any clue how to take his compliments. He was quite flattering, but it just wasn’t something I was used to.

  “Uh, well, thank you.” I let out a small laugh.

  The waitress came over and took our drink orders, then quickly came back for our food orders; and all the while, we’d been quiet. I was extremely nervous and wanted him to take the lead on conversation, but being nervous made me chatty. So I quickly began the barrage of questions as soon as we were done dealing with the server.

  “So, what’s your story, Seth? Are you from here? Does your family live here? Did you always want to be a firefighter?” I almost asked him about the distinct Marine tattoo that reminded me of my brother, but decided not to go there yet for both our sakes.

  “Ha ha, that’s a lot of questions, darlin’. Uh, my story—well, it’s long. I am from here. I grew up in this area and have lived here most of my life, except for when I was in the Marines and was deployed elsewhere. My parents live in South Florida, Boca Raton, to be exact. They retired there about ten years ago, and I don’t see them as often as I should
. I have an older sister, who also lives nearby with her husband and kids. Did I always want to be a firefighter? Yes. Definitely yes. From the time I was a little kid having a fire truck birthday party, I knew it was for me. I joined the Marines after high school, though, and had a break for a few years while I was away. But I came back, because they are my family too. Now it’s your turn for the inquisition.” He smiled again. He smiled a lot, but there seemed to be something behind his eyes. He seemed to be having fun, but it looked like something else was on his mind.

  “Ok, well, what would you like to know?”

  Leaning in closer across the table, he lowered his voice and looked into my eyes. “Vivian, I want to know everything about you.”

  I felt like I was staring at her, inspecting her. Waiting for her to see through me. Her piercing blue eyes looked at me so directly, so intently, that I felt like I was wearing all of my flaws and insecurities like a mask across the table. I wanted to turn the topic of discussion to her as quickly as possible. This exercise was about connecting with someone, and I couldn’t do that if all I was thinking about was how fucking sexy she was, coupled with how uncomfortable I was talking about myself.

  I sipped my beer, awaiting her response, pretending to be cool and collected. “Well?” I asked and smirked.

  “Everything? Well, ok, let’s see. You already know what I do for a living—” I interrupted her.

  “Yes, and at some point I’d like to discuss a better way for you to be safer, because I don’t like the idea of some creepy douchebag making you uncomfortable for even one second.” I really didn’t. I wanted to find that guy and teach him a fucking lesson about how to behave. She looked at me, clearly surprised by my interruption, before she continued on talking with a bit of a smile on her face.