by Mary Calmes
Carlo turned to fully face him. “Volunteers on the front line are as important as firemen dropped in the middle of a blaze, and I know Vy wouldn’t fuck around on his word. If he promised, he’ll follow through.”
“He can’t—”
“You got no say, man,” he informed Robert. “Who are you? Only a mate has a say.”
“Go wait in the car,” I directed the ruffled mate of my ahir. “I’ll be right out after I shower.”
“You can shower at the site drop when we get there. Throw a change of clothes in a bag and come on.”
In front of other members of the ket, Carlo would have never been so bossy. But in private, just me and him or me, him, and Lou, his natural dominance came out. I had never minded.
Leaving the room, I went and changed quickly into jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, washed my face, stuffed things into a backpack, and was back out in the living room in time to hear Carlo yelling and Robert holding his hands up and taking deep breaths in an effort, it seemed, to remain calm.
“Volume does not equal caring,” Robert was explaining to Carlo.
“Whatever, man,” he scoffed. “You yell, you get mad, people know you give a fuck.”
“Passion can be expressed in other ways besides punching walls or raising one’s voice.”
Carlo made a face like Robert was full of shit before he turned and saw me. “Let’s go.”
I nodded, tossing him my bag. “I’ll be right behind you.”
He grunted and left, hurling my door open and charging out onto my porch. I walked over to Robert. “Sorry, he’s a big macho jerk sometimes.”
“Vy,” he said softly, resting his hands on my shoulders. “You need to rest your body, and the middle of a forest fire, where you’ll be in danger from—”
“It’s okay,” I soothed, smiling up at him. “But it’s really nice that you’re worried. Everybody else thinks they know best what I need, like Lou, or need me to do something, like the ket, but just you and my folks actually worry. Thanks.”
He bent, wrapped his arms around me, and held me tight. Then he slid one hand to the small of my back. “You’re not the guardian of the whole world, Vy.”
“No, that’s true. Just my tiny piece,” I said, easing free as he leaned to kiss me. “Being friends is a good place for us to start over.”
“I know that’s not what you want.”
“But it’s what I can have.”
“Vy—”
“Lock the door when you leave okay? And kill the fire and turn off the lights.”
“You want me to kill all the warmth.”
I thought about that a second. “Weird phrasing, but, yeah,” I agreed. “Maybe that’s what they meant about the home fires, huh?”
“Maybe,” he said softly.
“I’ll see you,” I said before I turned and walked out, closing the door gently behind me just as Carlo started laying on his horn. “You’re really an asshole!”
He had his arms up, like what the fuck was taking me so long.
I ran so he wouldn’t annoy all my neighbors.
Ten
Robert
“HOW MUCH longer are you going to be in town, Robert?” asked Reno Jade, the owner of one of the best vegan restaurants I’d ever been to.
“Trying to get rid of me, Reno?” I joked before taking a huge bite of my No-Harm Chick’n Parm sandwich.
Coming from anyone else in Vy’s ket, I would have taken his question as a not so thinly veiled hint that I wasn’t welcome. But Reno and his wife Ginny had been welcoming to me from day one. They reminded me of younger versions of my parents, and I think they enjoyed having someone around who really appreciated their food.
“No way! You’ve doubled our sales.” He chuckled, his brown eyes twinkling with mirth. “But Ginny’s placing some orders on Monday, and I want to know if I should order the usual amount or keep up the bigger stock from here on out.”
“My vote’s for the bigger amount, Robert.” Reno’s wife smiled at me from the other end of the counter. She walked over. “We appreciate the sales and your company. Don’t we, honey?” she asked Reno as she rubbed her hand over his back.
“Sure do.” He watched her walk out from behind the counter and over to one of the refrigerated display cases where they had vegan marshmallows, and then leaned over the counter so his mouth was close to my ear, and whispered, “I heard that, uh—” He cleared his throat. “—you might be sticking around because Vy is your—”
“I always knew you were a faggot, Jade.”
Ten. Nine. Eight. I wasn’t going to turn around to look at who was slurring behind me until I got to zero.
“This place a homo bar now?”
Make that negative twenty. Along with deep breaths. I closed my eyes and focused on relaxing my muscles.
“Bet that’s why that wife of yours wouldn’t go to prom with me.” Hacking cough and footsteps. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix her right up.”
With my brain occupied on breathing and counting, my head turned away, and my eyes closed, I didn’t realize what was happening until I heard Ginny squawk. I didn’t need to be a bird to know the sound was rooted in fear. When I snapped my eyes open and saw the look of rage on Reno’s face, I realized something was very wrong.
He rushed toward the end of the counter, his gaze locked on a spot behind my left shoulder. I turned around and saw a hulking, disheveled man crowding Ginny against the glass door of the refrigerated case. She was plastered flat against it, her eyes huge, her skin pale.
“One night with me and you can see what a real man can do, sweetheart.” The man reached out, aiming for her chest. He didn’t have enough time to make contact.
“Holy. Mother. Fucking. Shit,” Reno said breathlessly.
I clenched and released my fists. Negative one hundred. Negative ninety-nine. Negative ninety-seven.
“What was that noi—” The woman who ran up from the back of the deli froze midstep and midword, dropped her loaf of sprouted bread, and gaped at the smashed front window. “Is that Ed Sheridan?”
“Yes,” said Ginny, who was behind me, still leaning against the glass case. “It is.”
Now that I knew the name of the man I’d snatched by the back of the neck and thrown through the window onto the front of my truck, I thought I’d feel remorse. He was, after all, bleeding and unconscious. I knew he wasn’t dead because his chest was moving up and down. Slowly, but it was moving.
I paused and took stock of my feelings. Anger. Frustration. Regret. The first two were aimed at the now-crying man. The last one was due solely to the fact that I’d need to replace my windshield.
“Did he jump through your shop window?” the woman asked.
Damn it. I’d need to replace that too. The list of regrets now totaled two.
“Or did somebody throw him?” She narrowed her eyes and stared at me distrustfully as she slowly asked the question.
Terrific. Jail too. My parents would get to town in time to bail me out. Number of reasons for regret—three. Not a one of them having to do with the person I’d injured. And Chris thought I was a hero.
“He jumped,” Reno said right away.
Ed’s unconscious body slid down the grill at the front of my truck and landed in a heap on the sidewalk. I turned away from the window and saw that Reno was standing next to his wife, his arm around her shoulders.
“Why would he do that?” the woman asked, not taking her eyes off me.
“Because he was drunk,” Ginny said. She leaned against Reno. “And he said he wanted to be like that guy from the television show.”
“What show?”
“Uh, Jackass, I think.” Ginny shrugged. “It was on MTV.”
“Oh.” She nodded and furrowed her brow in thought. “But jumping through a window? I’m not sure how anybody would—”
“He got a running start,” Ginny said.
At the same time Reno responded with, “It was already cracked from a rock that flew in from t
he road.”
The woman looked back and forth between them. “He is always drunk,” she said quietly, seemingly speaking to herself. “I told his mother to stop making excuses and getting him out of those hospitals.” She shook her head and got her phone from her purse. “I’m going to call her.” Then she paused and looked up. “You already called an ambulance, right?”
I hadn’t even considered it. From the expressions on Ginny and Reno’s faces, neither had they. That made me feel better.
“Ehm,” Reno cleared his throat. “We were, uh….”
“Too surprised,” Ginny said. “It sort of came out of the blue.”
“Right.” Reno bobbed his head. “You don’t expect someone to run through a window.”
“We’ll call now.” When Reno didn’t move, Ginny elbowed him.
“Right. Yes. I’ll call.” He rushed back around the counter, toward the phone.
A crowd was forming around Ed, who was starting to stir.
“I think he’s waking up,” the woman said as she rushed to the door. It was sort of funny. I mean, she used the door when the entire front window was gone, left in pebbled glass all over the floor and sidewalk. Thank goodness for tempered glass.
“They’re on another call on the outskirts of town,” Reno said as he hung up the phone. “They’ll be here after they’re done.”
“They?” I asked in confusion.
“The paramedics,” Reno answered.
Apparently my confusion showed in my expression, because Ginny said, “It’s a small town. We don’t much call for emergency medical personnel so there’s only one team and one ambulance.”
“Oh.” I supposed that made sense. “But what do you do if two emergencies happen at the same time?”
“We take care of our own!” the woman snapped at me and shook her head in disgust. “Ed?” she said as she crouched next to him. “Ed, can you hear me? I need to get you to the hospital.”
He moaned and tried to get up but then folded down right away.
“He’s too heavy,” the woman said as she tugged on one of his arms. “Can one of you help me?”
Reno wasn’t a big person. Ginny was even smaller. So it wasn’t a shock when the woman moved her gaze from them to me. Whether it was because she was afraid to speak to me or she didn’t trust me to help, I didn’t know, but she stared, pursed her lips, but didn’t say a word.
“Robert can help!”
Oh, perfect. Chris had arrived.
“Robert!” he shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd. “You can pick him up!” He darted his gaze around, looking from person to person. “He held up my parents’ van! He’s strong enough to carry Ed.” He glanced at me, his eyes wide and trusting. “Show ’em, Robert.” Then he lowered his voice, and I realized maybe there was more than mindless hero worship going on. “Show them they can trust you.”
The kid was smarter than I gave him credit for. With a few minutes having passed and the asshole who had terrified Ginny lying in a broken, bleeding heap, I felt somewhat satisfied and less angry.
I took another deep breath and said, “Sure thing. I’m happy to help.” Before I walked toward Chris, I turned around and mouthed to Ginny, who was right behind me, “I’m sorry about the window. I’ll pay for it.”
She shook her head furiously.
I figured I’d argue later and stepped over the broken glass, across the window ledge, and out onto the sidewalk. The urge to kick the body in front of me was strong, but I hunkered down instead.
“Let me help you,” I ground out.
Bleary eyes blinked open. “Who’re you?” He furrowed his brow, and I waited for him to remember I was the man responsible for his current debilitated position. “Oh, you’re that bear.” He closed his eyes. “Vy’s mate.” He said the word derisively, which likely would have offended Vy, but I was too busy being grateful for head injuries because he clearly didn’t remember the incident, which meant he couldn’t tell anyone what happened.
“Yes,” I said as I slid one arm under his neck and the other under his back, trying to get a good hold on him. “That’s me.”
“Hey!” he said affrontedly. “Get your homo hands off me.” I heard shocked gasps and a few uncomfortable coughs.
“I’m only trying to help,” I said, trying to remain patient.
“Yeah, right,” he scoffed. “Just because our kuar bends over for some animal, that doesn’t mean you can force the rest of us onto our knees!”
I could have pointed out that he couldn’t even manage to get onto his knees. I could have punched him in the face. I could have walked away. Instead, I felt grateful to the asshole for giving me a perfect opportunity.
Pitching my voice loudly, so the entire crowd of what by that point had to be dozens of people could hear me, I said, “Actually, Ed, your kuar is never the one bending over.” I tightened my grip on him, rose to my full height, and pulled my broad shoulders back, making sure everyone could see my strength, my power. “I’m the one on my knees.” I lifted my chin so my voice would carry and looked down at the people around us, making sure they noticed that I towered over them. It was the opposite of what I usually did, the opposite of how I normally tried to make people feel. But I needed them to understand that I was stronger than them so they would realize that Vy was even more powerful. “I’m the one who bends over for him. Always.”
It was Saturday. With the way gossip traveled in that town, I figured the entirety of Vy’s ket would get the message by the time he got home from fighting fires. That meant by Monday, when he talked to his friends and flock, he’d know that at least one of his hesitations about being with me was resolved. Of course, removing a barrier wasn’t the same as convincing him to like me as a man and want me to be part of his life, but I’d work on that too.
“STRIP.”
Keys tumbled to the ground, and Vy snapped his head up in surprise at the sound of my voice. He looked around, like he needed to establish where he was.
“You’re home,” I confirmed.
“But you’re”—he pointed at me standing inside his open doorway—“and I’m”—he pointed at himself, standing on his front porch.
My poor little bird looked confused. Exhausted, hurt, filthy, and confused.
“I’m in your house, and you’re on your front porch.” I hoped hearing it out loud would make him feel better.
“How… why… I don’t….”
It was worse than I thought. I wanted to hurt that worthless friend of Vy’s who had dragged him to a highly physical, dangerous situation while he was already in a weakened state and then dropped him off at his curb at one in the morning, covered in soot and barely able to walk, and driven off without taking the time to make sure he got into his house.
“I’ve got you,” I said gently as I stepped outside and dropped to a squat. I swiped his keys off the ground and shoved them into my pocket. “Let’s take these clothes off out here so we don’t get your house dirty, okay?”
He nodded, looking dazed.
“Hold on to my shoulders.” I untied his boot, and when I felt his hands on me and knew he could keep himself upright, I lifted his foot and slid it off. “One more.” Once both his boots and socks were off, I unclasped his belt and then unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans.
“You know what’s hot?” he asked, his words coming out slow, another indication of how tired he was, and his voice sounding rough, probably from the smoke he’d been breathing in.
“What’s that?” I peeled his jeans and briefs down his legs.
“You’re, like, sitting down, right?”
I was squatting with my butt resting on my heels. Close enough. “Uh-huh.” I slipped one leg of his jeans off his feet.
“And even with you sitting and me standing, you’re still at face level with my groin.”
“Are you asking for a blow job, little bird?” I rubbed my hand on his bare calf as I slid his jeans the rest of the way off.
“No.” He shook his head
, the motion jerky. I clutched his hips to keep him from tipping over. “Wasn’t. Shouldn’t. I don’t want—” He gulped. “I wasn’t.”
“That wasn’t me saying no.” I pressed my face into his groin and inhaled deeply. I smelled smoke, it was unavoidable, but I also smelled sweat and musk and man, my man. “Let’s get you cleaned up, hydrated, and horizontal. Then we can see if you’re still interested in what we can do with my face at your groin level.” I kissed the head of his flaccid penis and then scooped him into my arms as I climbed to my feet.
“What are you doing?” he asked in surprise.
“Carrying you inside.”
“What? Why? I can walk.”
“You weren’t steady on your feet,” I said as I stepped into his house.
“Put me down!” He wiggled. “I can walk.”
“Okay, fine.” I kicked the door closed. “I lied.” I tightened my grip on him and then leaned toward the door so I could flip the lock without letting him go. “I’m carrying you because I want to. I like holding you.”
“I can—” He stopped midsentence. His eyes turned gold, and he licked his lips. “What?”
Looking down at the man in my arms, I felt my heart constrict. “You’re covered in soot, and you’re still beautiful.” I sighed. “How is that even possible?”
“You can’t….” He shook his head and blinked rapidly, returning his eyes to their green color. He was gorgeous either way. “You can’t say things like that.” He gulped. “And you shouldn’t be in my house. How did you get into my house?”
“Well, when you ran out of here to fight a fire, you were apparently too tired to notice that you left me in your house.” I pulled his keys out of my pocket, dropped them on the table next to the door, and then marched through the living room, down the hallway to his bedroom, and into his bathroom. “I took your spare key off the hook in the kitchen.”
“Oh.”
Damn, but was he ever adorable when he was too flustered to yell at me. Okay, fine, he was also adorable when he was yelling at me. But changing things up was nice.
