by Leigh Lennon
My life had been full of two things. First, I had Scar and Jordan. They kept me busy and easily entertained. Second, the fucking arson case had become a mystery that evaded me at every turn. I had a twenty-four-hour shift ahead of me. On nights I wasn’t home, Scar was in the strong arms of our doctor. Knowing she was safe made it possible to concentrate on the job at hand.
He might never admit how he feels about me, but I’d always claim him as mine. Just as if someone were to mess with Scar, I’d become overbearing if someone did the same to my doc.
I was looking over the reports in front of me concerning both fires when a siren filled the station, and I listened carefully, making my way to the open bay where our trucks were housed.
“Fire in an abandoned warehouse. CPD will meet you there.” It was my chief, heading to his own vehicle.
Garner Blakely announced all warehouse fires would be linked through 911, and his unit would be called in. My gut didn’t like it, not one bit. And after being a fireman for twelve years, I listened to it.
This deep unease felt like it did eleven years ago when I got called to a house fire. Once we arrived, we were made aware that a twentysomething young woman was trapped in her home. The structure was crumbling before us, and there was nothing we could do. Our chief ordered us to stand down. The father and his teenage son went barreling toward the house to save her. We tried to tackle them. I got the son, but the father was too quick. Both this young man’s father and sister died in the fire. The brother swore it was my fault, claiming he could have saved them both. I’d never forgotten the name Cassie Deckland or the fact that she’d died in the fire.
The brother tried to press charges against me, but I’d been cleared of all wrongdoing. It took me years to get over the guilt and the what-ifs and everything I’d been trained for as a fireman. But right at the moment, I was back to that time and place.
“LT, you okay?” Forge asked, my second in charge.
“Gut?” I said only loud enough for him to hear. I could only be that transparent with my right-hand man.
“Copy that, let’s proceed with caution,” he replied, and we both exchanged that silent acknowledgment knowing as a fireman, we’d never ignore our instincts.
Pulling up to the fire, I saw Garner’s unit beat us there. “Be careful, Levi,” he warned.
Pairing my men together as the other truck pulled up next to us, we entered the building, calling out for anyone who could be trapped.
Torres was near me, his hand on my shoulder until I no longer felt him. I turned back, and through the smoke, I barely saw it coming until a thick rod of some sort hit my helmet. Even with all my gear, it fucking hurt all over. The beam reeled through my body, and I fell, my eyes on Torres who was next to me on the ground.
When I came to, I heard a frenzy of sobs and beeping noises. My eyes narrowed in on the flaming red hair in front of me, and behind Scar, my gaze found passage to long blonde curls similar to my own hair color.
“Shit, Levi. I’ve been fucking going crazy.” Yep, that was the sassy mouth of my twin sister, and boy, was I happy to hear the f word fall from her lips. I narrowed in on the watery eyes of my redhead.
“Scar, baby, I’m okay,” I insisted, but was I? First, I was going through the warehouse with Torres, and the next … ah, shit. “Torres?”
Another hand squeezed the other side of me, and I turned to find Jordan’s eyes next to me, holding my hand. “He’s okay. It was touch and go for a while, but he made it.”
I smiled at my doc even though the simple act of smiling hurt. “Ah, Doc, if this is what it took for you to hold my hand, then I’d have done this a long time ago.”
“Levi Aaron Arnold. Don’t you fucking joke about that ever again.” My sister’s voice was so loud, it hurt my already sensitive head. But Jordan continued to stroke my hand. With Scar on one side of me and the good doctor on the other, my recovery would be easy.
“Your middle name is Aaron?” Jordan asked, and I found it odd as did the others. I heard more voices in the room as they came into play.
Andrew appeared from nowhere. “Hey, man, welcome back.” He gave me a pat on my shoulder. “Aaron is Jordan’s middle name, too, by the way. Funny, huh?”
No, it wasn’t funny; it was fucking fate. Like both Scar and Jordan, I’d always known it was destined to be, and this was proof.
“Don’t do that to your sister again.” Daimen’s voice was one I’d know anywhere. Of course, Daimen was the type to order me not to die and took it as an insult if I didn’t obey him.
“Yeah, I will try not to get hit over the head next time.” Good to know sarcasm was still in me.
“Yeah, try to make sure you keep your promise,” Daimen retorted, and everyone laughed. I tried, but it hurt too much. Behind him, I saw Arden, who had jut his chin at me, silently communicating he was glad I was alive. Yeah, him and me both.
“Now that everyone knows he’s all right, the doctor in me has to ask everyone to leave. Except you, Red. You can stay. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t obey me if I told you to leave anyway.”
“And I don’t want you to.” I hold her hand tighter. My sister leaned down and gave me a kiss, and then her men escorted her out of the room. She looked back one last time to make sure I was okay. I get it. I was the same way with her when she was in the hospital just four months ago.
But with Scar and Jordan on either side of me, I fell back asleep, grateful for one more day on this earth.
27
Scarlet
My mind wouldn’t get over the fact that Levi could have been taken from me. My nightmares increased at this thought. Plus, Jordan still denied his attraction to Levi. It was bad enough that I feared having Levi taken from me, but now I worried that the weird chemistry between Jordan and him would tear us apart, too.
After one more day, the hospital released him into our care. With his place too small to house all of us and Jordan’s place having stairs, we chose to hole up in my home. I’d taken a couple of days off work to be with Levi around the clock.
“I got hit over the head, but I was given an all clear,” Levi claimed, thinking he was going back to work. Jordan put a nix to it, and he was stuck with the two of us, come hell or high water.
Settling him on the couch, I’d even given him the okay to watch as much baseball as he wanted. I promised to sit next to him, learning all the rules.
“Um, I’ll take you up on your offer as long as you’re naked, too.”
One look up at Jordan, and we both laughed. “Yeah, I’m thinking he’s feeling better, Red.” We embarked on a weeklong session of naked baseball watching. But I was not the only one naked.
Within a week, Levi was back at work, and we were rotating between Jordan’s house and mine. “I don’t have a home anymore. I’m always living out of a suitcase.” I understood he was starting the beginning of a conversation about us moving in together. It made sense because the other two paid rent, and it wasn’t like Levi made a ton of money as a fireman. My place was plenty spacious with three bedrooms and a huge living room. It was over two thousand square feet. And though I couldn’t stand a day away from both my men, I’d wanted to wait until Jordan could come to terms with the unresolved feelings for Levi.
“Yeah, yeah, your full-size bed would barely fit me and you, let alone the three of us,” I’d said, waiting for Jordan’s reply.
“That’s right. Sorry, buddy. It’s sort of a wasted space.”
The wheels were turning in Levi’s head, and I knew he was going to push Jordan, but the second Jordan had looked away, I raised both eyebrows toward Levi. It was my way of letting him know not to rock the boat. Levi threw his hands up, silently telling me he’d give it up for now. I was aware this subject would be brought up again.
I arrived at Jordan’s apartment after work one night. If we were meeting at Jordan’s, I’d leave straight from the office. Like Levi, I left a couple of changes of clothes and a toothbrush at Jordan’s place. I used my key to
let myself in and heard Maroon 5 blaring through the speakers. Levi was sitting on the couch with a book in his hands, and behind him, Jordan was in the kitchen cooking.
I took a second look. Surely, I was not in the right home. First, I’d never seen Levi pick up a book. He’d often tease me about my love for reading. He’d ask how I could concentrate when there weren’t pictures. And the whole time I’d known Jordan, he never volunteered to cook. Yet here they were in front of me, looking sexy in both positions. Then the idea of positions had me thinking of all the dirty positions I’d like to try out.
“Doc, our redhead seductress is home,” Levi called, rushing toward me.
“Be right there. Working on the cheese part of the dish.”
A large smile greeted me along with a deep searing kiss. “Hey, beautiful, we were getting worried, weren’t we, Doc?”
When had we become so domesticated? Jordan was cooking, Levi was reading, and they were both waiting for me.
“What fifties sitcom have I walked into?” I asked as Jordan walked toward me.
“What do you mean?” Levi made his way back over to the couch, picking up his book. On closer inspection, I looked down to see it was one of my romance novels. “What are you doing reading this?” I pointed at the book Prelude I’d left sitting on Jordan’s nightstand last night.
“First, a bride fleeing her own wedding on the cover drew me in. And the scenes and writing, it’s fucking hot. I’m reading about how Lina’s love for Julian is so deep, and I feel for her.” He looked Jordan’s way, who was oblivious to the fact Levi equated the unrequited love of Lina in Prelude to himself concerning Jordan. “Maybe I’ve been reading the wrong books.”
“Yeah?” I question.
“Seriously, and that sexy as fuck scene with Lina and Julian? Fuck, I even read it to Doc. We’ve been waiting for you for a while.” His hint was delivered with this wicked but sexy crooked smile.
I had just finished the first book and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next one. “I ordered Interlude today. Hopefully, I can start it tomorrow when it arrives. I even paid for overnight shipping. I’ve got to know what happens.” My mind was still reeling over Levi reading the steamy romance book. “You can read book two, Interlude, after I’m done,” I began, watching Jordan’s fine ass in the kitchen being all domesticated. “And, Doc, you never cook, so what’s up with all this?”
He even had an apron on. I’d always loved Jordan in his white doctor’s coat, but now with him in an apron, my body was ready to go.
“I have one dish I can make. But it’s the most fattening meal in the world, and when I cook it, I eat my weight in it.” This would be the deciding factor for my health-conscious doctor.
I followed his voice into the kitchen and saw the same pot I cook soup in with enough homemade mac and cheese to feed a small troop. Hell, forget that, I think we could feed the U.S. Army.
“Holy Shit, homemade mac and cheese.” I looked at the food like it was the beginning of life, and also, by smelling it, I gained twenty pounds. “Why so much?”
He leaned in to kiss me. “’Fuck, I missed you. Levi’s afternoon reading session has made me horny as hell.” He took a test bite of his dish. “Oh, and to answer your question, my mom’s recipe calls for three pounds of macaroni. I didn’t know how to make it smaller.”
As I molded myself into him, I felt how horny he actually was. I leaned back and smiled. “You know, Levi would have helped you with that.” I pointed to his erection.
“Believe me. He always offers to help me with my jolly roger,” he teased back.
“Jolly roger?” I asked when Jordan only shrugged. I fell to my knees as I called for our LT. “Hey, Levi, I’m about to help Jordan with his jolly roger. Want to come watch?” I didn’t have to see him to hear he was running to us. Turning behind me, I caught his gaze on Jordan’s very erect vessel. “Enjoying the view?”
His own cock raised in his athletic shorts when he winked and then he looked past me to wink at Jordan.
On my knees, I took Jordan completely into my mouth, working his balls. “Fuck, Red, you’re making this one of the best welcome home greetings ever.”
I worked up and down his shaft when a moan escaped him, and he exploded in my mouth. After I turned my head to Levi, he had grabbed a hand towel to alleviate his own explosion. “Well, fuck, Doc, I’m not sure that can ever be topped again. Seeing Scar on her knees taking you in and knowing mac and cheese is on the menu for dinner. Fuck me, it’s going to be a good night.”
28
Jordan
We’d been invited to Levi’s old triad’s house. I was not happy about it, not one bit. “I’m not going,” I insisted when it was just Red and me in my room. Levi was called to the firehouse to answer more questions on the arson case. We were leaving for vacation the next day to Arden and Daimen’s second home on Lake Michigan. Levi wanted to tie up loose ends before we left.
“What the hell is your problem? We’re a couple. Or a threesome or whatever the fuck we decide to call it.” She’d stopped getting dressed, debating the merits of this dinner with me in just her bra and panties. That sneaky little seductress. “We’re going to do what normal committed people do.”
“But I don’t know this couple.” Poor point and I realized it as soon as I made it.
Pursing her lips together, she countered, “And I do? What really is your issue with having dinner with some old friends of Levi’s? If the roles were reversed, he’d do the same for you.”
“Yeah, but to sit through dinner with a couple he’d been with? Isn’t it weird?”
She cocked her head to the side. “So you’re jealous? Is that it?”
“Fuck, no.” I was quick with my reply, but I didn’t believe me.
Pulling my hands into hers, she brought me forward. “Good, then the problem is solved.” Kissing me on the cheek, she slid on her tight-ass jeans that hugged her curves perfectly up her thighs. “Okay, let’s go. We need to pick Levi up at the firehouse on the way out. Are you driving, or would you like me to?”
I’d driven with Red a couple of times in her Mini Cooper, and beside the fact that both Levi and I barely fit in the front seat, I knew neither one of us would fit in the back. Plus, I always sort of put my life in danger when Red was behind the wheel. Patting her ass on the way out of my room, I replied, “No, let me drive. We’ll take my Prius.”
He wasn’t picking up his phone, and we’d been out in the parking lot for ten minutes. “Let me run in there. Everyone knows me,” Red offered.
I pulled at her like I was not going to allow her to exit the car, and honestly, it was exactly what I had planned. “Um, like hell you’re going in there dressed like that with a fuck ton of horny firemen. Our man is the only one allowed to ogle you like that, not the others.” With her tight as sin jeans and her fuck-me boots along with a shirt that showed as much cleavage as a swimsuit, I’d put my foot down.
A large smile formed on her face at my almost caveman instincts. I waited for her to argue with me, but she only stared my way. “Um, what, Red?”
I readied myself for a tongue lashing. Red was very independent. She had to be, growing up in foster care and being bounced from home to home, but she continued to look at me like she was amused.
“Um, Doc? Our man?” She laughed at her own remark while I internally replayed the entire conversation. Did I really say our man?
No, there was no way I did. Clearing my throat, my attempt to backpedal was halted by her hand. “Hell, Doc, why are you fighting this?”
Putting the emergency brake on, I unlatched my seat belt and opened the door. When I was out, I bent over and said, “I’ll be right back. If those fuckers stare at you in your tight as hell outfit, I’ll have to hurt them.”
She laughed at my protectiveness or my possessiveness. I didn’t care what the title was. Only Levi and I were allowed to both mentally and physically undress our girl.
Going through the large bay to get to the entranc
e, I was stopped by a burly, larger than Dwayne Johnson man. Oddly enough, he looked like him, too. “Hey, bro, can I help you?”
The firehouse was what I had expected. A crew of evenly divided Sox and Cubs fans sat on the couch watching the baseball game. And the banter that went back and forth in front of the television was loud. Behind them was a large kitchen, and to the side, a huge table that could hold thirty men.
“Yeah, I’m here to pick up Levi.”
The Rock doppelgänger looked behind me. “Ah, shit, I thought his hot girlfriend was coming to get him.” He popped his head to the men yelling at the ump for a bad call when in his presence, they all stopped.
“Levi’s hot girlfriend isn’t coming in.” Everyone all hemmed and hawed over it as the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
“Yeah, I’d be careful, Rock.” I heard Levi’s voice behind me. “Scar is the good doctor’s girl, too, and he’s a little crazy over her. Where I’m just like, you MOFOs, she’s mine and you can’t have her, Dr. Peters gets a little jealous.”
The Rock—of course, that’s his fucking nickname—looked at me and shrugged. “Sorry, Doc, what can I say? She’s hot. And how in the world did both of y’all get her? She’s missing out on the real deal with one complete man—me.” I couldn’t take on this motherfucker in front of me, but at his words, I wanted to try. Levi grabbed me by the waist.
“Come on, Doc, the Rock is seriously a shit stirrer.” Levi’s touch had my body betraying me again. I jerked from him, and the Rock continued to laugh as he moved down the hallway, but he wasn’t done.
“Fuck, not only does he get the hot redhead, but he also gets the cute and spunky doctor. Not fair, LT, not fair.”
He was almost out of earshot when I decided it was time for a rebuttal. “Um, we’re not together.”
