Bear Heat: BBW Fireman Bear Shifter Romance (Firefighter Bears Book 1)
Page 16
Sam went inside. Both of the engines were there. It must have been a quiet morning. He walked past the offices – Sharp gave him a nod, Crichton ignored him entirely. He knew that things would never change between him and that man, though truth be told, he could care less.
Smith came out of his office just as Sam was passing it. The man gave him a gloating look and smiled at Sam. Sam gave him a nod back, said, “Smith,” and kept walking. Smith was carrying a stack of papers to Crichton’s office and Sam smiled. Somehow, he’d avoided that career. He would never have been able to survive doing what Smith did: interviews, letters to influential senators, city workers, everyone under the sun. Smith would never see another fire again.
Then again, Sam wouldn’t either, but that was okay, too.
The kitchen was as full of movement.
“Carv!” John said, waving at him with a piece of toast. Sam sat down next to him and waited a moment before Ortega dropped off a heaping pile of bacon, eggs, and toast.
“Thanks,” Sam said. He dug in. John and Buckner were arguing over some sports team. Sam laughed as they insulted each other. Peterson looked up from his paper and rolled his eyes, sighed, and went back to reading.
“Grumpy old man,” McCready said from around a bite of toast.
“You’re older than I am,” Peterson said from behind his paper. McCready looked affronted for a few moments and then everyone laughed.
Sam felt someone grab him by the shoulders and shake him. He turned to see Haley walking in, patting everyone’s backs.
“Get your mitts off me!” John said and everyone laughed again. Sam chewed thoughtfully and smiled. The rest of the men chatted and ate. Everything felt good. It felt right. He thought of Brooke at home and though he missed her, he knew his life had become what he’d always wanted.
“What do you think about the new recruits, Sam?” Buckner was asking. “A few of them look like they have some real potential.”
“Yeah, some of them do.”
“I still think it’s a mistake letting so many new recruits in,” Haley said. “No offense to you two.” John and Sam laughed. “Though I can think about the other recruit that I don’t like…”
“Let it go, Haley,” McCready ordered. He still wasn’t Sergeant but the men listened to what he said nonetheless.
“It’s gone,” he replied. “But still.”
“It’s what the bosses want,” Sam said with a shrug. “And who am I to tell them any different?”
“Smart man,” Peterson muttered.
“Smart man?” Haley repeated. “Grow a backbone!”
But the men laughed just the same. They bickered every morning, it seemed, but it was good-natured bickering. Sam couldn’t help but laugh as he finished up his meal. Haley had gotten into an argument with Peterson over something trivial. It was the most anyone had ever seen Peterson talk and the entire department was roaring with laughter.
As everyone was finishing up, the fire alarm went off and the men jumped into action. In a few moments, Crichton was there, ordering both teams to suit up – it was a big one.
“Sorry, Carv!” John yelled as they ran out the door.
“Do it right!” Sam yelled back and suddenly he was the only one in the room. He was alone.
But that was okay. He’d chosen this, after all. At Sharp’s insistence, Sam had gotten another chance to take the exam, though truth be told, Sam was less than excited about being given a second chance. He’d passed with flying colors.
They’d offered him the job on the Forest. He’d been dreaming about it his entire life. And Sam had turned it down. Still, to this day, he couldn’t put it into words on why he’d done what he did. But he knew it had been the right choice. After all, he was starting a family, and it was a dangerous job.
He had more to think about than just himself, now.
He finished up his cup of orange juice, placed it in the sink, and left the room, making his way down the hallway. He walked past the classroom Brooke had taught in – and would be teaching in, once she came back to work – and out into a new part of the building constructed in the past few months where the basketball court had been, where Sam had run himself ragged all those months ago.
There were five new recruits waiting for him in his own little classroom. He wouldn’t be teaching them like the way Brooke did – she taught them all sorts of information, but Sam’s class handled things a little bit different.
The higher ups had wanted a more hands on approach, and with McCready on the outs with the higher ups, and Sharp’s hand involved, Sam had been offered the job of showing recruits just what they’d be experiencing out on the job. It was one thing to learn it – and it was another altogether to experience it.
The basketball court was gone, replaced by a large building – almost an auditorium. Every morning, fake smoke was piped in, the sound of a burning building, screams, and the cacophony of a real fire was played over loudspeakers.
It wasn’t real – but it was as close to a real fire as these men would get before they were thrown into the thick of things.
“There are five unconscious civilians injured in there,” Sam said, nodding towards the door at the back of their little staging room. “They could be buried under rubble. Visibility will be low, and time is short. The building is going to come down. When I give the whistle, suit up, get in there, and find them. Any questions?”
The men shook their heads. Sam grabbed the whistle off the table, nodded at the men, and blew it. They scrambled to get into their protective gear – and actually made good time. Then they were through the door. Sam followed them and stared into the smoky darkness as they disappeared, climbing over planted tables, chairs, wooden beams, anything that would get in their way and slow them down.
He watched them go and smiled. He wouldn’t be going into any real buildings anytime soon. But that was okay. He had Brooke at home. Oh, how he missed her.
He’d had a dream, once, to be a member of the Forest. But that paled in comparison to his new one: to be a dad, a husband, and above all, a good man – and he would do it with Brooke at his side.
FIN
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