Page 18 of Wild for the Firefighter
“Truth is, I don’t have anyone to unload to in Whispering Pines. In California, I had friends who also went through their divorces, like Gabriella.” I make a sour face, and Brady gives me a half smile.
I’m glad he knows enough about that situation that no explanation is required. “I don’t have a lot of close friends around here. My sister and her family live in Chicago. My best friend from high school moved to Austin. I guess I’ve got Jake and Daphne.”
I feel myself pausing. I wonder what Brady knows. He and Jake are friends. Maybe he knows? “Jake was my high school boyfriend.”
“Really?” Brady’s eyebrows shoot up.
“We dated for three years. We’re all friends now. Jake and I broke up when I left to go to college at USC. It’s one of those things that feels like a lifetime ago.”
Brady nods.
I feel myself unloading again, but I don’t stop. He doesn’t mind it, and I need it. “I have a few friends from the figure skating club. They live outside Whispering Pines. But we were really close in middle school and high school.”
“You were into ice skating?”
“Oh, yeah. It was my life.” Brady circles the block around the main drag, looking for a parking spot while I tell him about practices and competitions. “Do you skate?” I ask hopefully.
“I’ve thought about it.”
“What? You don’t go skating on Bearclaw Lake when it freezes?”
Brady shakes his head.
“Everyone goes.”
“Not me.” He pulls into a spot a block away from the diner.
“Fine. This winter, I’m taking you skating at the lake.” Our eyes meet. He winces as the question hits me.Will I be here in winter?
Our gazes locked, his questioning look transforms into something dark and seductive that makes my breath lighter and my insides swell. “I’ll take you up on that.”
“Good,” I say, my voice heavy with horniness I haven’t felt in forever.
Brady and I nod and wave at people we know on our way to a booth near the front window of Pines Diner.
“When are your next days on duty?” I ask over glasses of red wine no one in LA could identify because it’s not from one of the Italian regions where LA people spend their summer vacations. Hell, the wine might not even be Italian.
“I’m on tomorrow.” Brady talks about hanging out at the firehouse and doing drills. Over salads, he tells me about wildfire season and what he’s seen around Bearclaw Pass since he’s been here.
His gaze shifts to the window. I look over and find Jake and Daphne. I was so wrapped up in what Brady was saying that I didn’t notice them standing there. Jake points to Winkles Saloon on the next block and motions at us.
“Does he want us to meet them at Winkles?” I ask. There’s a curious gleam in Daphne’s eyes as she looks between Brady and I.
“I’m guessing they do.” Brady waves like he’s saying goodbye, and they wave back as they walk away.
“I feel like we’ve been outed.”
“Friends having dinner at Pines Diner?” he asks.
“We look like more than friends.”
“Yeah, I think so.” A shy, charming look comes over his features that makes me want to melt into the booth. “So, how did you end up fighting fires in Whispering Pines?”
“You want that story?”
“Yeah, that one.” I sit back and eye him like I’ve tricked him into revealing his deepest, darkest secrets. And, god, I hope I have.
There’s nothing I don’t want to know about Brady. I want to go deep into him. What’s it like to feel his lips on my neck? His body on top of mine? I want us to know how his hips move, and how he fucks when he’s so turned on he can’t think straight.
