Page 38 of Burn Point

“Oh, don’t complain, you know you love me.” Thoren mock flipped his hair at Mike, who sent him a chilling scowl.

Mike kept it up for a moment before he grinned and flipped a piece of ice at him. “Yeah, but sometimes I wonder why.”

The ladies greeted Thoren and Bunny, and with Bunny’s forced smile, I got the impression that she didn’t care for them. The whole exchange was uncomfortable.

Leah turned to Jordan. “So how long until you get it finished?”

Jordan shrugged and looked at me. “I don’t know. What do you think, Nate? Another week or so until it’s livable?”

Caught off-guard, I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah, I think that’s a possibility.”

A week or two? I didn’t know how I felt about that. On the one hand, it was a good thing that her life was getting back on track, and she could move forward. On the other, I enjoyed having her around, having the sounds of someone else in the house. I liked that we watched ball games together and had our morning coffee together on the porch.

Thoren stood and offered to get a round of beer. Bunny was busy on her phone, Leah and Jordan were heavy into a discussion about the van. Mike leaned behind Leah and caught my eye. I braced on an arm behind Jordan to see what he needed.

“What’s up at the FD?” Mike asked. “I heard a rumor that the chief is leaving?”

“I don’t know. I try to keep my head down and stay out of the drama.”

Jordan broke into laughter, leaning back, her back bumping into my chest.

A blast of awareness shot through me. Just like in the truck, and every other time I’d been around her lately—when she brushed past me in the hall or we slid by each other in kitchen while cooking—every part of my body recognized her, responded to her.

She sat forward quickly, whipping her head around, catching me off guard. The beachy scent of her shampoo, my laundry detergent on her clothes, something…a little more Jordan, surrounded me.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were there,” she mumbled.

The impulse to slide my hand around her waist and keep her close beat through me. I’d slide a hand into her silky curls and taste her lips.

Her tongue peeped out, wetting her bottom lip before it disappeared behind her teeth.

For a moment, it looked like our thoughts mirrored each other’s. Her hand landed on mine, our pinkies entwined. Something about that simple touch had my blood pumping through my veins like a freight train. I wanted to turn her hand over and trace the lines of her palm. Run my fingertips over the smooth skin of her wrist.

Withdrawing her hand, she popped up from the blanket and announced to the group at large, “Y’all devoured those tacos, and I’m still hungry. I’m going to grab something else from the food truck. Anyone else want anything?”

Leah stood and took Jordan’s arm. “I’ll go with you.” And with that, the two women set off, leaving me in a mess of conflicting emotions. Despite the way she’d jumped up nervously, I was almost certain I’d seen a flash of something in her eyes at the not-so-innocent touch of our hands.

I needed to get my head on straight, stop thinking about how good she smelled. Stop imagining what she’d taste like. But as I watched Jordan walk away with Leah, I knew I was lying to myself. Everything about Jordan called to me.

It was time to tamp down these feelings for Jordan. Keep my distance. There was no point in starting something beyond friendship. Because in the end, she was leaving.

A shout erupted across the lawn snapping me out of my Jordan-induced haze. Mike and I sat up. Thoren returned with a round of beer and set the cups to the side, watching the disturbance nearby. In direct contrast to the overall peacefulness of the concert, a group of young men were arguing, pushing, and shoving. A wall of onlookers encircled the fray.

The three of us hurried over. Mike motioned for me to take the left side and Thoren to take the right.

The crowd split and people started running away. One guy had pulled a knife on the other. Mike stepped out cautiously. “Hey, man, let’s settle down. There’s no need to draw a weapon on anyone. Put it away and we can go somewhere to talk.”

A quick glance around didn’t show any uniformed officers in sight. We’d have to de-escalate this scene before someone got hurt.

As Mike talked to the guy holding the knife, Thoren flanked his rear, keeping watch that no one got the jump on him. I sidled up behind the guy, taking my cues from Mike, hyper-aware of every detail of the moment. One look and I’d be ready to subdue the guy.

Uniformed officers came running, taking over the scene, talking the knife-wielder down, and we made our way back to our friends. I flopped down next to Jordan, noting her concerned expression. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I reached for a bottle of water and slugged it back. “Yeah, sure. That guy was just drunk, belligerent. Thought a concert surrounded by public safety officers was the place to confront his buddy about sleeping with his wife or something.”

“Does that happen often?” Jordan’s voice held a tinge of worry.

“What?”

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