Page 3 of Thick

No, not my oven, not even the extractor fan over the stove. Uh-uh. I'm not that lucky.

My entire kitchen is on fire.

How the hell I didn't smell anything before now, I don't know. And why my smoke detector didn't go off is an even bigger question. Regardless, I can't do jack about that now becausemy kitchen is on fire!

My mind races with what needs to happen next, and while my logical brain knows I need to call emergency services, all I can think about are my babies, the plants, and the stuffies that are littered all over the place.

There's pounding on my front door before I can make a choice or another move. It's a really hard, scary-movie-type pounding. It completely freezes me in my tracks.

"Zelda! Open the fucking door!"

Oh, holy shit. No. That can't be Brennan? He already thinks I'm an idiot who can't care for myself.

"Zelda! Babygirl, you gotta open this door, or I'll break it!"

I'm already facing a boatload of trouble with the kitchen fire, and I'm not super keen to find out what will happen if the building supervisor finds out that I have to add a broken front door to the damage.

And... as my luck would have it, I open the door right as Brennan decides to shoulder his way in.

How do I know this?

He falls into the apartment.

"Oh shucks! Sorry, are you okay?" I cry out in alarm.

Lucky for him—seriously, some people have all the darn luck—he's rather sure-footed, and he doesn't fall on his face, instead catching himself two steps in.

"Zelda, Babygirl, are you okay?" Brennan asks, concern etched on his face as he takes in the scene before him.

I stand there, dumbfounded, staring at him for a moment before reality crashes back in. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I mumble, trying to shake off the shock of the fire and Brennan's sudden appearance.

"Mind telling me why you're still in here when your kitchen is a raging inferno?"

I have no control over what falls out of my mouth next. Seriously. Let's blame smoke inhalation if you think that will work.

"I was waiting to see if I could turn myself into a hot piece of ass."

His face. Oh goodness, his face.

The range of emotions that run across his features is so varied and wide that I'm impressed until it settles on outright outrage.

"For heaven's sake. Zelda. Get the fuck out. Do you have a fire extinguisher?"

I don't. But at this stage, I'm too scared to tell him I don't because he's already so mad at me. I also want to go back in and grab my babies, but something tells me he won't be too happy with me if I make the suggestion.

More colourful words leave his lips, his very sexy lips. I have no control over the blush that rises up my face and end up looking at my feet like there isn't a kitchen fire going bananas in my apartment right then.

"Just wait outside," he orders. "Kaz phoned the fire department. I'll grab the extinguisher from our place.” Helooks at me, exasperated and worried, shaking his head before continuing. “Just, please, Zelda, wait outside."

He nudges me out with him and gives me a stern look before rushing through their front door. Before I can even contemplate going back inside to grab my babies, or at the very least my laptop, Kaz comes out holding his phone to his ear. His gaze zeroes in on me immediately, and I'm rooted to the spot.

Mouthing the word 'stay' to me, he murmurs into the phone too softly for me to make out what he's saying. Within seconds, Brennan is back in the hall, holding a bright red extinguisher.

"Need a hand, bun-bun?" Kaz calls.

He only receives a negative shake in response.

"Brennan is inside with a handheld, but there's a lot of smoke," he says into the phone again, standing right in front of me so I can hear what he's saying. "Okay, we're waiting outside, and if he gives us the nudge, we'll pull the building's alarm. But I think he's got it under control."

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