Page 81 of The Firefighter's Fate

I laugh at that. And I am awkward as hell.

Still don’t know where we stand...

The river is close. We both hear it.

And soon we reach it. It feels like I’m saved from saying anything else about last night.

“Is this where you like to go and swim?” Ember asks me when we finally see the running water in the middle of a clearing.

“Yeah,” I reply, looking down at the river. “I usually do it naked, though.”

“Naked?”

Ember is shocked.

I shrug.

“There’s no one else out here, I can assure you. Naked is the best way to experience the river. It makes you feel part of nature.”

Ember screws up her face at that.

“Get naked, then,” she commands. “Go on.”

“No,” I reply, shaking my head and keeping my eyes on the water and not on the gorgeous woman standing beside me.

“Oh, so you’re okay with taking off your shirt in front of an arena full of thirsty women...”

“Yeah, that’s to help me cut wood,” I stammer.

Ember chortles.

“Take off your damn pants, Connor. That’s an order.”

I shrug again.

“Okay, your majesty. You’ve got it. Pants are coming off.”

It sounds crazy, but maybe this’ll break the tension...

And I do what she orders. I undo my belt and let my pants drop to my ankles.

I’m now totally naked below the waist.

“Now it’s your turn, Ember,” I tell her sternly.

The journalist shakes her head vigorously.

“No way, Jose.”

“You need to get naked or I’m carrying you in,” I say. “What’d it be?”

Ember sighs.

“Alright. I’ll do it. Anything to make you happy, firefighter.”

And she starts to strip.

I let out a smirk.

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