Page 48 of Living with Fire

Maybe tomorrow on our date we’ll get to act on the tension that has been building all week. I would really love it if we did. My thighs have never had such a workout with all the clenching they’ve done around Nate this past week—and at times when he isn’t around. I didn’t know it was possible to drench a pair of panties without someone even touching you, but I’ve found out firsthand that it is.

“Oh shit,” Liam says, surprise evident in his tone. “You actually did it, didn’t you?”

I glance at him and he’s staring at Nate, amusement and pride mixed in his expression. A quick glance at the woman next to him and I see she’s staring at Nate with eyes that are wide and hopeful.

Turning my attention back to Nate, my grin is permanently in place while his eyes dance in amusement, silently asking me if we should tell them, or let them continue to guess. The giggle I give in return is enough to tell him we should let them steep in misery for a while longer, even if it’s obvious.

“What have I missed?” Asks a voice from behind me.

I crane my neck and find a woman with stick straight copper hair cut to her collarbones, parted deeply to the side, side swept bangs covering her forehead. Murky green eyes look around the table expectantly before landing on me.

“Savanna,” she says in greeting, and I suddenly recognize her as the paramedic that was in the back of the ambulance with me. “I’m not sure you remember me, but I’m Hailey.”

“Whoops,” says the woman across from me, who must be Quinn. “Been too focused on whether Nate asked her out, or if they’re on a date right now, to think about introducing myself.”

This perks Hailey up as she takes the chair next to me, her body angled my way. “Did he? Oh, please tell me he did. We’ve all been urging him to do it.”

“Yeah, Nate, did you?” Quinn asks, then her eyes move to me. “I’m Quinn, by the way.”

I nod in acknowledgement, but turn to Nate, my head tilted to the side. “So you have been talking about me,” I say, amusement lacing my tone.

His neck is turning red and it’s all the confirmation I need. Before he can confirm or deny it, Brody shows up and the noise he makes as he falls into the chair next to Quinn is enough that we’re all turning to look at him.

Brody is a giant of a man, and since the day we met I’ve been impressed by the gracefulness of his movements. A stealth that you wouldn’t expect from such a large guy. This is neither of those things, though, and he looks to be in extreme pain as he adjusts in his seat, trying to find a comfortable way to sit.

“What the hell happened to you?” Liam asks, leaning forward to look around Quinn.

“Bailed at Slab,” he says with a groan. “I need alcohol.”

“Slab is a surfing spot in town,” Nate whispers in my ear before I can ask. I realize he’s a lot closer than I thought he was, a jolt of awareness pumping through my body. “There’s a bunch of rocks and if you fall in the wrong spot, you can get caught up in the churning water. This is what happens. Or worse.”

“Let’s see it,” Quinn says beside him.

As Brody leans forward and turns so his shoulder is facing us, he tries to grab his shirt to pull it up, but it’s obviously painful so she helps him out. It’s her that hisses as the scrapes and cuts are shown, deep red and angry, parts of it still bloodied. I can see from my spot that there’s already purple and blue bruises forming.

“You get this looked at?” she asks.

His head shakes minutely. “I’m good. A friend helped clean it out.”

It doesn’t stop her from checking it over, glancing at Hailey every so often as she does. I can feel Nate leaning over the table into me to get a better look at what’s going on. Liam is doing the same to Quinn, though it’s harder for him given she’s got her back turned to him while inspecting Brody.

“I don’t know why you have to surf there, Brody,” Hailey says from beside me, frowning deeply. I’m guessing this has been a topic of conversation prior to today. “It’s so dangerous. Why can’t you surf at one of the other spots?”

Brody grunts when Quinn touches the skin that isn’t scraped, gently prodding and poking him, and I can imagine that it doesn’t feel good the way he cringes away from her.

He manages to turn his head to look at Hailey, even giving her a grin. “You’d understand if you’d come surfing with me.”

“That will never happen,” she retorts, throwing her red hair over her shoulder, but it’s too short so it falls right back to where it was.

Quinn smirks from her seat, but doesn’t look up from what she’s doing. “You know Hailey doesn’t do anything remotely dangerous, why would you even try?”

“I ride with you every shift,” Hailey retorts, garnering a laugh from everyone around the table.

Brody’s laughter turns into a groan.

Quinn looks up now and blows her a kiss. “And you love it because it’s the most thrilling thing you ever do.”

“I would imagine your job comes with a lot of dangerous situations,” I muse. “I mean, maybe you don’t run into burning buildings like these crazy guys, but I can’t imagine everyone you deal with is of sound mind. That can’t always be safe.”

---