Page 10 of Single Dad Panther's Best Friend Romance

“No, he isn’t. It’s why I’m here so early. I don’t normally watch Joel in the morning, but Preston got called into work early, so I agreed to watch him earlier.”

Why didn’t he stay and have me watch Joel? The thought tickles my mind like an annoying bug bite. “Ah, okay, well, um, I was just going to bring some Legos for Joel, but I wanted to check with Preston if he thought it would be okay.”

“Well, would you like me to give him a message?”

“Joel?”

“Um, no, Preston.”

I feel like I’m in a very bad comedy routine where the audience laughter is so obviously canned it’s an insult to the viewer. “No, no thank you. I’ll just try to catch up with him later. Thank you.”

I hurry away before she can say much more or ask why I look so wild. I run home and grab my keys and I don’t let my mind breathe for a second because, if I did, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.

I drive to Preston’s work.

I know where the firehouse is, Company 417, and I know practically all the players there because Preston has shared quite a bit about it. I don’t want to make a scene there, but I feel like yelling is something I may not be able to stop myself from doing.

Actually, maybe I do want to make a scene there. Hell, I don’t know.

Why the hell am I doing anything? Any other guy pulls this and I’m flipping him off and telling Preston all about it and…

Ah. That’s it. If Preston’s the asshole here, who can I tell about it?

Now, I’m feeling doubly angry, unreasonable, and hurt. Damn it, Preston!

I get to the station and briefly wonder if my plan of tearing him a new one in front of his co-workers is a good one because, well, maybe he got the call-in while at my place and everything is just a big misunderstanding. But then why not leave a quick noteor a message on my phone? And trust me, I checked. There was no message.

I park and see Preston almost instantly. He’s standing by the smaller truck, a Type 5, I think. Company 417 got two wildlife fire trucks. Type 5 and Type 6. I think this one is type 6 because it almost looks like a pickup truck with a crew cab. Hell, I don’t know, Preston fills me in on a lot of details, but I’m no expert. I get out of my car, and he sees me instantly.

He walks over, the asshole, with a big smile on his face. I frown and say, “So, had a good time last night?” I hope he picks up on the venom in my words.

He smiles. “Oh, so you liked them? I wasn’t sure about it because you always say you have a black thumb, but you know…”

“Liked? Liked what?”

Now he looks as confused as I sound. “The flowers? I mean, they’re hokey, I know, and you can tease me if you want, Liz, but last night . . .”

I cut him off again. “Flowers?

He laughs and my heart beats harder. Oh God, I’m the asshole. I’m the asshole! Abort! Abort!I want to cry. This is too much. “So, what brings you over here? Is everything okay? Need something? I can probably take a few hours if you need me to.”

I sigh and try to not sound like a crying mess. “Oh yeah, you know, um, Joel was loving my Legos last night and I thought I’d get him some. I mean, I really can’t remember for sure but I feel like I told him I would buy him some because I wouldn’t let him play with my dad’s cars. I just wanted to make sure it was okay before I brought some over for him.”

Preston looks at me. “That’s all?”

I nod. “Yep. I mean, I was going to drive by the theater anyway so I thought stopping by to see you was a good idea.”

Bless Preston being a guy because he instantly accepts what I’m saying. “Oh, that’s awesome, Liz, yeah. He can have them just, you know, not a thousand of them okay.”

I smile. “Okay.”

“Well, if it’s not an emergency,” he says, “I’d better get back to work. I’m off tonight and then I switch to the next cycle, so I have a few days. Can we catch up in the morning?”

“Yep.” Once I have myself back in control.

He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.I just breathe him in.

We let go and he hurries back to the truck and I head to my car. I make myself act normal and wave goodbye and smile.

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