Page 2 of Single Dad Panther's Best Friend Romance

Joel turns around and hoots. “Woohoo! Hell yeah!”

I try to be stern but I can’t help laughing. “Wow, let’s watch that language, okay?”

He looks confused but nods. “Okay. Hey, can I play with some of these?”They weren’t on display until yesterday. He’s never seen them.

I shake my head. “These are kind of no touch things. They’re just to look at. But,” I quickly add because I see his face fall and I don’t know how I would handle tears, “I have some Legos we can mess with.”He’s never played with them either.

“Cool!”

I nod. “Yup, so cool.”

I really do have Legos. My dad got me into the idea of creating and building. I play with Legos when I feel stressed. Or happy. Or bored. Whatever. Legos rock, so I have a lot.

I get Joel going with a hefty container of the bricks and order pizza.

And the night, surprisingly, is uneventful. We eat and hang out and I fall in love with this smart little guy like I always do when I’m babysitting him. I’m not really a kid person, in spite of the Legos, and I’m stunned that Joel seems to actually like hanging out with me.

Eventually, though, bedtime arrives and there’s still no Preston, so I have to bring up bedtime. Joel doesn’t really pout or fight it much. He just looks worried. “Dad’s at another big fire?”

I sit down with him on the sofa. I know what it’s like to have fathers absorbed by their work. “You know, bud, I am certain that he would rather be here with you but he’s being a hero right now.”

Joel looks at me with big eyes. “Like Batman?”

I nod. “Um, yeah, like Batman.” Really, more like Superman, but why argue?

I managed to talk him into getting into the guest room bed after I let him take one of my stuffies with him. Yes, I’m a grown woman who also has stuffies. Did I mention ruining my life andromantic difficulties. Okay, well, so I have stuffies, Legos, model cars, and more toys, too. So sue me.

I leave the light dimmed and close the door. Poor little guy. His mom is a long time gone. Preston divorced her because of her habit. He couldn’t have her being around Joel like that, and then she went and overdosed months later. Preston is a terrific father, but it’s been pretty rough on the two of them since. Two guys rattling around in their house alone.

I cut off thoughts of my own childhood and go turn on the TV. And yes, I’m old school that way. I have cable. I start watching some cheesy movie that has some robot alien in it or something and there’s a countdown involved and I actually am getting into it, when the news cuts in.

It’s the fire.

I sit and watch and my heart jumps into my throat. Holy crap, it’s an inferno! The camera shows only smoke and flames and there’s the sound of sirens and shouting. The guy on the scene can barely be heard.

Preston’s in there somewhere. My stomach does another swooping dive, and then I’m weeping. Oh fuck! This looks so fucking bad. Where the fuck is Preston in this? I can’t lose my best friend. I can’t lose the guy who’s been there for me through so much.

I make myself stop crying so I can try to hear more from the TV, but they just don’t have much information on if it’s containable or if anyone’s been hurt.

A vivid image of Preston engulfed in those flames makes me start crying again, and in the back of my mind I begin to wonder, is this more feeling than I’d show for a best friend? It’s a stupid thought but I can’t shake the sense that the thought of losing Preston feels like the possibility of a massive hole ripped into my soul.

A hole as big as the one left by my dad and bigger than any other guy in my life.

I know the feeling of loving someone, I do.

My tears just won’t stop.

I can’t lose him.

Chapter Two

Preston

“I’m going to have to shift,” I say into the handset.

“Negative!” Garrett says. “Negative. There are too many non-shifters there.” He’s talking about the other firefighters, not the civilians. Garrett is a gorilla shifter, the only one I know. There aren’t a lot. He says there are more gorilla shifters than any other kind but they remain secretive and hidden away. The legends of giant apes come from them.

Who knows?

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