Page 28 of Surge of Fire

“Drinkif you’ve ever licked a stone to determine if it was a fossil or a rock!” shouts Dahlia.

We all slam another shot. I wince at the cheap vodka, and Granger points at me, probably remembering the time I’d licked a very dirty rock and ended up spitting and coughing a ton. The gesture sends him and Aydan into a fit of laughter. I want to be mad, but I’m laughing too a second later.

Okay, I’m officially drunk. Time to head to bed.

I set my shot glass back down on the rock, then stand, brushing dirt and grass off my ass. Beside me, Granger and Aydan stand, too. It’s funny the way we still work so well together. We don’t have to say a word, and we justgeteach other.

“Come on, you guys aren’t calling it a night, are you?” Dahlia teases.

A cute guy next to her wraps his arm possessively around her shoulder, while continuing to talk to a guy on his other side. There are still at least twenty students out here, plus Mr.Handsy. And Dahlia isn’t going to miss me, and we both know it. Even back at college, she was never the type that needed me to stay at a club with her. Dahlia is a woman who likes to do her own thing.

“I don’t want to be hurling up dinner,” I tease.

She shakes her head. “You never get sick and you know it.” The guy next to her pulls her a little closer, and she grins at me. “But you are free to go! Get some sleep! Be good!”

I laugh. “Yeah, I’mrealgood.”

Turning, I stumble against Aydan, not realizing how close he was, and nearly lose my footing. His hands are at my waist in an instant. “Careful.”

I want to look up into his eyes to see if they’re as blue as I remember, but I feel like too many people are staring at us. They’ll be able to see how bad I want him, no matter how hard I try. Liquor has a way of making it hard to hide the truth. So, instead, I pull away from him, and we start walking.

“Leaving early isn’t bad, I honestly want a little time to journal when I get back,” Granger says, swinging his arm.

“About the love of your life?” I tease. He looks oddly freaked out for a minute before I add, “Dr. Duncan. The man. The myth. The legend!”

He smiles, looking relieved. “Actually, yeah, today we spent the day taking readings all over the mountain. I mean, technically, the class is supposed to be about the study of petrology, but he left the other students with his staff, because he said the readings were really important.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, stumbling again a little.

Aydan’s hand moves to my waist instinctively, but he leaves it there, even when I right myself. I guess he’s not just worried about me getting laid. He doesn’t even think I can walk properly. Not that I’m making a good case for myself.

“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before. The readings aren’t quite warning of an earthquake, or of a volcano erupting, it’s more like… movement in the earth.” He runs his hands through his dark hair, sending the strands standing on end. “I feel like I'm not explaining this right, but it's the mark of something never before seen in science, and I’m here to see it!”

“My class wasn’t nearly as exciting,” Aydan says, sighing and staring up at the stars. “We basically covered Firefighting 101. My dad taught me this stuff when I was in elementary school: basic first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, fire suppression techniques, and fire and smoke behavior.”

“It’s day one,” I tease, “you’re not going to be climbing trees and leaping into fires just yet.”

He glances down at me, and his gaze is intense. “You have no idea what’s involved when it comes to fighting wildfires, do you?”

He knows I do, but I’m getting under his skin, and I’m not about to stop. “I imagine a lot of pounding your chest and ripping off your shirt?”

Granger and I laugh, and Aydan shakes his head. “Not if you're my dad. Then, it’s all about being away from your family as much as possible, banging every woman you see anywhere, and coming home to be an asshole to your wife.” His words start out amused and turn dark.

I stare without meaning to. Aydan never talks about his dad. He literally avoids the topic. Over the years, I’d met his dad many times. He seemed to be charming, so charming that everyone who meets him likes him… except his wife and son. That always struck me as strange, and made me not want to be around him, even from an early age.

“Your dad’s an asshole because he’s an asshole, not because he’s a firefighter,” Granger says. “You’re going to be one of the good ones.”

Does he worry about that?“Of course he is! Aydan, you’re going to make the best firefighter, and the best husband and father.”

He stares down at me, and the pain in his expression steals my breath. “You think so?” And he sounds so damned worried that I have the overwhelming urge to kiss him and tell him that everything will be okay.

“I know so. I mean, look at the way you take care of Granger and me. When you love someone, you love them with your whole heart. That’s one of the best things about you.”He has to know that, right?

He squeezes my hip, then releases me. “Anyway…”

My phone beeps, and I pull it out to read the text. It’s from Will.Want to come over and hang out?Which, of course, is code for a booty call. Not that I’m in the mood for one right now.

“Will wants to know if you want to come over andhang out?” Granger emphasizes the last two words, laughing, and I regret not realizing just how close he was behind me. “I guess he can’t call it Netflix and Chill up here, right? You going?”

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