Page 8 of Her Older Fireman

“Hey Maddie,” I say, loudly enough for her to hear me inside as I knock on the door. “It’s me.”

The door swings open and my heart breaks when I see her red eyes and blotchy skin. She still looks beautiful, but her distress tears at me.

“Can I come in?” I say gently.

She sniffs and nods as she motions for me to come in. I shut the door behind me and pull her into my arms. She collapses against me, and I rub her back as she shudders against my chest, her fingers curling into the soft fabric of my t-shirt. She smells like coffee—fresh off a shift at the coffee shop, I’m guessing—and her thick, red curls are tied back in a ponytail.

She pulls away and looks up at me as she wipes her hand across her eyes. I lean down and press gentle kisses against her temple, cheek, and finally, her soft lips.

“I didn’t know it was that bad,” I say as I pull back. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t notice before.”

Maddie shakes her head. “Don’t be sorry. You couldn’t have known, and it’s been worse lately anyway.”

My jaw tightens. “She shouldn’t talk to you like that.”

I feel Maddie’s fingers land lightly against the muscles of my chest and smooth over the fabric. “It’s not forever. I’ll leave eventually.”

“You have to know that it doesn’t matter if you leave tomorrow or never,” I tell her. “It’s still not okay. What happens when you tell her to knock it off?”

She winces. “Nothing good. She’s mad now because I’m studying for the LSAT and she knows I really am doing this. She didn’t finish college and she—well, she doesn’t like that I’m about to. She thinks I look down on her.”

“But you don’t,” I say. I didn’t think it was possible to have a lower opinion of her mom after what I overheard, but I do now.

“Absolutely not. Not for that.” Maddie says, shaking her head before looking back up at me. “Are you freaked out now?”

“Freaked out?” I say. “No. Pissed off for you, but not freaked out. You can’t control your mom’s behavior.”

She doesn’t look convinced. “You won’t cut and run?”

I frown. “Cut and run?”

“I’ve dated a few guys before,” she says carefully. “My mom doesn’t...well, she doesn’t like for me to have relationships. If you and I are a thing—”

“Believe me,” I interrupt. “We’re a thing.”

She reddens. “Right. Well, in the past, guys have decided that my mom is too much for them. She does it on purpose. And I...I don’t blame them.”

“Just listen to what you’re saying,” I tell her as I try to tamp down my rising fury. “She’s isolating you? Makes you feel like shit for achieving things? What is that?”

Maddie’s quiet for a second as she considers my words. I wonder if I’ve gone a little too far, but I want to get the rest of it out.

“Maddie, listen to me. You’re better than whatever bullshit your mom is putting you through,” I tell her. I cup her cheeks in my hands and force her eyes to mine. “You do not have to be alone with that anymore. Not now. Not while I’m around.”

“Gabe, it’s okay,” she says. She runs her fingers up along mine where they rest on her cheeks and pulls them away, lacing our fingers together. “I’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out.”

“You’re damn right we will,” I say. And lean down to bury her in a long, hot kiss.

---