Page 30 of The Spark Between Us

I let them go on. They had to get it out of their systems. There was no chance everyone at the station didn’t know about the accident and my new living situation, and I was going to endure their nonsense for about five more minutes, and then I’d shut it down for good.

“Alright, alright, anyone else have anything to say? Yes, I have a roommate. She’s the sister of a friend, and she’s in town temporarily for work. There will be no banging. Got it?”

“Oh, well if you don’t want a piece of that, can I have her number?” Sean pulled up the Contacts app on his phone and pretended to enter her number, elbowing me with a shit-eating grin.

I smacked the back of his head. “You’re cleaning bathrooms today. Just changed the chore list.” I flashed a genuine smile. I had no problem sticking it to any guy who crossed a line.

“You serious?” Sean whined like he’d lost a nut.

“As a heart attack.” I left them and went to the kitchen for some decent coffee. Sarah’s awful brew made the watered-down excuse for coffee here taste like a dream. I’d have to give her some pointers on using the French press.

The coffee pot sat empty, and as I emptied a packet of grounds into the machine, the image of Sarah sitting stiffly on the stool in my kitchen came back into my mind. I wondered what made her so stoic about keeping her pain to herself. I’d seen how much she hated people fussing over her after her accident, but she hadn’t told me why.

It wasn’t until Cash walked in carrying a couple bags of groceries that I realized I’d been standing motionless holding the empty coffee pot. “Dude, you look like a statue,” Cash said.

I went to the sink to fill the pot. “I was trying to decide how badly I wanted coffee,” I said, covering.

“You mean, badly enough to pour water into a machine? Shit, how lazy are you?”

I’d have to work harder to teach these guys some respect. Cash was a probie, and he’d already learned from the others that he could shoot his mouth off with minimal consequences. That was what I got for trying to build camaraderie—they treated me like the older brother whose only function was to buy them beer until their party woke the neighbors and they needed someone to talk down the cops.

Yeah, I might have had some experience with my two younger brothers shoving me into that role for real. Old habits were hard to break, and I mostly liked the guys in my unit, so I ignored their wisecracks.

The coffee maker started to sputter, and I leaned against the counter while Cash emptied the groceries. “What’s for dinner?” I asked.

He looked momentarily nervous. “I thought you weren’t going to be here.”

“I’m not. Don’t look so guilty.”

“Not guilty, but I shopped accordingly. I bought five steaks.”

“Steaks? Nice. Way to make friends, probie.”

“That was my thought.”

I grabbed a package of Oreos he’d just removed from one of the grocery bags and started to tear it open. Then I thought better of it. I needed to power down a few sips of coffee, do my work, and hit the machines in the gym. It was the only way I could think of to get rid of the agitation gnawing at my gut. That, or I needed to hit the showers and rub one out, and I didn’t much feel like doing that with a station full of guys walking in at any minute.

Why was I still thinking about Sarah?

It made no sense. Twenty-four hours ago, I’d never met her and my life was fine. I felt excited about Kelsey—legs for days, long blond hair, all-up-in-my-business-hinting-at-blowjobs Kelsey.

Now I debated canceling on her tonight. Should I make sure Sarah got to her physical therapy appointment? Maybe she’d need a ride.

She’s a capable thirty-three-year-old woman with an Ubert account. She doesn’t need you.

The really strange thing was I sort of wished she did. Having a brilliant, capable woman like Sarah rely on me to get her neck unlocked had felt good—it satisfied me in a way that one more blow job from Kelsey never would. Feeling Sarah’s gratitude for skills I took for granted made me see them as valuable, and I liked it.

But the last thing I needed was to get emotionally involved again with someone who’d only want me until she realized I was punching above my weight class. I wouldn’t be enough for someone like Sarah. So why was I picturing myself taking her to dinner instead of Kelsey?

I needed to get my head out of my ass and focus on my date, who wanted me for a good time and was happy when I delivered, while my roommate was busy tucking herself in at nine so she could be fresh in the morning to improve on rockets.

I admired the hell out of her, but that didn’t mean we belonged together.

“Yeah, so I won’t be here later. Got a date,” I told him.

“Uh, o-kaay?”

I shook my head. “Never mind.” I took the coffee with me and went to pound the treadmill until my lungs burned.

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