Page 20 of Just A Kiss

We roll up on the house, smoke billowing from the upper windows. I can already tell this is going to be a total loss for this family.

“Ma’am,” I call out to the woman standing at the end of the driveway, tears streaming down her face as she looks at the burning house. “Is anyone still inside?” I ask, wanting to know if we need to get in and rescue anyone.

“No,” she chokes out between sobs. “I was the only one home. My husband was gone with our kids.”

“That’s good,” I tell her, trying to show her as much sympathy as I can. “Do you know how the fire started?” I ask.

“I think from the dryer, but I really don’t know. I was busy cleaning the bathroom when the smoke detector went off,” she tells me as some of my crew starts spraying water on the house as others head inside to fight this from both sides. “When I came out of the bathroom, the hallway was already filled with smoke, so I ran out of the house and called you guys.”

“You did great, ma’am. We’ll get things under control as quickly as we can. Do you need any medical attention? Does it hurt to breathe?” I question. Smoke inhalation can cause damage quickly, so depending on how much smoke she had to go through before making it outside, it could possibly have caused damage to her lungs.

“I don’t think so,” she answers, her body visibly shaking, most likely from the shock the fire has caused.

We do everything we can to get the fire out, but as I feared when we rolled up, the house was completely lost. Between the smoke, fire, and water damage, not much inside will be salvageable. By the time we got the flames knocked down, the husband and kids had shown back up. I noticed the man holding his wife as she cried into his shoulder when I walked back to the truck for one of the axes.

We finish up, ensuring we’ve put out all the smoldering embers everywhere before packing up our equipment and heading back to the station.

* * *

“Who’s on dinner duty tonight?”I ask the group as I finish dressing after a quick shower. Fighting fires is not only a dirty job because of the ashes and soot that we end up covered in, but we’re a sweaty mess by the time we’re done. Turnout gear only protects you from so much.

“I think we’re going to order in,” Tucker says, flipping through the menu book we keep with all the restaurants' menus, not that any of us really need them to know what we’d want from anywhere. In the last five years or so, we’ve had more chain places popping up since we’re on the interstate, but the really good, hole in the wall, local places are where it's at.

“Good, I’m starving,” I tell him as my stomach growls loudly.

“Then you pick,” he says, handing over the menu binder.

“Like you even have to ask,” I scoff. I always pick our local BBQ place. They’ve got large servings, are usually super-fast, and best of all, not that far from the station.

“Figured.” Tucker laughs and shakes his head at me. “I swear you’d eat there every day if you could.”

“What can I say? I like their food.”

It doesn’t take long before we’ve got our order called in and back here at the station so we can all dive in. Thankfully, things are on our side tonight as we don’t get called out on our next call until well after we’ve had dinner.

My shift finally ticks by; I swear tonight felt like it was never going to end. Thankfully, I was able to get a decent stretch of sleep, not that I won’t still just head home and crash for the next few hours.

I pull into my garage, shutting my truck off before hitting the button on my opener to close the door before I step out of the truck. The sun is bright, and with it no longer shining in, my eyes take a few minutes to adjust to the dimmer room. I snag my bag from the truck seat, slinging it over my shoulder as I head into my house.

I drop everything just inside the door and head straight for my bed. I slide between the sheets, my phone pinging from the nightstand as I do. I grab it to see who’s texting me this morning and see I’ve got a message from Allison. My dick twitches just reading her name, but now’s not the time for that appendage to be in charge.

Allison:Hey! Are you free tonight? Maybe we can grab a drink?

Her text comes across as her usual bubbly self, so I can only hope that means whatever was bugging her the other night is no longer bothering her.

Lee:Sure, I just got home and was going to crash for a few more hours. Did you want to get together this afternoon?

Allison:I’m off today, so we can get together whenever.

Lee:How about I text you when I’m up and moving for the day?

Allison:Works for me; enjoy your nap. {winky face}

I toss my phone aside once again, doing my best to shut my mind off long enough to fall asleep for a few more hours.

13

ALLISON

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