Page 25 of That One Heartbreak

She took a deep breath.

“I’ll think about it,” she promised him. “When’s the next meeting?”

“On Sunday.”

“He’s grounded,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. I was gonna suggest we make him sit and watch us go through the drills. A kind of punishment because all the other juniors will be joining in. No kid likes sitting on the sideline. But it’ll do him good to know what he’s missing out on.”

His thumb brushed her hand again. And this time she could feel the thrill rushing straight to her core. It was just a physical reaction. She knew that. It didn’t mean anything.

So why wasn’t she pulling away?

“He would hate that,” she said softly.

The corner of his lip curled up. “Yep.”

And now she was smiling too. Not just because it felt like she wasn’t alone in this. But because she could feel some hope rushing back in.

Yes, she was still scared of James joining the junior firefighters. Not least because the kind of danger he was in tonight was nothing compared to what he’d be exposed to if he graduated and became a full-fledged volunteer.

“You know he’s a good kid. He just needs some direction,” Marley told her. “Maybe we all do. But this feels good, you know? Like he’s finally moving forward.”

She nodded. “Yes, it does.” Finally, she pulled her hand from his, already missing his touch. “Thank you. For bringing him home. For caring.”

He glanced at her mouth then back to her eyes, his gaze holding onto hers for a moment too long. “Thank you for letting me.”

Chapter

Seven

“Oh my God!”Shana said, her eyes lighting up. “You want to have sex with Marley Hartson?”

“Will you hush up?” Kate whispered, because Shana’s voice was loud enough to wake up a bunch of hibernating bears. “And I don’t want to do that.”

“You said he gave you tingles.” Shana took a sip of her coffee. They were sitting in the town square after eating brunch in the diner. This time, Shana had managed to score a booth and she was still gloating about it. Addy was playing with her friends on the bandstand, and Ethan was throwing a ball with a group of boys in the grass beyond.

And James was at the fire station. She was trying hard not to think about that. She’d wanted to drop him off but he’d insisted on walking over there first thing this morning. She hadn’t seen him running with the rest of the juniors and the volunteers around the square before she went into church, though. Marley had promised her that he would have to sit everything out and he was being true to his word.

“That’s not what I said,” Kate told her friend, shaking her head. “I said maybe I’m not so dead inside after all.”

“Because he gave you quivers.” Shana wouldn’t be deflected. “You should definitely let him know you’re interested.”

“I’m not interested,” Kate told her. “Not like that. I’ve been thinking about it, and I know exactly what happened.”

Shana’s smile widened. “Oh, this is going to be good. Tell me.”

Kate rolled her eyes because she knew she shouldn’t have said anything. But Shana had this way of getting secrets out of you. The CIA should recruit her. She’d be the best kind of torture device.

“You said yourself that maybe it’s time to start thinking about the future,” Kate said. “Maybe my body is telling me that I should try new things out.”

“Like new guys?”

Kate sighed. Mostly because she hadn’t slept for the past two nights. Not just because of James and worrying about him. But also worrying about herself.

It felt strange.

“Maybe. But not Marley Hartson. That was just me reacting to him being there. Any guy holding my hand would have caused the same reaction.”

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