Page 23 of Burn With Me

I let myself in and take Penny’s leash off, then hang it up by the door.

After walking into my room, I send off a couple of pictures of different potential outfits.

I still think this date tomorrow night is a bad idea, but I also can’t deny that part of me is slightly excited. I haven’t wanted to date, and it’s not for lack of people trying. Brian, who’s a lieutenant for the sheriff’s department, mostly because of who his father is, has been trying to get me to go on a date for as long as I’ve lived here, but something just rubs me the wrong way about him.

I head to the bathroom after topping off Penny’s water to shower and shave all the important parts. The one thing I decide in the shower is that I’m going to give this a real go because I deserve this.

I work hard and have put my personal life on hold while building my business for the last five years.

I freeze at that thought.

Have I been putting my life on hold to protect myself?

I realize that I have and not in aI just want to build a businessway, in aI’m just not letting a male get close in a relationshiptype of way. It’s like everything my therapist and Pam have talked about over the past year just kind of clicks.

I might have ended things with Leo five years ago and moved across the country to build my farm, but in reality, I just used that business as a wall to keep people out romantically.

This whole time, I’ve just thought I was happy on my own when I never really let myself think that not every man is like Leo.

I stop that train of thought. It’s like I’m still letting the pecker head have power over me, and that ends tonight. I need to do good for my business and community but also for myself.

It’s time to stop hiding and start living, and I’m going to start by going on a date with the first man who has made me feel something in a long time. While it might not lead to anything serious, I can at least say I tried.

I quickly run through the rest of my nighttime routine and let Penny out before we climb into bed. Happy with my decision, I quickly fall asleep, kind of excited for tomorrow.

Ten

Luke

Standing next to the fire engine, I look over the scene before me.

Car accidents are never fun, and while this one was bad, thankfully no one was seriously injured. I check my watch and walk back up to Sam, who’s watching the paramedics work on the people we just got out of the car.

“Time isn’t going to magically speed up or slow down. It’ll be fine, and you need to calm down,” Sam says, laughing at me.

“I don’t want to be late, and we both know how quickly we can get another call and have to work over. Plus, she’ll look for an excuse to back out of our date. I’m shocked she said yes in the first place.”

“We’re almost wrapping up, so you’re good. Besides, Amelia is understanding as long as you’re honest, but she’s late most of the time,” he says with a snort.

I’m not shocked by this since Pam and Sam were making fun of her at the farmers’ market about it, and she didn’t deny it.

I run my hand through my hair. “Yeah, well, I don’t want to give her a reason to back out. Plus, I’m never late, and my mom would kill me if she found out I was late for a date. Let alone a first date.”

“Who is backing out of what?” I hear from behind us, and it’s Noah, one of the officers we’ve worked with a couple times since we started working at the firehouse.

He’s probably one of the few first responders around our age, so we clicked with him right away.

“Oh, Luke here has a date with Amelia, and he’s worried we’re going to get back to the station late, which will in turn make him late for his biiiiiig date,” Sam says.

“Damn. You’ve been in town for a month, and you got the one girl who turns everyone down to go on a date with you?” Noah says with a shocked expression.

Does he have a thing for Amelia? Having to kick his ass would suck since I actually like the guy.

I growl without realizing it.

“Did you just growl? What the actual fuck?” Sam laughs at me.

“Dude, I don’t like her. I have my eye on someone else, but I know the chief’s son Brian, who’s a sheriff, has a thing for her and asks her out every chance he gets,” Noah says.

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