Page 38 of Burn With Me

When I turn to get a better look, I swear I see someone standing out by the parking lot with a hoodie pulled low over their eyes, but when I blink, they’re gone.

I jump when I hear Luna come up next to me and say, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about what I have to do this week. I would have never thought about how many meetings I would be having as someone who grows food for a living,” I say, hoping to cover up that I was, in fact, not okay because this isn’t the first time I’ve felt like someone is watching me, but it’s a small town, and it must just be stress making me feel like I’m losing my grip on reality.

She narrows her eyes as she looks at me, and I don’t think I fooled her. “Are you sure? If something is wrong, you know you can tell me, right?”

“Positive. Anyway, just in case I forget later. Thanks for all the help today. I appreciate you more than I can say,” I say quickly, and with that, we get back to work with Penny stuck to me like glue for the rest of the afternoon.

Sixteen

Luke

With a groan, I sit on the couch and rest my head back, closing my eyes. I would have never thought a small town would be so busy. We had false alarms, some asthma attacks, and an actual cat in the tree.

“Do you want a beer?” Sam asks.

Without opening my eyes, I respond, “Yeah, I do.”

Nudging my leg to hand me my beer, he sits down next to me, “I’m not mad we got a lot of calls, but I’m shocked at how busy we were.”

“I was just thinking that,” I say.

But I can’t shake the nagging feeling I have about the several small fires every day throughout the city. They are part of why we didn’t get together on Wednesday like originally planned. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but I just can’t get them out of my head.

What’s worse is that I’ve barely had time to see Amelia. I got a last-minute call on Sunday, so we weren’t able to hang out after the farmers’ market.

We texted between my calls when she wasn’t busy with meetings or deliveries. With how I’ve been trying to spend time with her, I feel like an addict who needs to get my fix—with no success.

“Are you even listening to me?” Sam asks me.

“Nope. I zoned out,” I admit.

He rolls his eyes. “Are you thinking about all the ways you’ll lose inMario Kart?”

I take a drink of my beer and say, “No, I’m just tired.”

Partial truth. The other part is that I was hoping to spend time with Amelia today, but she has her girls’ night, and I won’t take that away from her. Regardless of how much I want to see her.

There’s a knock at the door, and we both go to get up.

“I got it,” I say, knowing it’s just Noah with the pizza.

“Hey man,” I say as I open the door. “Thanks for grabbing the pizza.”

“No problem. Sorry I’m late. A call ran long,” he says as he hands me the pizza so he can take his shoes off.

“We get it. I promise it’s no big deal,” I tell him as I set the pizza down and grab a slice.

“We’re just vegging on the couch. Whenever you’re both ready to get your asses kicked in someMario Kart, I set up the Switch,” Sam says as he rubs his hands together and comes up to the counter to grab some pizza.

“Fuck off. You act like you beat me all the time. I’m theMario Kartchampion in this house. Go get the game loaded.” I wave a hand toward the TV.

“Whatever you say, dude,” Sam says as he finishes his first slice and grabs another slice of pizza before walking over to the couch and loading up someMario Kart.

“I guess I should take it easy on you guys since we’re all playing for the first time together,” Noah says with a chuckle. “But I will have you know, I was the reigningMario Kartchampion when I was younger.”

I grab the controller with more force than needed. “Well, there’s one way we can settle this. Let’s play so I can kick both of your asses.”

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