Page 16 of Xavier

As I lifted myself up from where I’d settled down on the floor, the entire fire station came alive all in a flurry of calculated motion. Hustling over to my section to start passing out gear tothe ones on duty today, my mind slipped into a straight-lined sense of focus, my hands busying themselves with unstrapping items from the wall in order to pass off to people.

This part of the job, while seemingly inconsequential, was one of the most important that a station had. Getting it wrong—such as gearing up a fellow coworker incorrectly—could be the difference between life and death in a dangerous situation.

Here, we took that shit seriously, no matter how much of a pain prep was at the ass crack of dawn.

Zander was the first one over to me after getting his coveralls on, Cyrus following close behind to the section next to me where Carmen was at. I tossed him a helmet, waiting for him to slip it on over his head and adjust it before handing off the rest of his gear and getting him suited up for the ride over.

He saluted me and jogged over to the fire truck, hopping up onto one of the metal rungs along with the rest of our on-call crew once they were geared up as well. The truck’s engine rumbled to life, breathing a sense of excitement back into the otherwise quiet firehouse from just moments ago.

While this job had led to a lot of heartbreak in past times, the adrenaline rush was unmatched.

Things around here could change in an instant. From us arguing about party details, to moving into action, to potentially saving someone’s life, all with the quick flip of a switch and our Captain at the helm of our well-oiled machine.

Our crew here were among the best and brightest in our entire state, and every damn time they were out in the field saving the people of our city, they made me fucking proud to be among them.

How could I not be when we were all a tight-knit family that kept each other safe in the face of danger?

Once the doors were lifted from the inside, the truck was navigated carefully out onto the street and soon disappeared, roaring off to whatever was waiting for them out there.

“Nice work, team,” Captain Clarke said, the energy around us calming instantly as the garage was slowly pulled back down. “I’ll keep an ear on the radio in case they call for backup.”

The skeleton crew left behind all murmured our agreements before slowly dispersing back to our usual duties. With dispatch only calling for a single truck, that meant that whatever wreck our station was walking into was more than likely a minor fender-bender.

Per Louisiana law, though, we were required to be on scene on the off chance that something happened like a gas tank explosion or someone needing the Jaws of Life to get out or their totaled vehicle.

Other than that, hopefully it was going to be an easy day today.

“You still good for the potluck, Gage?” Ellie asked, making her way over to me.

“As long as you’re good with me not cooking.” The last thing anyone wanted me around was an oven. Or worse, a stove.

She squinted. With no clipboard in hand for her to tap her pen against, she resorted to using her hand for her nervous habit. “As long as it’s still from that scratch kitchen you were talking about.”

“Yup.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay, cool. Since you’re all set, all I need to worry about is sorting out the knock-down crew.”

“Let them fight over it,” I suggested. “They’ll figure it out.”

She smiled in amusement. “I think you have too much faith in them if you believe they’ll be able to bicker and come to an agreement.”

“Hey, we need to let the kids figure it out for themselves once in a while.”

That had her laughing which warmed my heart. I hated seeing Ellie stressed, even if it was for something minor like a Christmas party.

“All right, true. Hey, you know, if you wanted to invite your man to come around for the get together, I’m sure everyone would be good with it.”

“Wait, really?” Now, that was a little surprising. “You know he’s in a different state, right?” I arched a brow at her.

Not to mention none of my coworkers had ever met the man before. It wasn’t like we were going out to the bar and Xavier was tagging along. This would be an intimate get together with all of our families present.

Was that really the kind of thing that I could take a ‘date’ to?

Every year we did something for the holidays and every year, I went stag. It wasn’t ever something that I’d cared about, mostly since for the past few years I’d had at leastsomeonesingle to hang out with who wouldn’t be tangled up in the romantic festivities.

Apparently, I’d missed the memo, though, because this year, I’d be the only one left without a date. Besides, Ellie that is. She’d be running around making sure everyone was staying on their best behavior.

Ellie frowned. “You guys aren’t going to see each other for Christmas? I know you’re long distance, but that kind of sucks, if that’s the case. He doesn’t want to fly out or anything?”

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