Page 71 of Chasing You

He had a feeling he shouldn’t be making that vow. Something in his gut was unsettled. But he was willing to take the risk if it meant this poor man was able to relax his shoulders, take a breath, and let this whole thing be over with soon.

nineteen

ADELE

“…no, no, that’s good,”Fallon told him as Adele began to third- and fourth-guess himself. He hadn’t gone all out for his shoot. He was in artfully ripped jeans that were unzipped to show off tighty-whities, and he had paint splatters all over his arms and torso. “You’re better at this than you think you are.”

It was easy to feel good under Fallon’s instruction. He was precise and careful, and he was complimentary without making Adele feel like he was being ogled. He also ordered all the guys to do something else with their time while he was shooting him instead of watching, which meant Adele could breathe easy.

“Alright,” Fallon said, moving around to the left. “Do me a favor and put your arm up?—”

His words were cut off when Ridge burst into the room and came to a skidding halt. Adele immediately knew something was wrong. His hands fell to his sides as Ridge took four steps to close the distance between them.

“We just got a call…”

Car accident. Gage?

A fall. Kash?

“…fire at your house. County is already on their way. We’re trying to assess if anyone’s still in the house—” As Ridge spoke, Adele could hear the sirens start up as the trucks began to roll out.

“And the address, you’re sure?—”

“Yeah. It’s yours.”

Before Adele could process those three words, the doors flew open again, and Frey appeared, wild-eyed and panicked. “I just got a text from Bowen. Let’s go.”

Adele moved without thinking. He was barefoot, shirtless, covered in paint, and a little cold, and he didn’t notice any of it. Frey caught his arm, and he realized he was shaking from head to toe.

So much for his training. He was about to fall apart. “Phone,” he said.

Frey dug his out of his pocket as he dragged Adele to his car and shoved him into the passenger seat. They were on the road before Adele could get to Gage’s number, and it rang. And it rang. And rang.

“You’ve reached the number of…”

“Fuck!” Adele said, slamming his fist against the dash.

“Call Kash,” Frey ordered, taking a hard right. They weren’t following the trucks. Frey knew the back way through the neighborhood like no one else.

Adele was grateful his friend had Kash’s number in his phone because there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to remember it on his own in his state of panic. It went right to voicemail though, and Adele felt his heart in his throat.

“If they’re not okay…”

“They’re okay,” Frey said, like that was the only answer it could be. “They’re okay. Kash is a firefighter,remember? He’s going to make sure he and Gage are okay.”

Adele repeated him under his breath like a mantra. Like a chant. Like a prayer. He kept his gaze on his bare feet and squeezed Frey’s phone, willing it to ring. Just as Frey turned the corner toward their street, he saw the smoke. It was black, billowing, and all-encompassing.

They were forced to come to a halt at his street corner by two sheriff’s cars blocking the entrance, and Frey rolled down his window so Adele could lean over him. “It’s my house.”

He vaguely recognized the rookie looking at him through his mirrored aviators. “We can’t let anyone through.”

Adele reached for his badge before realizing he’d left it at the station. “I’m Adele Galanos. I’m the fire chief, and it’s my house going up.”

The rookie hesitated, then seemed to recognize him. He made a gesture at the guy in the other car, who backed up to let them through.

“Fuck,” Frey whispered.

Adele was fighting off the urge to scream. It felt like his skin was ready to peel right off his body if he wasn’t careful. The blackness got thicker the closer they got, and he eventually grabbed Frey’s arm. “Stop here. I don’t want you getting sick from the smoke.”

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