Page 50 of When We Burn

He almost sucked my face off. In a really nice way, not in a gross way.

“Well, I hope they catch the guy fast. That’s actually really scary.”

“It is.” Alex is somber as she nods. “So far, it’s been two residences and a garage.”

“Random?” I ask her with a frown.

“As far as they can tell,” she confirms. “So, you stay safe, sister.”

“You, too. Yikes.”

“How’s school going?”

I push my empty plate away and sigh. “It’s good, but man, it’s exhausting. I know that I’ll get used to it and fall into a routine, but it’s a lot of work in the beginning. I have back-to-school night tomorrow night.”

“How many hours are you putting in right now?” She gives me a knowing look, and I stick my tongue out at her.

“About twelve a day,” I admit. “But I’m a new teacher at this school, and I want to make sure that the administration’s happy with me. I want mykidsto be happy.”

“That’s my sister, always the pleaser.” Alex shakes her head, but she’s smiling at me with a lot of love in her blue eyes. “I promise you, everyone is going to be more than happy, Dani. You give your heart and soul to your classroom every year. I thought there was going to be a riot in Bozeman when you quit to come here because so many parents wanted to request you for their kids. It’ll be that way here, too.”

“I hope so. I’m trying to make a good impression on everyone, so yeah, I’m putting in extra time, but I have to make sure that everything’s perfect.”

“You’re so type A,” she says with a sigh. “You need to learn to relax a little, my friend.”

I think of last weekend and all the relaxing I did. That was fun.

“I can almost hear your thoughts,” Alex says with a laugh. “You pervert.”

With a satisfied grin, I shrug a shoulder. “Do you want me to relax or not?”

“Hey, whatever works, babe.”

Every morning since my weekend with Bridger, I’ve woken up to a text from him that simply says,Good morning, sweetheart.

I never knew that three words could make my heart erupt in my chest, but they do. Every time.

It’s Thursday, and when I check my phone, there’s no text waiting for me.

My heart sinks, and I open my messages, bringing up Bridger’s thread, just in case my phone glitched or something, but no. No text today. But then I think about his words and take a deep breath.

“The fires don’t scare me because we’ve been trained extensively on how to handle them. We have gear and tools, and we’re never careless. Don’t ever think that if I walk into a fire I might not walk out.”

“He’s just sleeping or something,” I assure myself as I get out of bed and pad into the bathroom. I know that we’re both busy with our lives, but dang it, I miss him.

I miss him a lot.

By the time I leave for work, there’s still no messagefrom him. However, his truck is in his driveway, so hopefully that means that he’s safe.

I can’t think about the alternative.

Besides, this is a small town. If something had happened, I would have heard about it by now. He’s just busy.

And so am I.

Give the man a break, Dani.

Chapter Nine

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