Page 7 of When We Burn

“In your firefighter gear?” Blake asks.

“Yeah, why?” My brother just grins at me, and I glare back at him. “Fuckoff.”

“You know you get more donations when you’re in uniform,” Blake says with a laugh. “Are you going to wear a shirt this year, or go without?”

“Are you jealous?” I tip up an eyebrow, and Blake only laughs harder.

“Fuck no. I think it’s hilarious that you’re a sex symbol. Women have no taste.”

“He’s so pretty,” Holden adds, enjoying flinging me shit.

“Who is?” Millie asks as she joins us and sits in her husband’s lap.

“Bridger,” Holden replies.

“Beautiful,” Millie agrees, and I flip her off.

“Now, don’t make me kick your ass for disrespecting my wife.” Holden’s voice has no heat in it, and Millie’s giggling.

“You’re all a bunch of assholes. I’ll be keeping my shirt on, thank you very much.”

Suddenly, there’s a splash, a scream, and my heart thuds as I kick into action. There’s a second splash, and I run to the pool and take in what’s happening.

Birdie—God,Birdie—is in the deep end, flapping around, and Dani has her, pulling her to the side of the pool. I meet her there and pull Birdie out and into my arms. She clings to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Hey, are you okay? What happened?”

“I wanted to swim where it’s deep.” Her voice is small, and I can tell that it scared her, but she’s not hurt.

I turn back to the water and see that Dani’s having ahard time, her clothes now soaked and heavy, and her eyes are wide in terror. Before I can pass Birdie off, several of the guys—Blake, Ryan, and Holden—have jumped into the water and are helping Dani stay above water, leading her to the shallow end of the pool and then out of the water entirely.

She sheds the sopping white shirt and lets it fall, but then her teeth are chattering, her eyes dilated.

Fuck. She’s going into shock.

Or having a panic attack.

Maybe both.

Why did she jump in? She’s terrified of water.

“Hey,” Blake says as he takes a towel from Ryan and wraps it around Dani’s shoulders, rubbing her arms briskly. We all know. We all saw whathedid to her. It strikes me, again, that the way that bastard died was too good for him. “You’re okay, sweetheart. I know you don’t like the water.”

Jesus, she’sterrifiedof the water, and she jumped in to help my daughter.

“Can I swim some more?” Birdie asks me, and I kiss her cheek and then set her down, not taking my eyes off Dani.

“No, baby bird. Go wrap up in a towel and play with the other kids.”

“But—”

“I said no.”

She doesn’t argue, and I’m thankful she’s mostly so compliant. Yes, she loves to push my buttons—often—but she doesn’t fight me when she knows I won’t budge. Considering her mom’s selfishness, Birdie’s sweetness frequently amazes me.

My daughter runs off, and I cross to where Blake is consoling Dani.

Oh, kitten. I hate this for you.

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