Page 6 of A Very Grumpy Firefighter

“What about Lilou, sir?” I ask, my body starting to tense. “Is she alright? Was she hurt?”

I’m on my feet now, and he shakes his head.

“No, not that. My Ronda just called. Said she overheard that your girl was talking about an arranged marriage for herself.”

“What?” I shout in shock.

Then his words hit me, and my stomach drops.

Lilou is getting married?! To someone that isn’t me?

Hell no.

“That’s what she said. Anyway, I just wanted to check in with you and see how you were doing. It’s a tough break,” he says, like I just lost a game and not the most important thing in the world to me.

He’s gone before I can correct him, and I start to pace around my room.

What. The. Fuck.

She can’t be getting married. She can’t be with someone else.

How do I stop it though?

Panic is threatening to choke me, and I grab my phone and call my brother, Luca. He’s always been good in a crisis. He’ll know what to do.

“Huh?” He answers on the second ring, sounding groggy.

“Shit, I forgot about the time change.”

Luca is an Army Ranger and is deployed to the other side of the world right now. It’s hard to keep up with his schedule, and I miss him like crazy. We call and text each other every week, but it’s not the same as having him here. I’ve been trying to convince him to get out of the military and move to Wolf Valley with me.

“S’kay. What’s up?” He asks through a yawn.

“Lilou is getting married.”

“Congrats, bro! When’s the big day?” He asks excitedly, sounding more awake.

He knows all about how I feel about Lilou. He has since the beginning.

“Not to me,” I grunt, and silence greets that statement.

“What? What do you mean not to you?”

“She’s getting married to someone else.”

“I thought you said she was single?”

“She is.”

“Maybe I’m still half asleep, because I’m not following.”

“She signed up for an arranged marriage.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” he says, and I nod. “What if her husband is a creep? Or abusive? Or?—”

“Not helping!” I snap.

“Shit, sorry. It’s just… that’s a terrible idea.”

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