Page 88 of Keep Me Safe

“Do you want me to see if I can figure it out?” I offer, knowing damn well I can’t. Computers and I are not friends.

“Tech help from an old man? No, thank you,” she says with a laugh, closing her laptop in defeat. “I’ll figure it out later.” She stands to bring her now empty plate to the sink. The dish clinks as it makes contact with the others, and then I’m behind her, pinning her to the counter. Her breathing picks up as my hand grips the base of her jaw. I force her to look up at me.

“Old man, huh?” I taunt.

She struggles to nod under my grip, mischief written all over her face.

The attitude on this girl.

I loosen my hold, spinning her so she’s facing me. I close in, our faces inches apart.

“You’re lucky I have to go to work,” I growl.

Her lips part as she looks up at me, her warm eyes filled with lust. She wants the punishment. Well, she’s going to have to wait. I press a soft kiss to her lips, drop my hand from her face, and grab my to-go mug.

She whimpers in response, pouting in my direction. I avert my gaze, not sure I can say no to her if she begs me to stay home.

“Maddie’s coming over tonight, right?” I ask. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone.”’

I’ve been trying to ignore Zach’s presence in this town, but I don’t trust him to stay away from her, and she is vulnerable staying home alone.

She groans in response. “Don’t worry, my babysitter will be here at six. She has classes today.”

I chuckle, and Kira rolls her eyes. I don’t care if it annoys her. I’m going to make sure I do everything in my power to keep her safe.

The temperature has cooled off by the time I get to the station, a sign of autumn creeping in. I take a deep breath, thankful for the change in weather. I love summer, but I’m ready not to be sweating all day.

Following my usual routine, I first prep dinner for everyone while Dave talks my ear off about his family vacation coming up next month. He’s taking his husband and kids to Florida for a week. I get it, though; it’s exciting. I would give anything for a vacation right about now.

“Elijah is going to love the resort. They have a spa and a hot tub. Hopefully, we can get some alone time,” he says, his blue eyes lighting up. I laugh.

“I’m happy for you guys. You deserve it,” I tell him for probably the fourth time. I mean it, though. Dave is a fantastic person and deserves to treat himself once in a while.

I’m heading out to do some routine maintenance on one of the trucks when a call comes in.

Dispatch to station 4. A large fire was spotted in a three-storyresidential building downtown at the college. The address is 5655 Lakeview. All personnel requested.

The dorms?

Fuck, that’s not good. Instead of going left to the trucks, I take a sharp right to the lockers. My brain switches into autopilot, pulling on and fastening my fire suit. In seconds, Dave is beside me, racing to get his gear on alongside the rest of the crew. We’re not a big station, so we only have four guys on duty. If Traverse City is calling us in, it must be bad.

We all hop into the truck, me in the driver’s seat. I glance at the time on the wall before we pull out. It’s six-fifteen. Maddie should already be at the house.

The girlsshouldbe safe. I hold onto that thought because I don’t have time to dwell on what could happen. These people are relying on us to help them. Flipping on the sirens, I speed out of the garage.

chapter twenty-seven

kira

Maddie pulls in at five-fifty with a grocery bag full of ingredients for sundaes. She hands me a carton of vanilla bean ice cream, and I hug it to my chest. It’s basic, but it’s my favorite. We’ve only been friends for a few months, but she already knows me almost as well as Jared does. I wince. I’ve been trying to contact him, but he’s ignoring me. I brush it off.

Maddie sets her blue moon ice cream on the counter and proceeds to haul out various candies, syrups, and sprinkles. It looks like she robbed Willy Wonka’s factory to get this much stuff.

“Do you have—” I start to ask as she wordlessly sets a can of whipped cream next to the other accouterments.

“What’s the occasion?” I ask, mildly concerned. Something is off. She isn’t her usual self.

“Trust me, we need it,” she says, her voice tired. I examine her appearance. There’s a slight slouch in her posture and a puffiness around her eyes.

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