Page 18 of Memories with Fire

CHAPTER 7

LUKE

Shuttingthe Jeep off when it comes to a stop next to Brody’s truck at the party’s location, I take in a deep breath and let it out, my head falling back to the headrest. Things with Hailey and the blind date went about as well as I expected them to.

I hate you.

The words ring in my ears, the icy storm in her green eyes seared into my mind. That was one thing I didn’t anticipate. Those words nailed me square in the chest and took my breath away. I didn’t expect her to be in love with me, but to hate me?

I almost said screw the party so I could go home and wallow with a bottle of jack from the cabinet. Heck, I had the Jeep turned in that direction. But Nate has been the one person who’s had my back the whole time, and despite Hailey’s feelings toward me, I was making progress with the rest of them. Not showing up might have dire consequences for that, so I turned the Jeep around.

Granted, I have no idea whether I’ll be able to stay at station nine permanently after this, or if it’ll be best to ask for a transfer to a different house.

There’s a crowd of people standing around the parking lot talking, some in little groups, some in bigger ones. I recognize this to be part of the plan. Nate, who owns the bar the party is taking place at, shut it down for the evening, and we’re to wait outside until he gives us the all clear that we can come in. From what I gathered, Savanna, Nate’s girlfriend, works in the office in the back of the bar and someone is keeping her there while we all pile in and get ready.

My coworkers are standing in their own little group, and I decide I’ll head over there, but before I get the car door open, I realize one integral person is absent.

Hailey is missing.

Son of a…

She should have been here by now.

If she doesn’t show up, and she tells them I’m the reason why, I’m back to square one with everyone. When she told me to have fun, I didn’t think it meant she wouldn’t show up. Just that she didn’t want me anywhere near her.

“It’s okay. Things are fine. Maybe she just needed a minute,” I mutter to myself, peering over at the group again. “You needed a minute. She’s going to show up any second.”

Getting out of my vehicle, I try to calm the pounding in my chest, slowly making my way over to the only group of people I know. As I walk over, shoving my hands in my pockets, I look up at the building in front of me.

It’s decent. Definitely the type of place I’d hit up back home. The outside reminds me of something from an old western. There’s a large porch out front that runs from one side of the building to the other, done completely in wood. Wooden beams from the ground up to the awning add to the western style, and also have my eyes moving to the big sign above.

10-42.

It makes me smile. 10-42 means ending tour of duty, and what better place to go at the end of the day than a bar where all your friends can hang out. Nate was smart as hell when he named his bar. I didn’t put the two together when he initially told me, but eyeing the place now, seeing my coworkers all standing around laughing and chatting, I get it.

“Well, well, well,” Quinn says when she spots me, opening the circle up for me to join them. “Someone certainly cleans up nice. Looking mighty dashing there, Reyes.”

The way Hailey looked at me earlier, I think she thought so too. Until she told me she hated me, at least.

And dang, did she ever look hot. That little black skirt with all the zippers and silver things attached to it. The shirt that plunged so low in the middle I could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra—at least not one I could see. It was sexy and revealing without being too much, and I had a hard time not staring.

Quinn, on the other hand, looks like a drowned rat in comparison. I’m sure she does it for plenty of men, and back in Texas, she may have been on my radar, but not today. Still, I peruse her as she did to me, giving her a once over. Black leather pants, and an oversized white sweater that shows off a large portion of her shoulder and collar bone. Plus the confidence to pull off just about anything, I think. She does ooze sex appeal.

“Back at you, Kelly,” I compliment with an appreciative smirk that is more second nature than how I’m actually feeling.

“Fuckin’ knock it off, both of you,” Liam grumbles from his spot across from me.

Quinn rolls her eyes at him, giving a dismissive wave. “Relax, Liam. I’ll still flirt with you too.”

Liam bristles. “Seriously, knock it off.”

Without warning, Quinn throws her arms around my midsection, pushing her warm body into mine. I’m a little caught off guard, so I feel awkward standing there with her hugging me like this, but it doesn’t seem to bother her at all.

“Why?” she asks in a sing-song voice, taunting Liam. “Does it make you jealous?”

“What’s going on?” A female voice comes from over my left shoulder.

I stiffen.

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