Page 39 of Memories with Fire

This is the closest I’ve been to him since the gym and puppy situation. There might be layers of clothes between my hands and his chest, but it still feels really good. Good enough that I lean in closer to him. I haven’t appreciated how he feels the last few times I’ve been in his arms. I couldn’t think about it during Tree Toppers because of the emotions surging through me, and I refused to think about it in the gym. As much as possible, anyway.

But right now, after feeling the effects of the wind and rain outside, pressing into him feels so good.

God, he’s all muscle and strength. Tall and lean, it helped make him a good running back when he played football. Though, back then he hadn’t filled out like he has now. Something I’ve visually seen, but to feel it beneath my hands, against my body, that’s a whole different experience than witnessing it.I’d been too drunk and angry the night of the engagement party, and too terrified at Tree Toppers to fully enjoy it. But now…

“Hailey?” he questions.

“Mmhm?” I murmur, raising an eyebrow, though I don’t take my eyes off his chest, or the way my fingers slide up and down it, digging in here and there just to see how solid it actually is.

He clears his throat. “You’re getting me wet.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” I reply without thought. I realize half a second too late what just came out of my mouth, my eyes widening in mortification as my cheeks erupt in crimson. It prompts me to take a giant step backwards, making Luke’s hands drop to his sides while he smirks at me. “Oh my god, I didn’t mean to say that. I must be channeling Quinn or Liam. I don’t say things like that.”

“When you’re ready, it can be your line,” Luke says casually but I can see a hint of mischief in his eyes.

I frown, not understanding. “What does that mean?”

He just shrugs then gives my soaked hoodie and yoga pants a once over and changes the subject. “What possessed you to go outside in this and come back in?”

I slap my hand to my forehead. Shit. Right. “My keys. They’re not in my bag.”

Now Luke frowns. “You don’t know where they are?”

I shake my head and turn in the direction of the locker rooms. “No.”

“Where did you last have them?” he asks. I can feel him following behind me.

“Well, I know I had them this morning.”

Luke waits for me outside the locker room. When I come out empty handed, his eyebrows knit together, but he nods, and the two of us begin the search. We start in the meeting room, work our way through the kitchen and rec area, and we’re on our way to the engine bay when Luke stops and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Didn’t you say you got distracted before you left?” he questions.

Gasping, I nod excitedly. “Yes! Oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t think about that. Nate’s office.”

We head in that direction, getting there just as Nate is closing the door. I call out, “Nate, wait!”

He stops what he’s doing to look up at us. “What’s up?”

“I think my keys might be in there,” I say, nodding to his office.

Without another word, he pushes his door open so I can go in. Sure enough, they’re sitting on the edge of his desk behind a stack of papers. He never would have seen them from where he sits. Now that I’m looking at them, I remember pulling them out, but when I leaned over to look at something on his laptop, I set them down and must have forgotten them there.

“Success!” I say, holding them up as I turn from the desk.

“Great. Now we all get to go home and get some sleep. I’m frickin’ beat,” Luke says, rubbing a tired eye.

It was a rough shift. With all the rain and wind, it was a busy day. More car accidents, flooding in the streets, a few downed power lines, and people just being more irritable because of the weather. There wasn’t much downtime between calls, and it definitely took a toll on all of us.

“Easy for you to say,” I tell him, moving out of Nate’s office. We both wait until he’s locked up so the three of us can walk out together. “I still have a half hour drive up to Bear Creek in this weather, as long as the road isn’t blocked.”

“Going to your mom’s?” he asks casually, but I can tell he’s fishing for more information.

I grin at him knowingly. “No. It’s where I live. You know how much I love it up there. I couldn’t bear leaving the mountains for all this concrete. I did it while I went to school and that was long enough.”

“Glad to see the two of you worked out whatever was going on when Luke first started,” Nate pipes in.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Luke says, glancing over at me with a smile. “I think we’re friends now. Right, Hails?”

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