Page 10 of Caden

“When you’re done wasting your time on your little firefighter and your stupid little landscaping business,” Anthony says, pulling a card of his wallet. “Call me.”

I rip the card in half and toss it on the floor. “Go to hell, Anthony.”

“You’ll regret this,” he growls, his voice low.

“Pal, it’s time for you to leave before I have the police chief escort your ass out,” Jax says.

Anthony’s gaze narrows, but he seems smart enough to keep his mouth shut as he stalks out the front door.

“You good?” Jax asks.

“Yeah.” But I only mean it about my ex. I steal a glance at Caden in his booth, knowing I owe him an explanation but too afraid to get near him in case I do something stupid like crawl into his lap and make out with him in front of the whole town.

So, I chicken out.

I slip away to the restroom to hide for a few minutes. Then, I send Caden a text, letting him know I’m headed home to check on Gram, and sneak out the back door.

6

CADEN

A fucking text.

I should have seen that coming.

I take my burger to go, but I don’t head home. Instead, I drive around looking for that asshole from the bar so I don’t think about that goddamn kiss. Guys like him don’t usually just leave town with their tail tucked between their legs. No, they have to fucking learn their lessons the hard way.

I consider texting Marshall, but whatever top secret thing he’s up to this weekend doesn’t seem worth disturbing him over some drunk, spineless ex of Ruby’s that I can handle on my own. I’m also not ready to explain the scene in the bar that half the town no doubt knows about by now.

Twenty minutes of driving around town later, I give up my search and hope like hell the bastard is passed out in a motel somewhere. After passing Ruby’s house and feeling confident nothing foul is at play, I head home.

I’m exhausted. But hell ifIcan sleep.

There’s a reason I’ve kept my distance from that woman—both physically and emotionally. Since the day Marshall first introduced us, I’ve felt the magnetic pull to her. At first, I wrote it off as simple lust. It’d been a while since I’d been with a woman. And meeting Ruby, in her damn Daisy Dukes and tight top that showcased her bountiful tits in the most flattering way, had me aching to touch her. To explore her body one delicious inch at a time.

In any other set of circumstances, I’d have gone in for the kill. Laid on the charm and seduced the hell out of a beautiful woman just so I could have the pleasure of ruining her for all other men for a night or a few.

But Marshall saved my life.

If he hadn’t tackled me to the ground, taking a bullet to his shoulder in the process, I’d be dead.

The shittiest way to repay that debt would be sleeping with his sister just to satisfy some lustful urge.

Except, as time has gone on, I’ve realized that one night of hot, steamy sex would never be enough to sate me. With the way she looks at me, desire dancing in those emerald eyes even when she’s fucking pissed at me, I suspect once would never be enough for her either.

I’m just about to resign myself to a cold shower when my phone alerts me to a fire call.

I roll out of bed, get dressed, and hurry my ass down to the fire station.

“What’s the call?” I ask Chief Knox as I pull on my jacket and survey the crew we have at the ready: Knox, Declan, Micah, and the newest member of the volunteer fire department Axel. Will five of us be enough? It’s hell keeping most of those questions to myself when I’m used to being the squad leader and taking charge.

“Garden fire,” Knox calls over his shoulder as he heads for the driver’s seat of the fire engine.

“Garden fire?” I repeat to myself as I climb into the back seat. I wonder briefly if the garden space next to the gym caught fire. But with all the water Ruby’s been dousing it with these past few days, I doubt even the wooden planks of that rickety fence are dry enough to catch fire.

The whole thing seems fucking odd for a Friday night. Until we pull up in front of Ruby’s house.

My heart plummets into my toes. It’s hard to focus. Hard to fucking breathe.

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