Page 13 of Where There's Smoke
Jeez, what was I saying?
“Come on.”
Elliot started off, and with little other choice, I followed him. He led me toward a set of doors on the right of a long hallway. The first door was open, and as we passed, I could see inside. It was clearly the guy’s office, paperwork and stuff strewn about his large desk. After that was a bedroom that was sparsely decorated but obviously used.
“You sleep in here. Bathroom is that door to the left of the bed.”
Looking around the space, I could tell that this wasn't some guest room. I mean, we were in a fire station, not someone’s home.
“I’m sorry. Is this your?—”
“It usually is, yeah. But you’ll be using it for now.”
Discomfort rumbled through me, and even the puppy picked up on it, whimpering quietly. I was supposed to sleep in this guy’s bed? Was he nuts? Where was the dog going to sleep? Elliot didn’t have a kennel. Was she supposed to sleep in here with me?
“Umm, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I have this dog with me, and you don’t know me. Is there somewhere else that?—”
“You could sleep with the stinky firefighters upstairs. Sound more appealing?”
His snark was going to get him a swift kick in the ass at this rate. I sighed, dropping my head. If the puppy peed in his bed, that was on him.
“Fine. I guess that means it’s time for bed.” I put on a fake smile, gesturing toward the door. “Night, bossy.”
“Fine. There’re signs that point to the kitchen, it’s hard to miss. I assume you're going to need to feed that little monster,” he said, nodding to the puppy.
“Ah, yeah. That would be useful. I need warm water for the bottle…”
“Use the kitchen whenever you want. Just try not to be much of a disturbance,” he grumbled.
I grinned. “You’ll hardly notice me, grumpy. Now go away so I can sleep.”
His eyes narrowed, but Elliot didn’t say anything. He just turned on his heel and left. I stood there with a dog in my arms for far too long. I was sleeping in a fire station because my rescue had burned down.
How was this my life?
Chapter 7
Melody
As much as I had wanted to hide in the bedroom all night, I had to make several journeys to the kitchen to warm up water for the puppy's bottle. It had been almost five in the morning when Elliott had dragged me to the fire station, so the place was pretty quiet the first time I ventured out to make a bottle. This was precisely why I knew staying at a regular shelter wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t like there was a big kitchen to use, and I’d annoy everyone with the constant trips.
I wasn't going to let something as simple as embarrassment stop me from feeding the little monster every two hours, though.
I’d finally gotten back to sleep when another fire alarm went off. It was terrifying to hear it in here, so damn loud and paired with flashing lights. It ended quickly enough, and everyone in the station was forced from their rest into the streets to put out another fire.
Irritation gnawed at me, and of course, it’d woken the puppy too. I soothed her, getting a fresh bottle and taking it to Elliot’s bed to feed her. Everything felt weird and off; my skin was itchy and dry, probably from the fire, and my stomach was queasy.Which, considering my entire life had been turned upside down, made sense.
After the puppy calmed down, I lay down in the bed, trying to fall back asleep, despite everything. There was a faintly warm smell to the sheets—Elliot’s scent, no doubt—but I couldn’t make it out, really. Something about it still cut through the smoke trapped in my nostrils, though, and I was able to fall back asleep until I couldn’t ignore the midday sun streaming in from the gaps in the curtains.
I still felt off, and if I was honest with myself, I was feeling pretty darn pissy about it. I’d lost my building, my home, and now I was feeling icky? Seriously? What kind of bad karma had I drummed up?
It was past noon, and I hadn't seen any of the other firefighters yet. After the alarm had rung out, I had heard several of them clattering around, so I assumed they were out on a fire.
“Knock, knock!” a sweet woman’s voice called out, and a familiar face poked her head around the doorframe.
“Sunny!” I said, standing and greeting her with a warm hug. “You have no idea how nice it is to see a familiar face!”
She looked stunning, just as she had the day I met her at the shelter. She was the omega who was bonded with the alphas from Station Sixteen. She was wearing a long, pink floral dress, her blonde waves thrown up in an effortless bun with wispy bits falling out.
