Page 19 of The Problem with Fire
“Makes sense,” Demarcus added.
Like any workplace with close quarters, nothing was ever a secret. Between my sour mood and Daria’s pouting, it hadn’t been long before everyone had found out what had happened with Monroe. Especially, when another inspector had to complete our annual. We also couldn’t hide it from the Chief when Kevin had shown up, and he had demanded to know what had happened to Monroe. I guess she had been introduced to him when she had first arrived. Needless to say, he hadn’t been happy with the drama that had played out. And while I hadn’t told anyone about the exchanged, Daria had been quick to make sure every knew she had been the victim, and I had been the unreasonable one. I hadn’t bothered contradicting her version of the events because all the guys had known better.
“Daria is a nonfactor,” I quickly said. There was no way this was going to turn into some imagined love triangle.
“Never thought she was, Hayes,” Jake smirked. Jake and Carl were the two guys who’d slept with Daria, and it didn’t seem to bother them a bit that she was free with her affections. While Lance, Garret, Leonard, and Chief were happily married men, Demarcus was in a committed relationship with his college sweetheart, and Jake, Carl, Kellen, and I were the single ones. And no matter how good Daria was at her job, when I had heard that she had hit on Lance, knowing he was married and that he absolutely adored his wife, I’d lost all personal respect for her. That had been the beginning of me staying away from her.
“So, when’s the wedding?” Jake asked.
“I don’t-” I took a deep breath. “We have our first date next Sunday,” I told them, knowing they were not going to leave me alone until I gave them something.
“So, what do we know about her?” Demarcus asked.
“Well, we know she’s a county building inspector,” Kellen joked. “She’s also thirty-nine, has a teenage daughter, is Sayer’s neighbor, and had a dick of an ex-husband.”
I wanted to object to Kellen telling all of Monroe’s business, but I was brought up short by what he’d said about Thomas. “How do you know he’s a dick?”
“Only a dick would leave a woman who looks like that,” he retorted, and I punched him in his chest. “What? he laughed.
“An older woman,” Carl whistled. “Niiiiice.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s only a four-year difference,” I pointed out. “That’s not shit.”
“You sure?” Jake asked. “Women can be funny about shit like that.” I honestly didn’t know how to answer him. I really had no idea what Monroe’s views were on age differences. I was hoping my six-pack and big dick could erase any hang ups she might have about age.
Then Demarcus winced a bit. “What if it doesn’t work out, man? Are you going to have to move?”
I shot him a quick look. “That’s not going to happen,” I snapped.
His dark brows shot up. “I see.”
“What are we seeing?” Carl asked.
Demarcus smiled. “I think Hayes is in love,” he chuckled.
“He’sbeenin love,” Kellen snorted.
“We’re planning a wedding!” Jake yelled out like a war cry, but of course, we weren’t planning a wedding. There’s no way in hell I’d wish that disaster on any woman. And why waste time on a big wedding? I was sure Monroe’s already done all that. The second she says yes, we’re going to the courthouse and getting it done.
“Who’s getting married?” All our heads turned to see Chief Malone, Leonard, Garret, and Daria headed our way.
“I don’t really care,” Chief Shark Malone said, lying through his teeth. And, yes, that was his real first name, though we were not allowed to call him by it.
“Who’s getting married,” Leonard asked again.
“Hayes,” Kellen lied again. “He’s finally taking the plunge.”
“Yeah, and we get to plan it,” Jake announced like it were fact.
“You are not planning my wedding,” I told him, and it didn’t matter that this conversation was completely absurd. We haven’t even been out on a first date yet.
He looked genuinely crestfallen. “Awe, really?”
“Listen, Ladies,” Chief said, interrupting all the wedding talk, “you can plan Hayes’ wedding on your own time. Right now, you guys belong to me, and we need to go over the minors from the inspection.” We all straightened and got serious. Deep down, I knew Chief cared about my nonexistent wedding, but he was right, we needed to handle our shit.
When he was done giving us the rundown and assigning us our tasks, we all started to disperse to get back to our normal chores and the new ones we’d just been assigned.
I grabbed the box of supplies we used to replenish the First Aid kits and headed back towards the storage room. As I was placing the box back on the shelf, Daria’s voice hit my ears. “I guess congratulations are in order,” she said, and there was no mistaking the cattiness in her voice.
