Page 18 of The Problem with Fire
No. No way was he serious.
Right?
Chapter 10
Sayer~
Was this really happening? Did I really have a date with Monroe Stewart?
Now, granted, she hadn’t actually said yes to the date, more to just letting me know she didn’t want to have any more kids, which was fine with me. Leta could just give a shitload of grandchildren one day, and I was fine with that. Plus, Gideon and Nathan were family oriented. They were sure to give me some nieces or nephews soon.
As long as I had Monroe, I didn’t need anything else. And there were millions of love songs that laid claim to that fact.
“Dude, you look like a kid on Christmas Eve,” Kellen said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I’d say you were glowing, but then, that would make me sound like a pussy, and no thanks.”
I’d just finished restocking one of the firetruck’s First Aid kits. “I finally did it,” I told him.
His blue eyes rounded. “You slept with your neighbor?”
Dick.
“No,” I snapped. “I asked her out. And don’t talk about her like that.”
He blinked at me. “Dude, relax,” he replied. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
I shook my head and let out a deep breath. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I’m just…wound a bit tightly when it comes to her.”
“Ya think?”
I grabbed the First Aid kit and secured it back inside one of the firetruck lockboxes. When I turned to look at him, he had a damn smirk on his face. “Cut me some slack, will ya?”
His smirk turned into a grin. “So, you asked her out, she said yes, and there’s a wedding planned for September? Next May?”
“Who’s getting married?” We both turned to see Jake Wilder coming around the back of the firetruck, a huge grin on his face.
“Hayes is,” Kellen lied. “Met the woman of his dreams, and the fat lady is singing.”
Jake turned his head to face behind him. “Hey! Hayes is getting married!” he yelled, and you could hear the thunder of boot-clad feet coming our way.
“I amnotgetting married!” I shouted towards the roof, but it was too late. We had two trucks with eight firefighters and the Chief, and while the Chief, Leonard Sparks, and Garret Lytle were in the office with Daria, going over the minors from our building inspection, Carl Shield, Lance Barrett, and Demarcus Houston weren’t busy enough that they were able to come over at Jake’s announcement. You’d think any one of us had duties to attend to.
“Marriage, huh?” Lance spoke first. “About time.”
While Chief was the oldest, Garret was the second oldest at thirty-nine, with Kellen next, then me. Leonard and Carl were both thirty, Lance was twenty-eight, Jake was twenty-six, and Demarcus was twenty-five. But we were a good crew regardless of the age gaps. Lance has also been with his wife since they were like twelve, or some shit, so he was a big fan of love and commitment.
“I’m not getting married,” I repeated.
“It’s the sexy building inspector from last week,” Kellen supplied, not caring about the lie.
“Kevin?” Carl asked, confused.
Kellen and Jake started laughing, while Demarcus grinned. “That hot little number who had been pacing by her car?”
Lance let out a low whistle. “No wonder she couldn’t do the inspection.”
“We’renotgetting married,” I said again, this time, a little more forcefully.
“Is that why Daria’s been in a snit lately?” Jake asked.
