Page 5 of Inevitable Love
When Cal got struck by a rogue limb, I realized I’ve been with James County Fire Rescue way longer than planned, definitely longer than I’d been anywhere else. It’s time for a change.
Plus, I owe it tohimto do what he’ll never get the chance to, what I robbed him of. I’ve been dicking around for too long. It’s time to do the right thing and finally go for the goal I originally started this career for.
And in the meantime, maybe my adventures with Maggie will be enough to tame the restlessness growing inside me.
I click submit on the application and hold my breath until the confirmation appears. Then I notice the time. In another five minutes, the ticketing system will allow me to make my online reservation for a zip-lining adventure. The trip has been on my radar for weeks, and it books up quickly.
To kill a few minutes, I check my email and find one from my sister. She’s all gaga about a multiclass high school reunion, based on the first line. I skim the message with mixed emotions. It makes sense they’d combine severalyears together since each graduating class was around fifty or so graduates.
I don’t want to think too hard about why my immediate response is no, nor who and what I might have to face from my past. But I may have to swallow my pride and actually do this because things between my little sister and me are finally back in a good place after a failed relationship with one of her friends nearly destroyed us. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize what we’ve worked so hard to restore.
I’m a fly-by-night kind of guy. But Alice is like our older brother, strategic and driven, and if it’s on her radar to be the event coordinator for the reunion, then that’s what’s going to happen. And if I’m right about that, it means I’ll be going to the reunion to support her. Letting her down again isn’t an option.
I close my email and go back to the adventure site because it’s more fun to think about. I tap out a quick message to the one person who will answer at this ungodly hour.
And then I wait.
Chapter Two
Maggie
My watch buzzes with an incoming message as I pull the last of the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and place them on the counter to prep for icing. It’s four in the morning, and without looking, I know who’s texting me.
I twist my wrist to activate the screen’s preview window.
Jax: So? Zip-lining?
With a frustrated sigh, I fling the oven mitts to the counter, then snag my phone from my back pocket. He’s been pestering me for weeks to sign up, and knowing him like I do, he’s not going to give up. Obstinate man.
Maggie: Stubborn much? I don’t know if I can.
It’ll take him three seconds. Three… two… one.
My phone rings.
“What’s to know?” he demands. “You’re in, or you’rechickenshit.”
“Well, good morning to you too. Why are you up at four in the morning, thinking about zip-lining?”
“Because I just got back from a call and am still hyped up. Come on, Maggie, I think this trip will be hella fun, and I have limited times I can go, so I want to get it booked before the best days sell out.”
He’s got a point. We missed this trip last fall because he couldn’t get tickets on a day we were both off work. Between his rotating schedule at the fire department and my bakery schedule, our availability boils down to only a few days a month that we’re both off at the same time. And as usual, he’s packing those days with his “adventures.”
“It sounds like fun, but…” I can just imagine wearing a stupid leg harness and my thick thighs bulging over the top, not to mention how it’ll basically make a shelf of my ass.
It’s taken years to come to terms with this body and to love it despite not being what society deems perfect. I’m normally all for any adventure he throws my way, but for whatever fucked-up reason, the idea of zip-lining has always been a no-go, and not because of the actual activity. But because of the gear required.
“No buts. What’s your main concern?”
Like usual, he’s going to try to shoot holes in my fears. It’s frustrating how often he manages to sweet-talk me into doing his harebrained ideas, but we always have a good time, and so far, there’ve been no real injuries or regrets.
“It’s just not safe.” There’s no way in hell I’m telling him I’m concerned about the weight limit and whether I will be over the capacity. Or whether they’ll have a harness big enough to fit me.
“It absolutely is safe.” His tone is one of strained patience. Probably because we’ve also had this discussion before.
“It’s literally riding a wire from one place to another. Over open air. What happens if the wire pulls out of the anchor, or the wire-thingy fails or gets stuck over some hundred-foot ravine.”
Jackson has the undeniable need to experience life at race car speeds, filled with enough adrenaline to fuel an entire city. And for some fool reason, I’m on board with most of his plans.
