Page 16 of Spark
Tyler raised his glass, shoving aside that pang in his chest for good.“Tell you what.If I ever fall in love with someone, you can give me an entire mountain range of shit.I won’t even fight you.”
“You really think it won’t happen, don’t you?”Ryan asked.
There were only a handful of things in life of which Tyler could be certain, but the fact that he would never, ever catch big feelings for another person?Enough of them to fall inlove?Was definitely one of them.
“I really do,” Tyler said.
And he clinked Ryan’s glass, downing half his beer to prove it.
5
Chloe caught sight of herself in the MINI Cooper’s rearview mirror and winced.She supposed she shouldn’t be shocked that she looked like she felt, i.e., that she had aged about thirty years in the past two days.She’d never been a grace under pressure sort of person to begin with, her emotions always too big and bright to contain.When she’d been stalked, her brain had bypassed fight, flight, and freeze in favor of good, old-fashioned freaking out.Once the Intelligence Unit had taken Myles Bishop down, she’d worked through her post-traumatic anxiety attacks with therapy and medication, along with the unending support of her parents, siblings, and friends.
Chloe could admit that things had been rough for a while, panic and fear threatening to swell up and swamp her at any given moment.But she had done the work.Faced her demons.Grown smarter and stronger with each passing day—and there had been two years’ worth of them.She still met with her therapist and took her meds, although less than she once had.After all, she wanted to keep hold of all the progress she’d made to heal.
Shehadhealed, though.She wasn’t that terrified young woman who needed to rely on everyone around her, sometimes at great cost, in order to survive.She was perfectly capable of handling whatever this new case with Esme would involve.
So, the fact that she’d felt those old feelings of anxiety creeping back when she’d first arrived at the Thirty-Third the other day, then again on the ride back to the fire house when she’d let herself consider all the ways this case could go pear-shaped?Yeah, that pissed her off.For God’s sake, she’d worked past all that.Myles was dead.It wasbehindher.
She pulled into a parking spot a block from Montgomery Park and forced herself to take a deep breath.Although this case could still very much go tits up, right now, it seemed to be progressing, albeit slowly.Thanks to Camila’s impeccable skills and Esme’s bravery in recounting what she’d seen, the Intelligence Unit had a good sketch of the guy Esme saw at the warehouse, as well as the knife he’d used to kill Sal Brinkman.They must havesomekind of a lead, otherwise Addison wouldn’t have called her to meet up now that Chloe’s shift at Sweetie Pies was over for the day.Esme was safe—Chloe had texted with her not even an hour ago, when the girl had gotten home from school.Granted, the whole exchange had consisted of Chloe’s “Just checking in.You okay?”and an impossible-to-decipher thumbs-up emoji in response.But no more what-ifs.She needed to take things one step at a time, and God damn it!
The only thing more frustrating than her unexpected jitters was that Tyler was as good at dispensing advice as he was kissing.She hadn’t evenmeantto air her feelings out to him the other day.But she’d been blindsided by the sudden double shot of bad memories and anxiety, and he’d been right there, already spun up on the case and everything.Plus, she hadn’t really been joking about the cyborg thing.Tyler was a walking, talking master of Zen, so easy to talk to, it bordered on the unfair.Before Chloe had known it, her feelings had dumped right out of her mouth.His no-nonsense response, all calm and glacier-cool, had been just what she wasn’t in the moment.
Unfortunately, it had also been just what she’dneeded.Tyler had been so strategic and steady, just like the time her father had gotten a little over-zealous with the grill last Fourth of July and caused a giant flare-up that had rapidly turned into a fire.Tyler hadn’t broken stride, or even a sweat, as he’d gone directly to her parents’ kitchen and grabbed the fire extinguisher, moving everyone to a safe distance and smothering the billowing, angry flames as Ryan had tended to a very shell-shocked and slightly crisped Lou.So, of course Chloe hadn’t hesitated to slide right back into her old pattern of conversation with Tyler the other day.And—of course—her chest had felt lighter with every passing joke, the tension in her muscles and mind melting away so she could think.Process.Breathe.
Which had come back to royally bite her on the ass as soon as she’d gottentoocomfortable, and God, she should have just kept her mouth shut.No, scratch that.She never should have thrown caution to the wind and kissed Tyler in the first place.He clearly had regrets at the fact that their mouths (and tongues…and chests…and—way to not go there.Really, girl, self-restraint is a thing) had touched.Which was fine.She didn’t need a fling with him, anyway.She could find someone else to dust off her cobwebs with.Not that she had yet, but she could.Shewould.Anyway, she had way bigger things to think about; namely, this case and whatever update Addison was finally about to give her.
“Okay.Time to focus.And not on being a horn goblin,” she whispered under her breath.With her resolve locked in like a laser sight, she scanned the city street through her car windows in a full three-sixty, even though she’d already done so when she’d pulled into the spot less than three minutes ago.Chloe knew from experience that bad things needed only seconds to spiral, and being aware of her surroundings was rule number one in personal safety, even if she was about to meet up with a police detective in a very public place in broad daylight.
Sliding out of the driver’s seat, she grabbed the two large canvas grocery bags she’d tucked into the backseat and started to walk toward the park.
Scan the area.Make eye contact with anyone near you.No earbuds, cell phones, or other distractions.Be aware of potential threats or obstacles.Always have an exit path.
Chloe let the routine soothe her as she made her way to the park’s entrance.She took in the tall trees, thick with leaves, lining the wide opening to a series of paved paths, grassy picnic areas, and several ball fields.A large stone fountain stood directly in the center of the park entrance, happily bubbling away, and Chloe spotted Addison at their usual meeting spot on the thick bench ringing the fountain.
“Hey,” Addison said, already standing by the time Chloe got to her.They hugged warmly, albeit a tiny bit awkwardly because of the bags Chloe still held and the service weapon at Addison’s hip, and Addison pulled back to look at her.
“I’m less than four weeks from my wedding and was involved in a literal car chase today.Please tell me there are brownies in one of those bags.”
Chloe laughed.Addison’s sweet tooth was the stuff of legends.In fact, if a brownie had been available at the time, Chloe would’ve been unshocked to learn that Addison had eaten oneduringthat car chase.
Which was why Chloe had made a dozen, specifically for her, in addition to the two dozen for the rest of her unit.The oatmeal raisin cookies, lemon bars, chocolate raspberry drops, and peanut butter fudge were just an added bonus.
“Of course there are brownies.I’m not a terrible best friend.”
“Don’t tell Ryan, but you’re my favorite Dempsey,” Addison said, grinning.It had never mattered that Chloe hadn’t technically changed her name when Lou and Carleen had adopted her.As far as the Dempseys were concerned, family was family.End of sentence.
“Sorry we couldn’t sit down for a meal like normal people.Work has obviously been pretty bananapants,” Addison said, her blond ponytail bouncing off the shoulder of her dark gray T-shirt as she gestured to one of the wooden benches that sat farther on the park’s periphery.
Chloe nodded, following her along the path, then settling beside her on the sun-warmed wood.They had a perfect view of the park, not to mention direct visibility of anyone who might venture into earshot.
“That’s okay,” Chloe said, trying to make her shrug nonchalant.“I figured you’ve been busy with the case.”
At Addison’sgimmemotion, Chloe handed over both bags, waiting while she located one of the boxes of brownies, then plucked one from the pile inside.“Hello, lover,” Addison purred, taking a bite, then closing her eyes in pleasure.“Ten out of ten.No notes.Honestly, the main ingredient hasgotto be pure fucking magic.”
A smile slipped over Chloe’s lips.“I hate to ruin the illusion, but they’re actually super easy to make.”Well, they were, now that she’d perfected the recipe, but that was beside the point.
Addison raised a brow as she finished chewing, but didn’t argue.“So, as much as I know you love me and my predilection for these delicious little nuggets of heaven”—she took another bite—“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you didn’t have two giant bags of pastries just lying around, in need of a good home.”
