Page 20 of Burning for Alexander
I grabbed the bar of soap and began to scrub myself, hissing as the soap found little cuts and scrapes I hadn’t noticed acquiringduring the day. My burn scars covered unpredictable nerve endings that never seemed to be able to decide when they wanted to send numb signals or sensory signals.
“What happened to you?” he asked, sounding more serious, as if unable to keep up the provoking banter. “You kinda looked like shit when you arrived.”
“I’m fine,” I grunted.
I drank down as much water from the showerhead as I could, desperate to rehydrate and regulate my body temperature. Fire-damaged skin had sweat issues, which meant I was more sensitive to overheating than most people. I’d borne these scars for most of my life, so I knew how to manage them, but the heat sensitivity had made my life hell when I first got overseas, and I’d had one too many close calls with heat exhaustion in Philly when I was back stateside.
It was one of the many reasons I’d decided to move to Montana.
“Judd?”
I’d never heard my name in his voice before. Didn’t even know he knew or remembered it, to be honest.
“Yeah?”
“Was it a fire?” He sounded unsteady and surprised, as if just now realizing I might have been responding to an actual fire.
“No. Not a fire.”
“Then what happened?”
I finished rinsing off and cracked open the door to reach for a towel. Alex’s hand bumped into mine as he handed the towel to me. I pulled the towel back inside the shower stall and began to dry off. “Wildfire drills up at SERA,” I explained, finally wrapping the towel around my waist and opening the door.
Alex’s cheeks were still adorably pink, and his hair was messy like he’d run his fingers through it. His eyes were wide withconcern, and I got the feeling he was trying hard to keep from sneaking a peek at my body. For some reason, that disappointed me. I wouldn’t have minded seeing his interest confirmed. I’d thought the pink cheeks were a sign, but maybe not.
“W-were you—I mean, was my cousin Tommy hurt?” he stammered, eyes flicking to the floor.
I could tell from the janky way his eyes were moving and the deepening red of his cheeks that he was asking about his cousin to cover up his discomfort about asking after me. Or maybe my body being on display was making him act funny.
Either way, it was goddamned adorable. And wholly unexpected from the sassy restaurant owner.
“Your cousin’s fine. He’s a great instructor. The students love him.”
He nodded. “Good. But, um…” His eyes flicked up, landed on my chest, moved to my groin and down to my legs before moving back up to my face and flicking to the ground again. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to spend much time noticing the burn scars on my arm or have the right angle to see the ones on the back of my thigh. “Were you hurt?”
I frowned and stepped closer to reach for his chin, raising it up so he was forced to meet my eyes. “I’m okay. I promise,” I said softly. “No one was hurt.”
His eyelids opened and closed rapidly, and his chest rose and lowered with shallow breaths. The familiar scent of wood-fired pizza and summer sun radiated into my personal space as he gathered his thoughts. “Good, that’s good. Um, so, yeah. I, uh. Okay.”
And then he stepped out of my bathroom and took off like a rubber band snapped across a classroom.
“What the hell just happened?” I muttered, staring after him and wondering why he hadn’t stayed to ask me to reconsider the permit.
My dick tented the towel as I remembered the feel of the slight stubble on his chin, the larger-than-normal pupils eclipsing his irises as he blinked up at me, and the fullness of his lower lip as he scraped his teeth over it.
Alex Marian had a swooping divot over the inside of his left eyebrow that deepened when he was confused or unsure. Or angry. I hadn’t remembered that from Amsterdam, or maybe it had been too dark in the hotel bar to notice.
I had the feeling that tonight, insecurity had deepened it, and I’d wanted to smooth it over with my thumb while reassuring him everything was okay.
Why had he been so worried about a standard firefighting field drill?
I blew out a breath and moved across my office to close the door he’d left ajar. Then I made my way to the tall filing cabinet and pulled out my spare clothes from the top drawer. Once dressed, I gave up on the idea of getting any more work done and headed out.
“G’night, Chief,” Cody called over his shoulder from the kitchen sink as I passed him on my way out.
“‘Night.”
Instead of heading back to my rental house and the too-peaceful quiet of the surrounding trees, I headed to a local burger place called Frank’s. The small place was fairly full with tourists spilling out onto the deck at the back. I stepped up to the counter and ordered a BLT burger with cheese, onion rings, and a beer before finding a spot at a long table filled with people.
