Page 95 of Jump

I pat his ears, and laugh when he licks me from chin to forehead. “You’re my hero, Rocky.” I’m careful not to touch his stitches, but when he drops to his back and opens his belly for my viewing pleasure, I scratch his tummy and swallow down the emotion sitting heavy in my throat. “You saved my life.”

“Sometimes that’s how it goes,” Beckett smiles. His clinic phones ring and other animals clamor to be heard above the noise Rocky makes, but Beck ignores it all and watches us. “Sometimes a man trains his dog for years in hopes to be taken care of in his time of need. And sometimes, we have a special dog like Rocky, who simply knows… protect the lady at all costs.”

“Not all costs, silly.” I bury my face in the German Shepherd’s fur and sniffle. “You don’t kill yourself to save another. That’s not how it’s supposed to work, buddy.”

“It does for some,” Beckett retorts. “Heroes just… hero. They don’t think about the consequences. They don’t care what happens next, so long as the one they want to protect is okay.”

He snickers, so I lift my face and glance over my shoulder as he amends, “I went to veterinary school, so the hero thing doesn’t apply to me.”

“You’re a hero to the animals you save,” Hannah argues. “It’s valid.”

“Yeah, well…” he shrugs. “There’s me, saving animals, but then there are my brothers, who get the tag for real. Nix will walk toward fire without hesitation if it means saving someone. Corey will take a bullet for anyone. Troy… Has taken a bullet. Several. And Mitch is saving lives every day, and often putting himself in danger to get it done. It’s what they do, and they don’t give it a second thought, even when faced with their own mortality.”

“Which isn’t a rosy thought,” I mumble, thinking of another hero, a different firefighter, “when you’re the woman who loves them.”

Beckett’s chest lifts in an almost silent laugh. “It takes someone special, that’s for sure. The worthy step up, and the weak fall away.”

“Oh good!” Hannah throws her hands up in frustration. “Just egg her on, why don’t you? Challenge her to love harder, even when he forgets her birthday and can’t return her feelings.”

Confused, Beckett raises a questioning brow at me. “What did I miss? Who are you in love with?”

“Rocky,” I reply, before Hannah can air my private business to a man I know on a professional level. “I’m in love with this dog.” I glance back down at him and cop a full-face lick in payment. “When’s he being discharged, Doc?”

“Oh, well…” He pushes away from the wall and snags a folder from the shelf nearby. “He gets to escape today, actually. But I was gonna talk to you about arrangements, since he’ll need somewhere dry and warm to rest. I love your facility and all, but a cage there won’t cut it for the next week or two.”

“No cage,” I promise. Scratching behind Rocky’s ears, I pull him closer, in a hug. “He gets steak and a real bed. I’m putting my name on the adoption papers.”

“This is a new development,” Hannah challenges. “You’ve never adopted one of your own before, Viv. The apartment isn’t big enough for a dog.”

“If my apartment is big enough for two grown adults, then it’s definitely big enough for a life-saving dog. Besides, he can have half of my bed.” I press a kiss to the side of his sweet nose, and snicker when his back leg vibrates with happiness. “Do you wanna come home with me, Rocky? I’d love to share my birthday with you.”

Ruiz

FOR HER OWN GOOD

“It’s not personal.” I sit in Nix’s visitor chair, my leg crossed over the other, and try not to feel guilty when Ivy’s stare burns the side of my face. I study Nix, my chief, rather than the firefighter whose career I’m… hurting.

Not destroying. But hurting? Definitely.

“I need a crew who will listen every single time an order is given.”

“I listen!” Ivy barks out at my side. “I just don’t subscribe to misogyny. When you order Feeney to operate the aerial every single time, then I might consider things fair. When you have Sloane on the pump every single time, instead of the hose, then I’ll listen. But that’s not how you do things, Lieutenant. You target me, and I’m saying no. I don’t accept it.”

“Which brings us back to me needing a crew who will listen.”

“And I need a lieutenant who can lead fairly!” she snarls. “This is my firehouse! My home. And you are my lieutenant. I listen. Just give me a friggin’ chance to be one of the guys.”

“But you’re n—”

“Don’t even say it,” she growls. “I consistently bench more than Feeney.”

“Ivy—”

“I outrun Sloane, even on his best day and my worst. I am faster, stronger, and just as capable as any man in your company, but you insist on sidelining me!”

“Exactly!” I snap and finally turn to face her. “You deserve better. So why aren’t you bolting out of here with both middle fingers saluting the sky? Why aren’t you telling me to go fuck myself, and finding yourself a house that treats you right?”

“Because you’re trying to protect me.” She softens her tone. “Because you lost someone already. And instead of risking going through that a second time, you’re trying to send me away.”

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