Heroes of Port Dale: The Complete Series

Elias

ELIAS

Lightning flashed against the coal-black sky, illuminating the rain-drenched street. instinctively ticked down the seconds before the crash of thunder followed. His mother had always told him that every second between lightning and thunder meant a mile between him and the impact. He wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but he’d been in the habit of counting for well over twenty years.

That bolt had struck five miles away.

Gripping the wheel tighter, Davis leaned forward, squinting out of the truck’s huge windshield.

“Oof, this storm don’t look like it’s letting up anytime soon,” Davis muttered.

shrugged. “Makes our job easier.”

“I still say it would have gone out without us,” Davis added.

only shrugged again, not willing to argue. The fire had, thankfully, been easily put out. The storm had been waning and waxing for the past day and had drenched the entire city. Fortunately, that meant they’d only needed to contend with the pizzeria rather than worrying about the fire spreading to nearby stores and restaurants that made up the business district of Port Dale.

That didn’t mean it would have gone out on its own. It had engulfed the small building by the time and the rest of their team had shown up. And even if the buildings surrounding it were soaked and resistant to the flames, knew it wouldn’t have necessarily stayed that way.

Davis glanced over at him. “You’re quieter than usual.”

grunted. “Pay attention to the road. Last thing we need is to crash into someone and make today even longer.”

He had hoped his double shift wouldn’t lead to any trouble. He should have known better. Just as he was about to hit the twenty-four-hour mark, the station alarm had gone off, and he’d been thrown into action. By the time they got back and worked their way through the report and cleanup procedure, he would have been on shift for nearly thirty-six hours. The call of his bed was a siren’s song, and his sore, dirty body ached to crawl between the sheets and pass out for as long as he could.

“I’m not going to crash,” Davis protested.

“You will if you keep worrying about me instead of the road.”

“Grumpy ass.”

“I’m tired, man. Let me be.”

Davis grunted but didn’t follow up. Everyone in the station had had their fair share of long shifts in the past, and everyone dealt with it differently. Some of them, Davis being one of them, became downright foul when they hit a certain threshold of tiredness. typically wanted to be left alone. But the obscuring rain made him more tense than the fight with the pizzeria fire. All he wanted was to get back to the station in one piece so he could trudge through the rest of his shift.

Davis had come good on his promise, though, and got them back without incident. Gunning the fire truck into the station, Davis stopped just short of the bright yellow line painted on the floor, signifying the parking bay. ignored Davis’s wicked grin, knowing full well the man was just being smug because he was the most skilled at handling the truck while was, at best, passable. It was a source of humor for the rest of the crew. was the tallest and broadest of the men at the station and should theoretically be practiced at navigating something big into small spaces.

Davis chuckled as they hopped out of the truck, going around the front to meet . “Why don’t you go get cleaned up?”

glanced at the truck, frowning. “Truck clean up first.”

“I think I can manage it. I actually got some sleep before I came in. Just go soak in the showers for half an hour, then we can get the report out of the way.”

It was tempting. Enough that wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. It didn’t matter how small a fire was, fighting them always left him drained. With his sleep deprivation, wondered if he would even make it out of the shower before collapsing on the floor and napping under the warm spray instead.

“Alright, just don’t break anything,” muttered as he walked off.

With a hefty yawn, trudged through the garage into the station's living quarters. As he walked the length of the hallway, he listened to the sounds of a muffled conversation coming from the chief’s office. Recognizing the man’s tone as all business, figured he’d have at least the half-hour promised by Davis before he had to deal with the chief. The next door on his right led to the kitchen, where what smelled like chili wafted out. glanced in, spotting Keith by the stove, humming to himself merrily as he stirred the steaming pot in front of him. raised a hand in greeting as their eyes met but continued on his way.

At the end of the hall were two doors, one on each side. To the right was the common area, where the men on shift could relax and laze about playing games or watching TV. Or, if they wanted, they could go through the door at the back of the room and collapse on one of the bunk beds set along the walls.

However, took the left-hand door, which opened into the small locker room. Rubbing his face, he stumbled to his locker and popped it open. Undressing, he threw his dirty clothes into the bin for whoever was on laundry duty to take care of. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced over, wincing when he realized it was his reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall.

His face was still smeared with soot and dirt, and somehow, it had managed to get onto his arms, legs, and hands. His bronzed skin, inherited from his father, shone from the residual sweat of being stuffed into layers of protective clothing and battling a fire. Leaning toward the mirror, he pulled at the lower lids of his eyes, looking at the red rims below the blue irises and massaged the dark circles beneath them. He looked like hell, but thankfully, it was nothing a good wash and a long rest wouldn’t solve.

Grunting, he snatched up his toiletry bag, closed his locker, and padded through the open doorway to the shower room. Privacy wasn’t exactly a demand in the firehouse, and whoever had designed the shower room had apparently known that. There were no individual stalls, just lines of showerheads along three walls and a drain in the middle. Not that cared. His high school days of football in the autumn, wrestling in the winter, and baseball in the spring had left him not only with frequent exposure to the naked male body but exposing his own as well.

A groan escaped him as he stepped beneath a rush of warm water from one of the showerheads. It wasn’t as good as sleeping, but it came a solid second, in his opinion. The tension in his broad shoulders eased as the water beat down. Silently, thanked whoever had designed the showers and made sure the water pressure was high enough to beat the living hell out of sore muscles.

“Bad one?”

The sudden presence of a voice made jump, and he winced as he smacked his head against one of the showerheads. The place must have been designed for people six feet and under because the showerheads always posed a threat to him. Wincing, he rubbed his head, then wiped the water out of his face as he turned to see who the hell had snuck up on him.

grunted. “Evening, Matt. I really wish you’d let us put a bell on you.”

The sandy-haired man grinned. “Sorry, big guy, wasn’t trying to scare you.”

“No, you’re just really good at it.”

“It’s a gift.”

watched as Matt made his way to his own showerhead, several feet from . It wasn’t often Matt bathed with the others in the station. Not because of any modesty on his part, Matt simply had the honor of being the only gay man working at station 231. A few of the men weren’t comfortable with it, though most had the decency to keep it to themselves. Matt wasn’t stupid, though, and generally tried to save himself and others the trouble and chose to bathe alone or only when certain people were around.

just happened to be one of those people. His best friend, Cade, liked to tease that Matt had a thing for seeing naked. Apparently, Matt’s boyfriend, whose name had yet to learn, resembled . The thing was, really didn’t give a shit if Matt was gay or liked looking at his naked body. He also suspected Matt’s comfort with him had more to do with the lack of fucks gave than with any physical attraction.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Matt asked, a smirk on his face.

rolled his eyes, turning back to his shower. The firefighters of Station 231 thought it was the pinnacle of wit to refer to and Cade as boyfriends. Everyone was well aware they were both straight, especially with Cade’s womanizing habits. Yet, because the two of them were close, everyone, Matt included, took turns making jokes.

“Where’s yours ?” asked.

“Eh, out of town. Visiting his mom for her birthday.”

“Nice of him.”

“She’s all he’s got, well, and his sister. They’re pretty close.”

Once upon a time, he might have said the same about his family. After his father died in an accident when was ten, his mother and three siblings had grown even closer. They were still close, and being on the other side of the country didn’t change that. Still, being so far away meant it was all too easy to get caught up in his life and forget to call. His mother, thankfully, was far more diligent and called him at least once a week.

“But seriously, where is Cade? Don’t you two normally work the same shift?” Matt asked.

They did, though not because of any choice by or Cade. The chief had decided the two of them were better working together than separately. had a sneaking suspicion that was because the chief honestly believed had a restraining effect on Cade. His best friend was as energetic and outgoing as was reserved and measured. However, had yet to have any success getting Cade to do anything. He was content to allow the whirlwind that was his friend to blow through an area and watch the chaos.

“He’s at home as far as I know,” told him.

Okay, he happened to know Cade was crashed on his couch, binge-watching some show on Netflix. Cade had been texting him all day with a long commentary about the show. still had no idea what the show was about, as most of Cade’s comments were random things the characters had said, the bad CGI, and a few comments about something stupid someone was wearing. When it came to Cade, you got a lot of information, but that didn’t guarantee it would be helpful.

“He’ll be in tomorrow,” continued.

“Please tell me he didn’t call in sick today,” Matt laughed.

snorted. “No, he knows damn well the chief knows the difference between him being sick and him having the tequila flu.”

Matt ran his hands through his hair. “You have tomorrow off?”

“Naw, I still have a few days. I do get to go home and play dead for several hours before I have to worry about it, though,” said with relish.

“How long you been on?”

“Almost thirty-six now.”

“Ugh.”

“Tell me about it. I feel like I’m dead but somehow still walking around.”

Matt snorted, twisting off the water. “Well, get yourself home. We don’t need you passing out. Not sure we have enough guys on the clock to move your dead weight.”

“I’ll do my best,” said with a roll of his eyes.

Matt stalked off and, even with the floor flooded with water, managed not to make a sound. always thought the man had missed his calling as a private detective, considering how stealthy he was.

He’d just managed to resume enjoying his shower when Davis’s voice rang out. “Nice to see you didn’t die.”

sighed, hanging his head. “I’m not going to get a peaceful shower today, am I?”

“I’d be more worried about Cade finding out you were in here with Matt,” Davis said.

turned, looking into the locker room with a frown. He didn’t see Matt, but that didn’t mean the guy wasn’t still within earshot. Davis had a notoriously big mouth and was even more known for not thinking before he spoke.

“Don’t be an ass, Davis. I know it’s hard for you, but try,” told him.

Davis held up his hands. “Damn, it was just a joke.”

It was more than a joke, and they both damn well knew it. Davis, along with another station firefighter, Keith, refused to undress, let alone shower, when Matt was around. Personally, thought it was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard.

“I’m not dating Cade, and quit being a dick about Matt,” growled.

“I’m not being a dick.”

“I’m tired, not stupid and blind, Davis.”

It wasn’t like Davis or Keith were subtle about not wanting to be naked around Matt. Of the two, though, would begrudgingly admit Davis was the better behaved. Keith always seemed a hair’s breadth away from a nasty comment around Matt. And had seen Keith’s expression when Matt’s boyfriend had dropped him off at the station once and given him a goodbye peck. Keith looked like someone had force-fed him hot sewage.

“Right, well, if you’re done being the champion of the people, the chief wants us,” Davis said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

“Ugh, I was hoping he’d be on his call a while longer,” sighed.

“No such luck. He wants to see us. Told him you needed to crash, though, so maybe he’ll go easy,” Davis told him.

turned off his shower and padded over to where he’d left his towel. “Thanks for taking care of the clean up.”

“Eh, you look like you’re about ready to drop. You deserved to soak a bit.”

nodded wearily, wrapping the towel around his waist. Maybe if he didn’t sleep the entire night and morning away, he might wake up and soak in his tub before the next shift. God knows he’d had a large tub installed in his apartment for a reason. He might as well get as much use out of it as possible.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” groaned.