Rescued (Under the Silverpine Sky #3)

Prologue

Jasper

It’s never fun being a firefighter on days like today. The smell of smoke permeates your nose and burns your eyes. It finds its way into your throat and lungs. Even with our respirators.

I think it’s more of a mental thing than anything else, but once you’ve smelled a structure fire, you can’t unsmell it. Once you’ve witnessed the destruction, that’s it. You’re forever changed.

Today is no exception.

We did all we could. We fought as hard as we could, but some things are just out of our control.

This fire was that. Thankfully, there was no loss of human life, but the house was a complete loss.

All that remains is ash and soot and the tattered remnants of the belongings of the family who lived there.

I need a fucking drink.

Austin sits down on the bench beside me, joining me as I stare at the wall in silence. The weight of failure hangs heavy in the air around us. There’s nothing we can do to lessen it. Only time will do that.

He clears his throat. “I need to let Luca know I’m gonna be running behind.”

Though he says the words, he doesn’t pull his phone out. Getting home to his boyfriend probably would make things better for him. On days like today, I always wish I had someone to go home to. It would be a nice reprieve from the guilt.

The silence is oppressive when I’m alone, and even more so on days when I’ve failed so spectacularly.

“You better do that,” I finally force myself to say. “He’ll worry.”

Austin finally takes his phone out and shoots off a quick text to Luca. The tired grin on his face when he gets a message back tells me more than anything that he’ll be alright tonight.

I will be too. After I find someone to lose myself in for the night. It’s no replacement for a relationship. For someone to call my own. But it works just fine. Not as well as it used to, but still.

Hooking up after days like today is usually all I need, but lately… lately there’s been this itch under my skin, begging for more. For connection. For love. And being around Austin and Luca, watching their newly formed relationship, makes the itch so much worse.

When Austin stands, I stand too, following him out the door. I nod at him wordlessly before climbing into my truck.

Twenty minutes later, I find myself pulling into The Pub. It’s a small bar on the outskirts of town. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find someone to take home with me. Having someone in my bed tonight might help some of the hopelessness that’s coursing through my veins.

It feels like a disservice to Sarah. To all the reasons I do this job to begin with, but that’s a thought for another day.

Parking, I get out and head into the bar. It’s dimly lit and smells like cheap cigarettes and the stale stench of sweat and beer. Something about that is comforting.

Brooks nods at me from behind the bar, already making my Jack and Coke. I drop a twenty-dollar bill on the bar top, then nod when he slides my drink to me.

“Thanks, man. Long day.”

He hums. “No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.”

I tip my drink back, downing half of it in the first swallow. I have no plans to get drunk, but I do want to take the edge off a bit. After I drink the entire thing, Brooks makes his way over to me. “Another?”

“Please.”

Without a word, he makes another drink and slides it across the bar to me. “There ya go.”

By the time I’m nearing the end of my fourth drink, a sweet buzz is filling my veins. There aren’t many people here tonight, which means my chances of finding someone to take home with me are slim, but maybe that’s for the best. Maybe I should learn healthier coping skills.

It’s all so empty and meaningless anyway.

Fuck.

A soft tap on my shoulder has me turning around and coming face-to-face with Arlo. My heart thumps hard. It shouldn’t. Not just from the sight of him. He’s… dangerous. Off-limits.

He blew into town a few months ago and started working at Daisy’s—the diner Austin’s mom owns. We’ve interacted some in passing. He’s even come to a few self-defense lessons I’ve done with Luca and Austin.

He’s gorgeous, with dark hair and mismatched eyes—one blue, one brown. The combination is striking, and I find my eyes straying to him far more often than they should. He’s fourteen years younger than I am, and I have no business looking at him like I do.

The first time I saw him, I was so captivated by his eyes that I had to excuse myself to google what they meant. Heterochromia. No one, man or woman, has captivated me the way he does.

I’m feeling just buzzed enough to do something stupid, so I pat the barstool next to me.

Without a word, he climbs onto it.

“Do you come here often?” The question is a cliché, and I know that, but I truly never have seen him here before.

He shakes his head. “Never. I was driving home and saw your truck.”

“So you decided to stop in?”

Arlo drums his fingers on the bar. “Luca said you all had a bad day.” He shrugs, not making eye contact with me. “I just happened to be driving by and saw you here. Thought maybe you could use a friend.”

I blow out a breath. Well, he’s got me there. “Yeah, it wasn’t great. You signing up to be my friend for the night, sweetheart?”

The words come out far more flirty than they should. Eyes widening, he nods, his throat bobbing heavily with a swallow. “Sure. If that’s what you need.”

“Do you want a drink?” I ask, looking around for Brooks.

“No,” Arlo says, shaking his head. “I don’t drink.”

And here I am, drowning my sorrows every time I have a rough day. Though to be fair, it’s not that often.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“S’okay. Didn’t expect you to.”

And that’s true enough. Not only is Arlo not a local, but he’s also secretive about where he came from and his life. Hell, I don’t even know where he lives.

“How about I take you home?” he says.

I laugh. “You propositioning me, sweetheart?”

My favorite blush spreads across his face. “No. I know you’re not into guys. I wouldn’t be that stupid.”

I frown. Why would he think that? Well, I guess it’s not like I advertise it, really.

Not like it even really matters, considering outside the couple of guys I fucked around with when I was young, I haven’t been with any.

It’s not that I don’t want to. More like the opportunity rarely presents itself.

“I’m into you.” Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that. Alcohol and my attraction don’t mix.

He surprises me by laughing. “Sure. And pigs can fly.”

“I’m serious.” I search his face, looking back and forth between his eyes.

He narrows them, his laughter dying off. “I know you probably think I’m just young and dumb, but I’m not. I know when someone’s fucking with me. You don’t have to pick on me.”

My mouth drops open. “I’m not, Arlo.” He clenches his jaw, pressing his lips in a tight line. “I’m truly not.”

I’m not sure why it’s so important to me that he knows I’m not fucking with him, but it is.

He scoffs. “I know I’m about as transparent as glass with my little… crush,” he says, nearly choking on the word crush. “But I’m not dumb. I know it’s not going anywhere. You don’t have to make fun of me for it.”

My heart skips a beat. “No, you’re not dumb at all.”

“I know that,” he nearly growls. “I just said it.”

God, I’m gonna regret this. Without giving myself time to think about what I’m doing, I dip my head and press my lips to his. He freezes against me, his body going unnaturally still.

Fuck. And he was worried I thought he was dumb. I’m the fucking dumb one. I start to pull away, already preparing to apologize, when Arlo’s trembling hand slides into my hair and his lips part under mine.

His sharp little intake of breath has heat coiling in my stomach. This is so bad and so wrong and so perfect and my hand is cupping Arlo’s jaw and my tongue is sliding past his plump, parted lips, and his breath is mingling with mine.

Flexing his fingers in my hair, he breaks away from me with a gasp. Wide, owlish eyes blink at me. “Is this real life?”

Reaching down, I pinch his arm, and he lets out a little yelp, then rubs the spot, glaring at me.

“I think so,” I say with a smirk.

“You kissed me.”

I nod. “Yeah.” Fuck, do I sound breathy? That’s fucked. “I’d like to do it again.”

Arlo’s eyebrows draw together. “Really?”

“I told you,” I say softly.

“You’re not fucking with me?”

I sigh. “Arlo, do you really think I’m the type of person to be that… I don’t know, cruel? Is that what you think I’m like?”

He slowly shakes his head. “Guess not.”

We sit in silence for a second, and my lips are still tingling with the aftershocks of our kiss.

“Okay,” he whispers.

“Okay?”

His tongue comes out, wetting his bottom lip. “Okay, you can do it again.”

My stomach swoops. I’m too damn old to be feeling like this. I cup his jaw, then draw him into me, sealing our lips together.

It’s no less devastating than the first.

He whimpers against my mouth, and the sound shoots right through me, thickening my cock and making my blood burn in my veins.

“Can I come home with you?” he murmurs against my lips. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. I promise I won’t make a big deal out of it.”

I wouldn’t mind if he did make a big deal of it. Which is fucking stupid of me. Really fucking stupid of me, but I can’t resist. I came here wanting someone to take home for the night, and that it’s Arlo? Fuck. Unreal.

“You can come home with me. But how about you drive us?”

He nods, inhaling a ragged breath. “I can do that.”

“Have you…” I trail off, not sure how to ask the question.

“What? Hooked up with someone before? Yeah. I’m not some blushing virgin.”

Thank fuck. I’m not sure I’d be able to live with myself if I took that from him. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

Arlo

I’m nearly vibrating out of my skin as I follow Jasper into his house. I barely have time to check things out before he turns around and faces me. He lifts me into the air, forcing a gasp from my chest as he pins me to his front door.

“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted you,” he mumbles, then slams his lips down on mine.