Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
DANI
A s Bridger saunters away into his ridiculously amazing bathroom, I lie back on the bed and take a deep breath. I love the way his bedroom smells. It’s him. A little woodsy, a little spicy. Maybe there’s a hint of cinnamon? I don’t even know for sure. All I know is that it’s heaven, and I love it. I could just bury my nose in it and smell it forever.
Also, how is this my life? Because only a few weeks ago, I’d resigned myself to staying in the friend zone with Bridger and being Birdie’s teacher, never the lines to blur. Yet, here I am, having experienced one of the best twenty-four hours of my life.
I hear the tap on the tub turn on and then Bridger moving about in the bathroom. In the past, taking a bath would not have been my first choice. Obviously, I have issues with water, but as I’ve gotten older, even I understand the virtues of soaking sore, tired muscles in hot water. I also might have been downplaying the whole I’m sore thing. I’m in agony. Everything from the waist down is screaming, so a salt bath sounds amazing. And, I admit, having a sexy Bridger take care of me is exactly what the doctor ordered.
“Did you fall asleep?” I hear from the doorway. His voice is low and rumbly and sexy, and despite the soreness in my body, it makes my core tremble.
“No.” I don’t move or even open my eyes. “I’m just relaxed.”
“Well, come on, you can relax in the bath. The salts will help.”
The mattress dips, and I crack an eye open to find Bridger, one knee planted at my hip, grinning down at me.
“You did this to me,” I remind him.
“Not sorry,” he agrees, and when I smile, he takes my hand, kisses it, and helps me up to standing. “I have to take your clothes off, kitten.”
“Isn’t this how we got here in the first place?”
His lips tip up into a smirk. A lock of his dark hair has fallen over his forehead, so I reach up to brush it back.
His eyes heat as I drag my fingertips down his cheek. “Come on, baby. I want to get you more comfortable.”
I untie the knot at my waist of the T-shirt I stole from him, and he slips it over my head. He helps me out of my jeans and underwear, and then we walk into the bathroom .
I’m not just sore there , but my butt, my inner thighs, and even my lower back are all screaming. I won’t complain because today has been one of the best days of my life. But I’m glad that I said something to him, because this pampering stuff is the best .
“Here, take this.” Bridger passes me two tablets, along with a glass of water to wash them down. When I pass the glass back to him, he sets it aside and then helps me step into his tub.
“I’m pretty sure you could fit about six people in here.”
He smiles softly as I sit in the water, and I sigh when the heat wraps around my lower body.
“Oh, that’s nice.”
“Lie back.” He has a small pillow in his hands, and he rests it behind my head against the end of the tub. “Relax. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Trust me, I’m not moving. I may never leave. You’ll have to have me evicted.”
He turns out the light, and aside from the light coming in from the window, I notice that Bridger lit a candle, which is flickering on the vanity.
He thinks of everything.
Several minutes later, he’s back with two glasses of wine, and he sets them on a table at the end of the free-standing tub, then he begins to strip.
I bite my lip, watching with anticipation. He whips his shirt off, and there’s that broad chest and those sculpted abs and the inked arms I can’t get enough of .
And then his pants are undone, and he pushes them down and off, along with his boxer briefs.
“Lean forward, sweetheart,” he says, taking the pillow away.
I do as he asks, and he slips into the tub and sits behind me, his legs on either side of my hips, and loops his arms around me, pulling me back to lie on his chest.
“Okay, if I thought that was good, this is far better.”
I feel him nuzzle the top of my head, and then he reaches over to grab our wineglasses, passing me one.
“Thanks.”
Leisurely, we sip our wine and soak. Bridger’s knee comes up out of the water, and I run my fingertips over it, enjoying the way the water sluices through the light spattering of dark hair on his skin.
“Can I ask questions about your job?” I ask him softly.
“You can ask me questions about literally anything.”
“If you don’t want to answer, just say so.”
He sighs and kisses my head again. “Okay, but I won’t. Shoot.”
“What was the scariest call you’ve been on?”
He doesn’t answer for a minute, so I tip my head back and look up at him.
“I’m thinking. Do you mean scariest in what was happening at the scene, or scariest in what could have happened to me ?”
I swallow hard and turn back around, leaning against him. I might not want to know.
“Either. ”
“We got a call for a cat in a tree,” he begins. “And it was pretty high up there. Stupid cat. We got the ladder up, and I climbed it, and I almost fell.”
I gasp. “What?”
“Boot slipped, I reached wrong, and I thought for sure I was going to fall and break my neck. Scared the hell out of me. The fires don’t scare me because we’ve been trained extensively on how to handle them. We have gear and tools, and we’re never careless. Don’t ever think that if I walk into a fire I might not walk out.”
I have to swallow hard around the lump suddenly in my throat. “Okay.”
“It’s all the other shit. Car accidents can get sticky because drivers don’t slow down to get around us. I had a buddy in Idaho get hit by a car on the scene of an accident, and now he’s paralyzed and in a wheelchair.”
“That’s awful.” I take his hand and kiss it, not caring at all that it’s wet, and then link his fingers with mine, holding on tightly.
“I’ve seen some bad shit. I won’t lie. We’re a small town, so we’re ambulance as well as fire, and sometimes we walk into things that are just tragic. Some death, a lot of illness. But there’s good stuff, too. Like saving more lives than you don’t and helping people.”
“I know this is the understatement of the year, but it’s not an easy job,” I add.
“No, but I really love it.”
I tip my head back again, and now he’s grinning at me with satisfaction, and I can see the truth in his eyes.
“I know, and I’m glad. Life’s so much easier when you love what you do. I had jobs to get me through college that I was not a good fit for.”
“Like what?” He kisses my cheek, and his free hand roams under the water to my hip, causing my body to come alive again.
“I was a waitress. A horrible waitress. Back then, I wouldn’t say boo to someone, so when customers got mad about stuff, I couldn’t stick up for myself, even if it was just to tell them to hang on a minute or to lower their voice. So, yeah, that was not for me. Then I tried working in a call center.”
“A call center?”
“Yeah, you know, like phone sex.” I press my lips together, and suddenly my shoulders are in his grasp, and he’s turning me to look in my face. “Kidding. I couldn’t even hardly say c— that word earlier.”
“Which word, kitten?”
I roll my eyes and continue my story.
“Anyway, it was just a call center for an electric company. You know, in case there’s a power outage or someone’s having issues or something?”
“Sure.”
“Man, if you thought people in restaurants are grouchy, you’ve never had to take phone calls where they can’t see your face.”
“Basically, people are rude,” he reminds me, his hand still roaming over me.
“Yeah, they are. I’ve gotten better at dealing with them. My therapist helps. I love working with kids because most of them aren’t rude yet. Now, some of the parents are a different story, but I just keep communication lines open and try not to take too much personally.”
“Good. How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I scoot forward and then turn over, facing him, and straddle his lap. He’s already hard, and I nestle him in my cleft, making his eyes narrow as his hands find my hips and his fingertips dig in, as if he just can’t help himself. “A lot better, actually.”
“We’re not doing this right now, sweetheart.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why not? Feels like we are.”
“Because you’re hurting.”
“I promise, I’m feeling a lot better.” I rock, and he slips through me, and it feels like heaven. “We can take it easy, right?”
“Whenever I’m near you like this, I don’t think about taking it easy.” His breathing has sped up, and he licks his lips. “All I can think about is fucking you into next week.”
“And that’s lovely.” His lips twitch at that, and I wrap my arms around his neck as I raise up high enough that I can take him inside of me, and we both groan as I lower onto him. “But this is good, too.”
“You set the pace,” he says against my lips. “Go easy. I don’t want you hurting more, and I mean it.”
I brush my nose over his and sigh as I move, rocking a little harder, making the water slosh.
“Feels really good,” I say softly, loving the intimacy of the steam around us, his face just inches from mine, being held in his arms while I rock against him.
“What does, baby? ”
“You.”
He raises an eyebrow, and I know he wants the dirty words. I’ve always shied away from swearing, but when I’m with him, like this, and I know how much it turns him on, I find myself wanting to say something filthy out loud.
“Use your words.”
“Your dick,” I whisper against his lips, “feels amazing in my…pussy.”
That last word is hardly audible at all, and I feel so naughty for saying it out loud, but his hands are on me, and his face is full of longing and lust, and I love that my few words can turn him on so much.
“You’re fucking incredible,” he says as I begin to squeeze him harder. “Ah, fuck, baby. I won’t last.”
I’m holding on to the back of his neck and head, and although I’m not rocking any harder or faster, my muscles clench, and I’m going to go over with him.
“Bridge.” His name is a prayer on my lips, and then I’m falling over the cliff into bliss. He calls out, both hands holding my bottom, as he succumbs to his own climax, and then I rest against him as we catch our breath. “At least we’re already in the bath this time.”
He chuckles, and I feel it vibrate in my cheek.
“I love that you’ve gotten sassy.”
Four days later, I wonder if it was all a dream .
“Why do you look like you’re pouting?” Alex, my twin sister, asks as she scoops a heaping pile of garden salad onto her plate, then does the same to mine.
“I’m not pouting.”
Alex pours the dressing on, then licks her finger, sizing me up. “You are. What’s wrong? Come on, let’s eat these delicious salads and talk it out. Tell sissy everything.”
We carry our dinners and drinks into her living room. I sit on the floor with my back against the couch so I can use the coffee table, and she sits in a chair.
“I’m honestly not pouting,” I reply and shove salad into my mouth.
“I know you,” she reminds me. “I’m your big sister.”
“By two minutes.”
“Exactly. Does this have anything to do with the fact that I heard that you went out with Bridger Blackwell?”
“Where did you hear that?”
I didn’t just go out with him. I spent two glorious days with him, and I did not want to go home on Sunday. Even Pickles didn’t want to go home.
The traitor.
“Several people said they saw you with him at Old Town Pizza. You looked cozy, according to my sources.”
“Who, exactly, are your sources?”
“I’ll never tell.” She laughs and pops a crouton into her mouth. “Is it true?”
“Yeah.” The salad is good. Alex is an excellent cook. My sister is good at a lot of things. “We actually spent the weekend together. Birdie was with Billie. ”
Alex’s eyes, so much like my own, although we aren’t identical twins, widen, and she sets her fork down with a clatter.
“Dani. Lexington. You banged Bridger Blackwell and haven’t told me? It’s Wednesday, for fuck’s sake . ”
“I know,” I admit and bite my lip. “I haven’t seen him since I went home on Sunday when Birdie came home.”
“So?” She takes another bite. “It’s only Wednesday . He’s busy. You’re busy.”
“I know that,” I echo with a shrug. “He does send me good morning texts every day, and that’s nice.”
“Aw, that’s nice. We’ve known Bridger forever, Dani. He knows all about…before. You don’t have to try to explain anything or worry about issues or anything like that with him.”
“That part is nice. Plus, wow.”
“Yeah?” She waggles her eyebrows. “How wow ? Are we talking well, that was nice, or are we talking holy shit, I feel like I’ve been torn in half ?”
“I had to soak in a hot bath after the first night. Of course, he joined me.”
Her jaw drops, and she stares at me for a heartbeat. “You lucky bitch.”
“And I know that I’m being needy now, but I went from spending every minute of the day with him for more than forty-eight hours, to just getting a text in the morning, and now I’m feeling insecure.”
Alex chews thoughtfully. “I can see that. You get attached, and then real life sets in. It’s a pisser. ”
“I don’t have to swear.” My voice is as dry as a salt lick. “Because you do enough of it for both of us.”
“You’re welcome.” Alex winks at me, making me chuckle. I missed this when I was away. At college, then living in Bozeman. Missing a sibling is one thing, but missing the person who knows you inside out, who can finish your sentences and thoughts, that’s different. “Give him a little time. I’ve heard that they’ve been extra busy this week. Two more homes were set on fire, and they think it’s an arsonist.”
My sister’s a reporter for the Bitterroot Valley News, so she keeps her finger on pretty much everything going on in this town.
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. As the chief, Bridger’s probably ready to pull his own hair out.”
I blow out a breath, not proud of myself for being relieved that there’s an arsonist at large, and the lack of attention from Bridger isn’t because he got me out of his system.
Not that the kiss he gave me after walking me home that afternoon gave the impression that he was done.
He almost sucked my face off. In a really nice way, not in a gross way.
“Well, I hope they catch the guy fast. That’s actually really scary.”
“It is.” Alex is somber as she nods. “So far, it’s been two residences and a garage.”
“Random?” I ask her with a frown .
“As far as they can tell,” she confirms. “So, you stay safe, sister.”
“You, too. Yikes.”
“How’s school going?”
I push my empty plate away and sigh. “It’s good, but man, it’s exhausting. I know that I’ll get used to it and fall into a routine, but it’s a lot of work in the beginning. I have back-to-school night tomorrow night.”
“How many hours are you putting in right now?” She gives me a knowing look, and I stick my tongue out at her.
“About twelve a day,” I admit. “But I’m a new teacher at this school, and I want to make sure that the administration’s happy with me. I want my kids to be happy.”
“That’s my sister, always the pleaser.” Alex shakes her head, but she’s smiling at me with a lot of love in her blue eyes. “I promise you, everyone is going to be more than happy, Dani. You give your heart and soul to your classroom every year. I thought there was going to be a riot in Bozeman when you quit to come here because so many parents wanted to request you for their kids. It’ll be that way here, too.”
“I hope so. I’m trying to make a good impression on everyone, so yeah, I’m putting in extra time, but I have to make sure that everything’s perfect.”
“You’re so type A,” she says with a sigh. “You need to learn to relax a little, my friend.”
I think of last weekend and all the relaxing I did. That was fun .
“I can almost hear your thoughts,” Alex says with a laugh. “You pervert.”
With a satisfied grin, I shrug a shoulder. “Do you want me to relax or not?”
“Hey, whatever works, babe.”
Every morning since my weekend with Bridger, I’ve woken up to a text from him that simply says, Good morning, sweetheart.
I never knew that three words could make my heart erupt in my chest, but they do. Every time.
It’s Thursday, and when I check my phone, there’s no text waiting for me.
My heart sinks, and I open my messages, bringing up Bridger’s thread, just in case my phone glitched or something, but no. No text today. But then I think about his words and take a deep breath.
“The fires don’t scare me because we’ve been trained extensively on how to handle them. We have gear and tools, and we’re never careless. Don’t ever think that if I walk into a fire I might not walk out.”
“He’s just sleeping or something,” I assure myself as I get out of bed and pad into the bathroom. I know that we’re both busy with our lives, but dang it, I miss him.
I miss him a lot.
By the time I leave for work, there’s still no message from him. However, his truck is in his driveway, so hopefully that means that he’s safe.
I can’t think about the alternative.
Besides, this is a small town. If something had happened, I would have heard about it by now. He’s just busy.
And so am I.
Give the man a break, Dani.