Chapter 3 #2
“Hey!” Bryn cries in mock outrage, poking me right beneath the rib. Hard enough I nearly groan out loud. “Now who’s ratting out who?”
“Just telling it like it is, dancer girl.” Beaming down at her, I give her lower back a slight rub. “I’ll leave you to catch up with your girls. I’m gonna go see what condition my friends are in.”
Bryn’s smile falters just slightly, but as quickly as it falls, it appears again. The mask back in place. Her head bobs unenthusiastically in confirmation.
Worried I might not come back?
Her friends are right there, will no doubt hear every word, and while it’s not ideal to say it in front of them, I’ll take it on the chin if she rejects me. “When I get back, maybe we can talk about that first date?”
A hand slides down her stomach, a move I’ve seen her make a few times now, and her chest rises with a breath of anticipation. Hope. Shyly, she peers up at me, and just like on the dance floor, those big doe eyes have my cock putting images of her on her knees in my head.
“Maybe.”
The contrast between what her body is saying and what she says out loud has me wanting to hit my knees to worship this woman. It’s sexy as fuck to me when I know a woman wants me but doesn’t make it easy. The chase. And when I’ve got her… oh, man.
“Ladies,” I lift my drink to the two sitting at the table. “Nice to meet you. I’ll see you soon.”
Real fucking soon.
My hand drags along Bryn’s back until it reaches her hip and then releases completely as I step away.
The quickest way back to my boys is cutting across the dance floor, but I make my way to the restroom first. I’ve needed to take a piss since I ran into Bryn well over an hour ago.
I was on my way there when we bumped into each other, but I wanted so badly to catch her on her way out that I didn’t dare move on the off chance I’d miss her.
Considering it was two women going into the bathroom together, I should have known better, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.
Before I get too far away, I look back at her table.
All three of the women are staring at me, but my eyes land on Bryn, and I watch the smile spread across her face.
I can picture it close up. Her full bottom lip a natural pink, her top front tooth a bit crooked and covering the one next to it.
Shining hazel eyes that, while smiling, don’t have a crease in the middle of them.
It was hard not to memorize her on the dance floor, smiling like her whole world was lit up for the first time.
Maybe that’s not far from the truth. She did say she couldn’t recall the last time she’d had so much fun. Which bewilders me. Fun should be what everyone’s life is centered around. Sure, there’s a time and place to be serious—my job is one of those—but there should always be fun happening.
I live to make people smile. Laugh.
After the restroom, I take another glance towards Bryn’s table.
It’s only her and Jordan now, and neither of them are looking in my direction.
I head across the dance floor, dodging in and out of people until I get to the other side and spot a couple of my friends standing at the bar.
We started out as a crew of five, but it looks like two of them have disappeared. Probably home to wives.
Tyson, my closest friend since coming to Santa Rosé, has a girl plastered to his side and looks deep in conversation with her.
Ethan is also chatting up a girl, but they look more friendly than flirty, an easy in for me to interrupt briefly.
I don’t need to make this long. I want to get back to Bryn.
Before I reach them, a guy stumbles backward, colliding into me. It sends me careening into a blond guy on my left, our shoulders slamming together. The blond guy shoves me off him, and I hold my hands up placatingly.
“Sorry, man.”
“Watch where the fuck you’re going,” he snarls. He’s scrawny, his bark rougher than I imagine his bite would be.
The one who initially bumped into me waves a drunken hand. “Yeah, jeez dude, fuckin’ watch it.”
The grumpy blond turns back to his friend, but the drunken one continues to wobble in front of me.
Not worth my time. Not worth anyone’s the way he’s swaying.
I sidestep him as Tyson looks up, assesses the other two, then his face splits wide.
Immediately, he steps away from the woman he’s chatting with and holds out a hand.
I take it, and we go in for a bro hug, smacking each other on the back.
So much for a deep conversation. The woman has been all but forgotten.
That’s Tyson for you.
“The man of the hour!” Tyson exclaims. “We were wondering where you went. That piss turn into the longest shit of the year or what? You findin’ trouble?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Nah man, I—”
“He found some pussy he wants,” Ethan says, stepping in for a bro hug too and clapping me on the shoulder. “Tell me I’m right. We were taking bets.”
I ditched my drink outside the restroom and now wish I had it to slam back.
I love these two like brothers, but they can be crude as hell, and while I’m still a man and have my moments, my momma raised me right when it comes to women.
She’d have kicked not only my ass, but my brothers’ as well if she heard any one of us talking like that about a lady.
When one of us was guilty, we were all guilty.
At least when it came to things like that.
It instilled good values and lessons into me, though, so I love her for it.
“I found a dance partner,” I correct.
“Where is she?” Tyson asks, looking over my shoulder. “I want to meet the type of woman our boy goes for.”
Ethan wraps his arm around my neck, smacking my chest. “Maybe this one will get past the first three dates, hey?”
When my crew at the fire station found out about my three-date rule, the yelling, hollering, pestering, and teasing…
it was never-ending. The women of our fire family loved it, which made all the guys go even harder.
Lover boy, Romeo… I’ve heard it all. For the most part, I don’t mind it.
It gets them laughing, smiling, and I won’t lie, I like the attention.
Especially since, until yesterday, I was the probie.
The new kid on the block who wasn’t a full-fledged firefighter yet.
It could have been a lot worse for me than them picking on the fact that I have a three-date rule.
A rule I think they respect more than they let on.
“My man, you gotta let that go,” Tyson says, shaking his head, blond waves falling into his eyes that always look messy but perfect. “Enjoy every second a woman is willing to share her body with you. And looking like that,” he gestures up and down my body, “we all know the ladies can’t resist you.”
“Fuck right off,” I laugh, punching him in the arm.
Both Tyson and Ethan laugh, and then, like they share a brain, turn towards the bar to flag down the bartender, then back to the discarded ladies.
At the same time. They’re like this at work, too.
Our lieutenant always tells them they don’t need to do everything together, but I don’t think either one of them can actually help it.
I guess I shouldn’t say our lieutenant anymore. After graduating from the program yesterday, I’m switching houses. From Station Six, to Station Nine. If they’d had room to stay at Station Six, I would have jumped on it, but the house was full for permanent firefighters.