4. Adam
CHAPTER 4
ADAM
“He’s single, he’s gorgeous, and I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”
“Mom.”
“What?” My sweet, petite mother blinks up at me, the picture of innocence, but I know better. I can see the scheming twinkle in her eyes.
“All single attractive men are not gay.”
“True. But I just think he’s gay. My gaydar went off.”
Oh good lord. “Mom. Gaydar is not a thing, and even if it were, I’m pretty sure you would not have it.”
“I knew you were gay before your fifth birthday.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m your son. He’s a random dude.”
“You wouldn’t be calling him a random dude if you met him. You’d be calling him dinner.”
“Mom!” I don’t bother to tell her that I have met him. And yes, he is absolutely delicious to look at. She doesn’t need any encouragement when she gets on one of her matchmaker kicks. Between my four sisters and me, Mom is always on the prowl for son-in-law material.
“And dessert,” she adds with a wink.
“Jesus Christ. What has gotten into you?”
“I just want to see you happy.”
“And you think throwing me at the town’s new vet like a virginal sacrifice to a volcano will do that?”
“Well, no—we both know you’re not virginal.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I chuckle and roll my eyes as I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me; she’s so small I can rest my chin on the top of her head.
Her arms loop around my waist, and she takes a deep breath, like she wants to inhale me. She does that a lot, with all of us kids. I think she hates the fact that we’re grown adults now, even as she tries to pair us all off with mates. Mom seems to want to keep us in her nest, even as she pushes us to spread our wings and fly. It’s sweet and lovable, and I squeeze her a little tighter. She spanks my ass as she pulls away with a smirk and another wink. “So, tell me about Drusilla?”
I blink at the rapid subject change as Mom leads me into the shelter kennels and over to Drusilla’s enclosure. Setting my train of thought back on track, I give her a full report. “She’s sweet as can be, great temperament, very adoptable.” Popping the lock on her enclosure, I walk into Drusilla’s pen, and she comes up on her hind legs, putting her paws on my chest and trying to lick my mouth. I dodge and weave. “Hey now, sweet girl. I don’t like you like that.”
Mom chuckles as she straightens up the enclosure, refilling Drusilla’s water. “She’s clearly crushing on you.”
“She must have terrible gaydar.”
In the station kitchen, I’m expecting the familiar aroma of Watts’s gourmet coffee, but the percolator sits idle. Oh right. Watts is upstairs now—literally and figuratively—riding a desk in the HQ office above our firehouse. As the station closest to the county seat, we serve as the department headquarters too. But the admin and ranked officers who serve above us use their own entrance, and they have their own percolator.
It feels wrong for this place to smell like anything other than coffee, so I go on a hunt through the cabinets and drawers looking for a bag of grounds.
It’s slim pickings. Watts must have taken the good stuff with him when he moved upstairs. There’s an old can of coffee in the dusty forgotten back of a bottom shelf, and I grab it. When I stand, I come nearly nose to nose with a massive man.
Jesus! I stumble backward, almost dropping the coffee can and spilling its contents all over the floor.
The big guy smiles awkwardly and steps back a pace. Raising his hands he explains, “Sorry. Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
After a few blinks, I recognize him: Knox, the new guy. And as I make that connection, I connect his words, too, frowning as I do. Did he just suggest that he scared me? “You didn’t—I wasn’t scared, just startled…a little.”
Knox’s smile grows wider. He has a nice smile, one of those lazily handsome grins that usually spell trouble for me when I’m out for a night of fun. As irritated as I am, I shake it off and smile, too, as I stretch my hand out to shake. “Anyway, welcome, Probie.”
His handshake is firm but not crushing, and his eye contact is steady. Not bad. I’d say we’re off to a good start after that jump scare.
“Probie?”
“You’re a probationary officer for the next year, so get used to the nickname and get used to saying ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘Yes, ma’am’ when we assign tasks for you to handle.” I step away and stretch my arms wide. “So this is Station thirty-one. Need the tour?”
With a smile, he nods. “Sure.”
“Cool. But first, make me some coffee, Probie.”
His smile sinks. I raise a brow and hold the can of coffee grounds out to him, expectantly.
“Yes, sir,” he says as he takes it from me and glances around for the percolator.
That’s when Drew comes into the kitchen looking freshly showered—and probably freshly fucked if that smile on his face is any indication. He and Chloe are cute, still in that pre-newlywed phase of their relationship where they can’t stay away from each other. He used to be the most enthusiastic fire brother in this place. Now, when it’s a slow shift, I catch him checking the time on his phone, anxious to get back to his favorite person.
And wouldn’t you know it, right on cue, the other newly-in-love member of our crew comes in through the bay door with a freshly fucked grin of her own. I make introductions as Dee slides her energy drink into the fridge.
“Hey, Dee, Drew, meet our new probie, Knox County. He’s making coffee.”
“Awesome.” Dee shakes the new guy’s hand before she goes into the ladies locker room to hang her bag and change from sneakers to boots.
“Are you one of the sons in County Sons Construction?” Drew asks as he extends his hand.
Knox nods. “Yes. You hired my dad and my brothers to build your house.”
Drew raises a brow. “Your dad and your brothers? Hmm. So, how does your dad feel about you joining the fire service?”
Knox pulls a face and scratches the back of his neck. “He’s…disappointed.”
Huh. There’s clearly a story there, but Knox obviously doesn’t want to tell it, so I change the subject. Handing my coffee mug over, I say, “I like my coffee with one cream and one sugar.”
“I…” Probie looks between me and Drew, who just stares at him expressionless, and after a moment he says, “Yes, sir.”
With his lips twitching, Drew tries not to smile as he hands his mug over too. “Black for me.”
Drew and I sit at the dining table as Dee comes out to join us. She’s the one who asks the burning question: “Your name is Knox County? Like the actual county?”
“Yep.”
I can’t see Knox’s face, but something in the set of his shoulders tells me he just sighed and rolled his eyes. “I mean… Yes, ma’am?—”
“No! No ma’am with me, Probie. Just call me Dee.”
Knox glances over his shoulder and nods, then gets back to work on setting the coffee to brew as he explains, “My granddad thought he was funny when he named my dad Travis County. Then Dad followed suit and did the same thing. There’s Briscoe, Victoria, Clay, and me.”
Wow. “Now that is dedication to a theme! I thought my mom Angie was weird when she gave us all A names like hers. It’s Alice, Anna, Ava, and me.”
“Rooster?” Drew asks with a grin.
“Adam.” I smirk at him.
The coffee is quick to brew, and Knox serves us all without complaint. We let him sit for a moment, take a few sips of his own drink, then we fall into long-winded explanations about how things work around here.
Since Dee is our new LT, she does most of the talking. “Every Tuesday is Big Truck Day. Which means we wash the truck and check all apparatus. Every Wednesday is Big Clean Day, and that’s when we clean the station—bathrooms, kitchen, dust, mop. Whichever team is on during those shifts handles the cleaning. Since today is Wednesday, we’re doing the Big Clean. You’ll clean the bathrooms.”
Knox smirks but doesn’t complain.
Dee asks Drew to explain the phone policy, and he’s quick to do so, clearly excited that he’s not the new guy anymore, and he can hand off phone patrol to the new-new guy. “When the phone rings, you answer. And if you don’t pick up by the third ring, you have to give us one hundred push-ups.”
I pitch in by explaining the meal calendar. Pointing to the crockpot where my world-famous—well, county-famous—jambalaya simmers, I let him know that tonight is my night for dinner. Dee and Drew both whoop with glee.
It’s a slow shift, so we’re able to clean the whole station and enjoy our dinner without interruption as we explain our roles. With Watts’s move upstairs, we all shift seats in the truck. Dee has been promoted from chauffeur to lieutenant and takes the lead on scene now. I’ve moved into the driver’s seat. Drew takes my old spot behind the LT, where he’ll handle hydrants and hoses. And Probie gets Drew’s old job on nozzle and fire suppression.
To his credit, Knox tries not to look too overwhelmed as he takes this information in with eager nods, like he’ll remember it all. He won’t. No one ever does. That’s sort of the point. We throw everything at you, early and often, to see if you’ve got what it takes to stick around.
We’re mostly finished with our dinner—just sitting around the table razzing Probie about all the grunt work we’ll delight in assigning him—when a medical call comes in over the loudspeaker.
We come to attention—all joking aside—and give Knox clear instructions as we climb into the truck, me behind the wheel. Once everyone is strapped in and Dee has mapped the route to the address, I put the truck in gear and hit the gas. Dee slaps on the siren, and we head to our first call with our new crew in place.