Chapter 2
Christian Holly
“A’ight, I’ll get up with y’all. Take it easy,” I stated to my crew. I grabbed my backpack from my locker and locked it back up.
“What are you getting into after we get out of here?” Essence asked me, tugging her bag and her purse up her shoulder.
“Sleep. Man, I’m tired.”
“Yeah, this has been one crazy shift. I didn’t think it would ever end.”
“You know. Everything seems to get crazy when the holidays arrive,” I declared.
We had been called out to a fire in a subdivision, only to find that there were explosives on the scene.
The police had been called out to a domestic violence situation between two roommates.
One of the men had found his woman having sex with his roommate, and he had lost it.
He set off a series of explosions, and he had threatened to blow up his girlfriend as he held her hostage.
That was the most challenging of all the situations we’d had to deal with over our last twenty-four hours, but it wasn’t the only one, and the others weren’t easy by far.
“Yo! Holly! James! Come back here,” Raheim Timberson called out.
We both turned back to look over our shoulder. “Nah, Timberson. We’re outta here,” I declared.
“Not yet, you’re not. You’ve got a visitor. Think y’all might wanna come say hi.”
I looked at Essence in confusion, and she stared blankly at me with a shrug. “Guess it won’t hurt,” Essence replied.
“Maaan, my bed is calling me.”
She patted me on the back and laughed. “That bed will be there, trust me.”
“Yeah, but I’m worried that I won’t.”
She laughed again as we walked back into the station. Our cars were parked out back in the rear lot, which was where we were heading. But we turned around and walked back toward the front of the station, where civilians usually visited if they had a reason to come to the station at all.
I was caught off guard when I saw the slim but curvy hazelnut beauty with the chocolate-brown eyes, long lashes, thick eyebrows, and plump lips standing there waiting for us.
Angel Snow was a tiny, little thing, but gorgeous and fine.
Despite her petite stature, she wasn’t missing any curves in the front or the rear.
I shook my head, trying to force those thoughts from my mind.
After all, she was my best friend’s ex. An ex he had left behind for a higher-paying job and a woman whose father had gotten him that job, but still.
It blew all of our minds when Jeremiah broke up with Angel rather than taking her with him to Hawaii for his new job.
I knew that he’d been messing around on the side, but I hadn’t expected it to turn serious.
The woman he left Angel for was the daughter of a wealthy, entitled man, and she held those same attitudes herself.
She was rich, spoiled, and entitled, and I doubted my man could live up to her expectations.
Hell, she knew he had a woman, but I figured she would grow bored with him after a while, but it hadn’t happened.
“What’s up, Angel?” I asked when Essence and I stopped in front of her.
“Mommy thought I should bring a little appreciation gift.”
“Well, tell ‘Mommy’ I said thank you. I didn’t expect to see you again.”
She shrugged. “Yeah. Anyway, I brought you guys these. Belle and I baked them, or I will say that I baked them and Belle watched over me . . . to make sure that I mixed up all the ingredients properly this time,” she stated by way of reference to her daughter choking on a carrot and us coming to save her.
“I’m sure your cooking is always just fine. You’re a diva in that kitchen, girl. Besides, we didn’t do anything that you hadn’t already done.”
“Yeah, just time and chance mixed in with a little less panic.” Essence agreed with a warm smile.
“I’m sorry,” Angel apologized.
“No need for you to apologize, girl. You did nothing wrong. You’ve always been on point, and I’m sure you take good care of li’l mama.”
“I try to do my best,” she stated.
“What kind of cookies are these?” Essence asked, nodding at the three stacked platters in Angel’s hands.
“Cranberry-maple-pecan on the first tray, peanut butter maple on the second, and plain sugar on the third one.”
“Anything you do isn’t plain, Angel. This girl can cook and bake her ass off,” I replied, thrusting one thumb at her, rubbing my belly, and smiling at Essence. When I turned back to look at Angel, I was surprised to see her bright brown cheeks covered with a blush as she looked away.
She had always taken my compliments easily and teased me back. I’d never seen her react this way before. Maybe it was because we hadn’t seen each other in a while, and she wasn’t comfortable around me anymore. I wasn’t certain, but it was all good.
“I know y’all sharing those,” Kevin Moss, one of the other paramedics, called out.
“Yeah, because we always share,” Kaden Moss, Kevin’s firefighter older brother, chimed in.
“They don’t have much of a choice. If I hadn’t kept them from leaving, they would’ve missed her anyway,” Timberson stated with his arms crossed.
“We’ll share with y’all.” Essence laughed and took the trays and passed them around to Timberson and Kevin while holding one for herself. “Big back asses,” she muttered, walking to the kitchen with the rest of the guys.
“Thanks for that. You didn’t have to do that, Angel. It was part of our job.”
“I know. But it made the difference to me. That little girl is my world, and—” Angel stopped talking and looked away. Her eyes were slightly teary, and I knew she was getting choked up. She might have been thinking about Jeremiah, because he had been her life for a while.
“Hey, chill with all that. It didn’t happen, so it’s all good. You know, I always said everything happens for a reason. Maybe it was to bring a brother back into your life.”
She blinked rapidly and looked up at me. Her cheeks colored again. I stepped closer and squeezed her shoulder. “You could always use a friend. And I’m a great friend, or so I’ve been told,” I declared with a teasing wink.
Before she could say anything, I heard chants and claps behind us. Turning around at the crew shouting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss,” I scowled at them.
Essence was pointing over my head. I looked up. Damn! The mistletoe that I hung up there, trying to set Essence and Kaden up, had backfired on me. The two of them had been flirting for a while, and sometimes the other guys’ wives and girlfriends visited the station.
I thought it would be cute for someone to be caught under the mistletoe and have to kiss. I’d even thrown a challenge out. Whoever got caught standing under it and didn’t kiss would have to pay a penalty: wash the truck and dishes without help for a week, even on our off days.
I turned to look back at Angel, who stared like a deer in headlights. “What’s going on?” she asked. I explained the bet to her, and rather than responding in horror, she smirked and then laughed. “That’s what you get. You’re always playing jokes on someone. Now it’s backfired on you.”
I dragged my hand down my face. “Man. I screwed up, didn’t I?”
“A bet’s a bet,” she replied.
“Meaning I have to wash the truck and dishes for a week,” I grumbled.
“No, meaning that you have to kiss me.” She winked at me, and something stirred in my belly. I hadn’t expected her to take it so lightheartedly.
“All right. Let’s give them what they want,” I replied, going in for a sweet, simple kiss on her cheek.
“Lips! Lips!” they chanted.
I moved slightly to the left to kiss her lips. But when I brushed Angel’s lips, it triggered something else in me. The warmth of her breath, the vanilla bean scent of her lotion, and those decadent, chocolate-brown eyes staring at me did me in.
I didn’t stop with a simple brushing of the lips. I wrapped my arms around her waist, and I pressed deeper into the kiss to satisfy my brothers. But when Angel’s lips parted slightly and her tongue darted out and touched my lip, I dove in to satisfy a deeper, urgent need within.
My hand moved up to caress her lower back, and the other one pulled her closer. Angel moaned underneath my lips, bringing me back to reality. I pulled back and stared down at her. With a crooked smile and wink, I stated, “Thanks, doll.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied softly with a smile.
I felt my face growing heated at the thunderous applause behind me. “Hey, let me walk you out to your car.”
She nodded and turned to leave. I glanced at my crew over my shoulder and mugged them before I followed Angel.
“Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to put you on the hot seat,” I muttered.
“You didn’t. I threw myself on there. You were willing to take an L and wash the dishes and the truck.”
“Take an L, huh?”
She smiled. “Yes, because despite what things may have looked like in the past, I know that I’m a win for any man.”
I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face.
I was glad that she had that confidence within her despite what Jeremiah had done.
After he’d first left, we all used to visit her, and she struggled with depression.
Eventually, she pushed everyone away. I’m glad that he wasn’t able to take her down.
“You’re right about that.”
“Well, it looked like you were heading home, so I’m gonna let you get out of here. I need to stop by my mom’s and pick up Belle. See you around.”
“See you around,” I replied, waving and watching her ass as she walked away. “Chill out, Chris,” I warned myself as I stared after her. “Never mess with your boy’s ex. She’s off-limits, no matter how tempting that ass might be.”