Chapter 4 - Miles
I held the hose over the firetruck, letting the water soak everything down.
"So, did you watch the game last night?" Lucas asked, standing a few feet away from me. He was unraveling the rest of the hose so I could move around. He tossed the hose onto the ground and looked at me.
"No, I went to bed early," I said, rolling my shoulders. I was tired after moving all the boxes out of Laura's new office. I didn't sleep well again last night and was working on low energy today.
"Was it a good game?" I asked as I started moving down the truck.
"No, we lost."
"Well, good thing I didn't see it then," I said, turning the hose off. "How is that girl you're dating going?"
Lucas shrugged. "I broke it off."
"Why?"
Lucas made a noise before he shrugged again. "I don't know, I wasn't feeling it. She wasn't catching my attention."
I glanced at him, not understanding him sometimes. Lucas was always so reserved and calculated. Sometimes, I thought he was heartless. It was why we butted heads so much. Lucas didn’t date. He was searching for his mate, and you weren't worth his time if he didn't feel even a tug towards you.
Lucas glanced at me. "No smartass remark for that?"
Maybe, but I had a lot of other things on my mind. Mostly Laura.
"You've been off since Laura started. Would you care to explain that?" he asked. "You got a little crush on her?"
I almost laughed before I looked at him. I know we talked about not telling everyone we dated, but I knew the truth would come out eventually. "We dated."
Lucas looked at me with a straight face and then frowned. "You're joking."
I shook my head. "Nope, we dated in college."
"She isn't from here, though."
"I know." I grabbed the soap, attaching it to the hose. "We dated in college when I went up to Nevada. I have no idea how she ended up here, but she's here."
"Was the relationship long?"
I turned the hose on, spraying the truck with soap. "She's my mate."
Lucas's eyes widened. "Shit. Does she know?"
I shook my head. "I didn't even tell her I was a shifter."
"Well, that doesn't sound like you."
That's because it wasn't. The guy I was today wasn't who I was back in college. I was a lot like Lucas. I followed the rules and wanted to appease my parents, but I quickly learned it didn't make me happy. I changed a lot after my return home.
"I broke it off a couple of days before I moved back. We haven't seen each other since."
"Damn," Lucas shook his head. "And I thought I was mean."
"You are mean," I said, throwing daggers at him. I didn’t like being compared to him when I knew his dating history. "I hurt one woman, while I know you have a line of women you've broken things off with because you didn't feel it."
"I'm not going to drag a relationship along if I know she isn't the one," he said calmly.
"How do you know the person isn't the one if you don't get to know them?" I snapped back, suddenly angry. "You hardly speak to them, hardly get to know them. You think you'll feel a snap when you see them?"
I watched Lucas grind his teeth together. "Says the man who ran from his. I won’t create a relationship and break their heart because they aren’t the one for me."
Someone cleared their throat, and we both turned to see Laura standing a few feet away. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, with a few strands falling free. She was wearing jeans and a green shirt. She looked uncomfortable as she stood there, holding a clipboard.
"Sorry," Lucas said, giving her a tight smile. "Did you need something?"
"I had a few questions for Miles. Ayden said to ask him about the budget."
Lucas threw a look at me before walking around the truck and into the garage. I took a deep breath in and rubbed at my face.
"Was I interrupting something?" She asked. “I can come back if I was.”
"No," I said, shaking my head. "What's your question?"
She turned her eyes towards the clipboard. "My first project is getting the annual firehouse fundraiser set up. It looks like you guys went over the budget last year, and I was wondering what the normal was. I was trying to find it written down somewhere, but no offense....you guys don't have a great system in place. "
I blew some air out and thought. In past years, I helped out with scheduling and setting things up. I wasn't great at it, so we went over budget. "Probably four."
"Hundred?"
"Grand."
Her eyes widened. "You spend four grand on a fundraiser?"
I nodded, "Yeah, we made over twenty-eight back."
She shook her head. "No, I mean you shouldn't be spending four grand a year. What are you even spending it on? How much did you spend last year?"
I blew some air out, trying to remember. "I don't remember."
She shook her head. "Okay, well, we will be coming back to that. What is the amount you guys want to get?"
I shrugged again. "What was it last year?"
She glared. "Do you not remember?"
"No, I wasn't in charge of it."
She grumbled, rubbing at her eyes, and I noticed she had circles. She clearly tried to hide it under makeup, but it was wearing after the day.
"You look tired. Didn’t sleep well?"
She shook her head. "I'm working off about four hours of sleep, so no, not really."
"Did you have a man over?" I joked, pulling at the hose. The switch to turn the spray on didn't flip, and I scowled.
"No, I had to take my son to the ER last night."
The hose turned on and started to spray, and we both jumped as it sprayed over the air. She scowled. "Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing."
I just stared at her in shock. She had a kid? Did I hear her right?
She looked at the clipboard, flipping through the papers, wiping at the water, and my eyes tracked her hand, looking for a ring. I didn't see one or a line from a ring recently being taken off.
My heart felt like it was being yanked out. So, she'd had some kind of relationship. She had a child, so clearly, she had been with someone she had cared about in the past. How old was he? When did she have him? Who was the dad? And was he in the picture?
"I didn't realize you had a son."
She looked at me and then shrugged. "We haven't exactly been in touch, Miles."
I felt like I was freefalling. I opened my mouth and shut it, unsure of what to say. She pulled the clipboard close and tilted her head. "What?"
Was it even right of me to ask who the father was? Was it my business?
"Nothing."
She raised an eyebrow. "I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, but I know your faces still, and that is the expression you have when you have questions, so ask."
I shouldn’t, it’s not my business, but I wanted to know. "Are you… with someone?"
She shook her head. "No, it's just me and Michael.”
Michael. The name was nice, but it sent a chill down my spine. I was suddenly interested in learning everything about him.
“And before you ask, his father is someone I was seeing from my old job that I got straight out of college. He’s going to be six this year in May.
I scowled, realizing I was going to ask that question next. It was rational thinking, considering we had been together, but if his birthday wasn’t until May, he was too young to be mine. There was no connection. We hadn’t seen each other in over seven years.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t think it but…we used to be together.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“Is he okay?”
She nodded. "He's fine, just tired. He's at school. Hopefully, tonight, he can sleep a little better."
She looked back at the clipboard, and I realized that if I wanted to work with Laura, I would also need to get to know her child.
I grabbed my hose, suddenly nervous. "You should bring him by sometimes. I'm sure he'd love it here."
She stiffened for a second before she shook her head. "No."
I frowned, not expecting that. Everyone loves the idea of bringing kids in. Kids take field trips out here. They love the trucks. I didn’t know a single kid who didn’t love the idea of visiting the fire station.
"Is he not well-behaved?"
She snorted. "That kid has more manners than a grown-ass adult."
"Then he would be fine here."
"No," she said, a little colder this time. "And since you're of little help with this," she placed her hands on the clipboard. "I'm going to go ask Ayden about them."
She turned in her heels and started back up towards the garage. I watched her, feeling that instead of taking a step forward, I’d taken a giant leap back.
I thought I knew Laura, but it was clear I didn't. She was an entirely different person. I guess I wasn't the only person that changed.