Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
DRAKE
The house feels too damn quiet when we step inside. No laughter. Just shadows and the tick of the clock in the hallway.
“Go on, bug,” I say, forcing cheer into my voice as I ruffle Sienna’s hair. “Get your things. Nannan and Grandad’ll be here soon.”
She doesn’t move. Just stares up at me with those big eyes that see too much. “I don’t want to go.”
I crouch in front of her, hands braced on my knees. “What do you mean? You love staying at theirs. Pancakes for tea, ice cream before bed… you always come back spoiled rotten.”
She fidgets with the strap of her little backpack, bottom lip wobbling. “I don’t like leaving you when you’re upset.” Her voice trembles, and another piece of my heart cracks. “You look like you did when Mummy died.”
The words hit me in the gut. My throat closes, and I drag in a sharp breath through my nose, willing myself not to fall apart right here in front of her.
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” I manage, brushing her hair back. My voice sounds too rough, even to my own ears. “Daddy’s just… tired. Nobody’s died. Everything’s fine. I promise.”
She tilts her head, eyes narrowing like she knows a lie when she hears one. She’s too smart for her own good. “I heard Miss Sparks say she couldn’t see you tonight. I don’t want you to be on your own.”
“I won’t be on my own. I’m going out with Phoenix instead.” I make a mental note to text the guys later. Maybe there’ll be some distractions at the bar tonight. Anything beats staying here alone.
“Go on,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You’ll have a good time with Nannan and Grandad. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
Her arms lock around my neck in a tight squeeze. “Promise you’re okay?”
I hug her back, holding on longer than I should. “Promise, bug.”
Anyone going out tonight?
Phoenix: What happened to your date?
Cancelled, mate.
Bear: Cancelled? You wore her out already? She needs a break from dragon boy?
Hollywood: Don’t tell me Miss Sparks gave you detention already.
Bear: What did you do, dragon boy? Accidentally set the school sprinklers off?
Hollywood: Nah, bet he got caught playing tonsil hockey with Miss Sparks behind the bike sheds.
Very funny.
Hollywood: Bro, you can’t hide it. The whole damn station saw you blushing like a schoolgirl this morning.
Bear: Every morning
Bear: I give it a month before he proposes.
Phoenix: A month? More like a week. The man’s whipped.
I’m not hanging with you lot if I’m gonna get roasted all night.
Hollywood: Don’t bother. We’ll just show up at your house.
Bear: With pizza.
Phoenix: Thought she was cooking for you tonight?
Plans changed. Drop it.
Bear: Translation: “She dumped him.”
Hollywood: Savage. You want us to bring tissues or tequila?
Phoenix: Ignore them. I’ll swing by with beers. You in or what?
Yeah. Just bring the beer.
Hollywood: And tissues, maybe lotion too, in case he needs them for his lonely night.
Phoenix: I’ll see you soon.
The doorbell rings ten minutes later. Nannan and Grandad sweep Sienna away in a flurry of hugs, chatter about pancakes, and promises of ice cream. She clings to me again at the door, whispering in my ear, “Don’t be sad, Daddy. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
I watch the taillights disappear down the street. And then the silence crashes back in.
Five minutes later, there’s a knock, then the door creaks open without waiting for an answer. Phoenix strolls in like he owns the place, a crate under his arm.
“You look like hell,” he says cheerfully, kicking the door shut behind him.
“Nice to see you too.” I sink into the couch.
He drops the beer on the coffee table, cracks one, and hands it over. “So. Chief’s sister. Spill.”
I take a long swig, the cold fizz burning my throat. “She ended it.”
Phoenix whistles low. “Already? Thought you two were setting off fireworks.”
“We were.” My jaw flexes. “And then she flipped the bloody switch. One minute it’s bring your hose and the next she’s like ice giving me the cold shoulder.”
“Maybe you came on too strong.” Phoenix says, cracking his own beer.
“I didn’t bloody propose.”
“Didn’t need to. You had the look.”
I scowl. “What look?”
“The look of a man already shopping for family-sized boxes of cereal. Women sense that shit.”
“Women usually like that shit.” I groan, dragging a hand down my face. ”She just turned within minutes, Phoenix.”
He takes a swig, then softens. “Look, older women… they’ve got layers. Complicated as hell. Trust me.”
I arch a brow. “You’re still banging on about Fern Sinclair?”
“Yeah, like I said, complicated doesn’t even cover it.”
Despite myself, a laugh barks out of me. “It was like six years ago.”
“Still. I know when a woman’s pulling away. Sometimes it’s not about you at all. Sometimes it’s about their own mess.”
I lean back, staring at the ceiling. “So what? I just sit on my arse and wait?”
“Depends.” Phoenix props his feet on the table. “You want casual, or you want the whole deal?”
“The whole bloody deal,” I say without hesitation. “Sienna loves her. But me—” My chest tightens. “I can’t put my heart on the line if she’s not all in, Phoenix.”
For once, he doesn’t joke. He just nods. “Maybe… ease off the dragon routine. Not every fire needs to be fought head-on.”
I stare at my beer, his words settling heavy but true. Maybe I came on too strong for her. “It’s over now, anyway. She made her feelings clear. I’m not putting us through another loss with someone who can turn hot and cold like that. We don’t deserve it.”
“Fire and ice.” Phoenix leans forward, pointing at me with his beer. “Women are so unpredictable, mate.”
I chuck an empty bottle cap onto the coffee table. “She looked at me as if I were the problem. Like she’d already decided.”
Phoenix shrugs. “Or maybe she looked at you like she was scared of her own feelings. Either way, don’t go full dragon and burn the whole thing down before you know the truth.”
“Easier said than done,” I grumble, taking another long drink. The beer’s already buzzing in my blood, loosening things I don’t want loosened.
Phoenix stretches, grabbing another bottle. “I’ll crash here if you want. Save you brooding alone in the dark like some moody bastard.”
“I’ll be fine,” I lie, sinking deeper into the couch.
He studies me, then shakes his head. “Fine. But don’t text her.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You’re already reaching for your phone.”
I glare. “You just said to find out the truth.”
“Make her stew in her mess for a while.”
I drop the phone back on the table. Part of me afraid to hear the truth. What if she never really liked me? What if she’s still hung up on her ex? “Did you know she was married to someone called Richard?”
“No. Must have been before my time.”
“Well, yeah, it was about ten years ago. You’d’ve still been in nappies, mate.”
“We’re the same age, dickhead.”
I can’t help but chuckle at that, realisation hitting that when we were both out of college, doing our firefighter training, Ember was going through her divorce. I never felt like there was an age gap between us until now. “Maybe she’s right. She is too old for me.”
Phoenix huffs. “Bollocks, mate. That’s just what Fern said. What is it with older women thinking we’re not mature enough to hold down a relationship?”
“What else did Fern say?”
He shrugs. “Just that she didn’t want to hold me back. I mean, it’s not even like we were in a relationship, we just hooked up a few times.”
“I always wondered why you went with Fern and not her sister Lilly, she’s more our age.”
“Lilly was always off-limits. I mean, so was Fern, but she’d just got a divorce and she was…”
"Desperate?"
He laughs. “No. Mature. She taught me a thing or two at twenty-three, let me tell you.” He points the bottle at me. “Anyway, tonight is all about you, my friend.”
“I’m texting her.”
“Who, Fern?”
“Ember, you twit.”
Phoenix groans. “For fuck’s sake. You’re two beers deep. That’s like drunk texting 101.”
“I’m not drunk.” I fumble with my phone. The screen nearly slips out of my hand. “Tipsy, maybe.”
“Tipsy dragon is still dangerous. You’ll torch the whole thing with one wrong emoji.”
I smirk, thumbing the screen. “What emoji says ‘I miss you’ but not ‘I’m pathetic’?”
“The middle finger.”
I bark a laugh. “You’re a shit friend.”
“Better a shit friend than the mate who lets you send ‘I love you’ GIFs.”
I ignore him and start typing anyway.
You left me burning, pumpkin
Phoenix reads over my shoulder. “Delete that. You sound like a bloody rock ballad.”
I clutch the phone to my chest. “It’s poetic.”
“It’s pathetic.” He grabs a fresh beer and pops the cap. “Next thing you’ll be sending her Kings of Leon lyrics.”
I laugh despite the ache in my chest, type again, hit send before I can stop myself.
I still don’t know what happened today. You owe me an explanation.
Phoenix groans into his beer. “Mate… subtle as a sledgehammer.”
I rub my hand down my face. “She won’t reply anyway.”
The phone stays dark. No buzz. No read receipt. Just silence.
Phoenix finally mutters, softer this time. “Sometimes silence says more than a reply, pal.”
Any sadness I felt before has now turned to anger. I slam the phone down on the table, the thud rattling the empty bottles. “She doesn’t get to just walk away like that. Not after everything.”
Phoenix studies me quietly, beer dangling from his hand. “I know. But chasing her drunk? You’ll only make it worse.”
My chest heaves. I drag a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots. “She lit the match and left me burning, Phoenix. I can’t just sit here pretending it doesn’t hurt.”
“Then don’t,” he says. “But don’t torch what’s left either. Sleep on it.”
I tip back the last of my beer, the fizz hitting my throat like fire, and sink into the couch. The silence stretches between us, broken only by the tick of the clock and the occasional crack of a bottle cap.
But even with Phoenix sitting across from me, the anger doesn’t fade. It coils tighter, molten and restless, until I’m not sure if I want to drink myself numb or storm across town and demand the answers she won’t give.
Either way, I know one thing for certain, I’m not done with Ember Sparks. Not by a long shot.