Chapter Six
Hudson
Checking his phone for the third time in five minutes, Hudson couldn’t help but smile at the picture Bastian had sent.
He’d been getting photos all morning of everything from Bas in his cat condo to Bastian without a shirt as he helped build something in the backyard.
Hudson didn’t know who was taking pictures of Bastian for him, but he was eternally grateful.
“Damn! Look at those tattoos.”
Hudson jumped and slammed his phone to his chest. “EJ!”
“What?” EJ asked as he dropped onto the bench beside him. “Don’t get mad at me because I caught you downloading porn.”
“It’s not porn! Oh my God! Don’t say that!”
Cackling, EJ bumped shoulders with him. “Who’s the hottie?”
“Bastian,” Hudson told him.
“Okay,” EJ drawled. “Who’s Bastian? It’s been three days since I’ve seen you. I was camping in the woods, not off the planet. How have I not met this Bastian who sends you shirtless pictures?”
Had it only been three days? That couldn’t be right. Hudson had to think back. He’d first come across Bas up in the tree after his last shift. And everything else that had happened had just…it had only been three days!
“Why are you blushing? Did you meet on the internet? That’s not so strange. Nothing to be embarrassed about,” EJ said.
“No, I met him in town,” Hudson replied.
“We had a date last night.” One that had ended way too early and with him sleeping alone.
Although he had totally jerked himself off in the shower once he got home.
With Bastian’s permission of course. Not that he was going to share that with his best friend. EJ would find that way too funny.
EJ sighed. “Why don’t I ever meet hot sexy men in town?”
“Maybe because you spend your time off sleeping in a tent in the middle of a forest with no other people around?” Hudson offered.
His friend loved hiking in the state park and camping out.
He’d invited Hudson along but sleeping on the rocky ground in a tent that he’d barely fit in did not sound like a fun time to him.
“There’s people,” EJ argued. “And they’re annoying, being all loud and getting lost and leaving trash on the trails.”
“People tend to do that,” Hudson said with a nod.
“Tell me about your hottie!” EJ ordered. “I swear it’s like every time I turn around I’m seeing some super attractive couple walking down the street together. Where did you find a single one?”
“He’s the owner of Bas,” Hudson told him.
“Bas?”
“The cat that I found in the tree. He was there the next day again so I found out who his owner was. I wanted to make sure that he was being taken care of,” Hudson said.
“You found a hot guy because of a cat in a tree?”
“Yeah?” Hudson shrugged.
“I’m not really a cat person,” EJ said with a pout.
“Well, you can’t have Bastian anyway.” Hudson was staking his claim. Their first date had been amazing. And Bastian didn’t appear to be playing games since he’d been sending text messages and pictures all day.
“Wait!” EJ laughed. “This dude named his cat after himself?”
“It’s a good name,” Hudson defended. He didn’t like EJ making fun of his…well whatever Bastian was. Boyfriend, maybe? Was it too soon for them to be boyfriends?
EJ nudged him again. “So how did you go from rescuing his cat to getting shirtless pictures. Are there any pictures that show…less?” EJ waggled his brows.
“No!” That would be inappropriate. And would make Hudson horny.
Like he wasn’t already horny, he was, but he was also at work.
“We only had one date.” And Hudson still couldn’t believe that he’d been ready to fall into bed with Bastian.
He was thankful that Bastian had kept his wits about him and stopped them before Hudson allowed it to go too far.
Bastian was right. Hudson would have felt funny having sex with a guy that he barely knew, no matter how much he’d wanted to at the time. To Hudson the fact that Bastian kept their interactions to kisses and teasing proved that he could be trusted.
“One date and you’re already getting shirtless pictures? What did you do on that date?” EJ teased.
“Nothing!”
Throwing an arm around his shoulder, EJ pulled him close. “Tell me the truth. I promise not to judge you.”
EJ really was the bestest of friends.
“We just kissed,” Hudson admitted.
“That must have been one hell of a kiss,” EJ said.
“It was,” Hudson replied. “So good.”
“I’m happy for you!” EJ squeezed his neck. “You deserve a good man.”
“How do you know he’s a good man?” Hudson asked. He was certain but it was important for Hudson to hear what his friend had to say. Sometimes Hudson led with his heart and ended up regretting it.
“Because your brother wouldn’t let you settle for anything else,” EJ responded.
That was true. Carter had asked way too many invasive questions when Hudson had gotten home the night before.
It had almost been enough to kill the erection that Hudson had been sporting all night.
Until Bastian had sent Hudson a good night text with him lying in bed, revealing all those sexy tattoos on his chest. “I really like him,” Hudson confessed.
“Then he better take proper care of you,” EJ said. “I’ll kick his ass if he steps out of line.”
“You’re like five foot five and a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet.” Hudson rolled his eyes. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m five foot seven, thank you very much.” EJ scowled. “And I might be tiny but I’m also mighty.”
“That is a ridiculous rhyme.”
EJ pushed him. Hudson began to grab him, but the fire bell rang through the station.
“Another fire?” EJ jumped to his feet. “Not good.”
Hudson scrambled up and they raced inside as the rest of the crew raced around to get ready.
Neatly lined up on hooks was the crew’s turnout gear that served to protect them from the fire they would be battling.
Announcements rang out as Hudson jumped into the passenger seat of the fire engine.
From the parking lot they shared with the police department, marked patrol vehicles were already speeding out.
“Let’s go!” Captain Devlin shouted as he dropped into the seat behind Hudson.
Phil was already pulling out of the garage before the last door was securely closed.
If the fire was in town, it wouldn’t take long to reach their destination, but their department was responsible for a large sector which included the state park.
Even with the massive amount of land and property that they had to cover, there were very few fires in the area.
In fact, Hudson had fought more fires in the last two weeks than he had the entire time he’d been with the department.
It was weird and concerned him as the last two fires had been determined to be arson.
Was there an arsonist running around that no one knew about?
Not that he’d heard any rumors throughout the department for concern but Hudson had brought up the fires when he’d had lunch with the mayor.
Luckily, the fires had been contained to property loss, and no one had been injured.
Yet. That was the problem with fires—they were unpredictable.
If these weren’t accidents, as he suspected, Hudson hoped someone was going to find who was starting the fires.
Pulling out his phone, Hudson sent Bastian a quick text that they were headed out and he would check in later. With their relationship being so new, Hudson didn’t want any miscommunications. He hated miscommunications.
Once he sent Bastian the message, Hudson silenced his phone. Normally he would text his brother, but Hudson had already seen Carter in one of the patrol units leading the way to the scene.
He bounced his knee the entire way to the fire.
Adrenaline coursed through him.
Hudson loved being a firefighter. Not because he was obsessed with fires or anything like that.
He wanted to help people. Being a first responder just settled something in his soul.
Carter had already graduated from the police academy and had been on patrol by the time Hudson was trying to figure out what he had wanted to do in his life.
Following in his brother's footsteps had been an option. Hudson just hadn’t felt the calling for police work though.
And with his height and body structure, becoming a firefighter just made sense.
Finding out that he was actually good at it was even better.
Now Hudson couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
When he lived in Boston, Hudson had enjoyed the bond he’d had with the other men on his crew. In his new town, it was even better. Having a smaller department meant that Hudson was closer with the men and women that shared his passion.
He leaned forward as Phil turned the corner and the fire came into view.
An old barn was fully engulfed in flames.
As Phil parked the fire engine, Hudson was already reaching for the door handle. The vehicle stopped and Hudson was on the move. The crew knew their jobs. Behind them, EJ pulled the ambulance to this side. As both a firefighter and paramedic, EJ had a huge responsibility on the team.
Carter and the other officers were taping off the area to keep the public safe, not that there was anyone around.
“Is the barn empty?” Hudson asked his captain. He did not want to think about any animals that might have been inside. With the fire raging, there would be no saving them and that was devastating.
“Abandoned barn on a property that just sold,” Cap replied. “This was called in by someone passing the area.”
Suspicious. “Are they still here?”
Cap shook his head as he frowned. “No. Wouldn’t give his name either.”
Someone else had to realize that something was going down around town. Hudson opened the compartment for the hose and got to work. He’d worry about the fires later. Hudson hefted the hose over his shoulder. It was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Bastian
He checked his phone for the fifth time in as many minutes. Still nothing from Hudson. His mate was out fighting a fire and Bastian hated that Hudson would be in danger.