Chapter 23
Wyatt
Disaster strikes.
The big red ball between Liam and me dislodges, and because I’m already leaning forward on my hands and knees, I plummet headfirst into his crotch. A wheezing breath bursts from him, and he hinges forward, getting a face full of my ass.
“Fuck,” he groans, “my nuts...”
“Well, that’s a different meaning to getting head,” Luke comments, laughter spilling out along with everyone else.
Liam tumbles over, hitting his knees before rolling to his side, grabbing his junk.
Quinn gasps between her giggles. “I can’t wait to tell everyone Wyatt gave Liam head.”
“Best head I’ve ever given,” I tell them, pushing up to my knees, and everyone bursts into a fresh round of laughter. “A little soft, but—”
“There was nothing soft about your fucking head,” Liam chokes out.
“You weren’t supposed to move the way you did, Liam.” Nate shoves off the front of the fire truck and picks up the red fitness ball that we’d been using to create a social media video. “You only have yourself to blame.”
“Yeah, this wasn’t a face down, ass up situation,” Hailey says, looking down at the phone in her hand. “You were supposed to stay upright while he went through your legs.”
“I was trying to protect the family jewels,” Liam groans, flopping onto his back and slowly sitting up.
Brody snorts a laugh, kicked back against the station wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “How’d that work out?”
“Fuck off. He wasn’t trying to get his big-ass man-body between your legs with a ball between you,” Liam says, adjusting himself.
I push to my feet, then hold out a hand to him, allowing it to distract me from the itch across my pecs from the tender tattoo there. “Not my fault you’re short as shit.”
Liam glares at me, but takes my hand and lets me help him to his feet. “Five-eleven is—”
“—ten—” Quinn throws in.
“—a respectable height, fuck you very much. Brody is a giant and he wouldn’t be able to do this either.”
My eyebrows shoot up, and I glance at the man who joined me in getting new ink last week.
That day things changed between us. The cold shoulder he constantly gave me dissolved, and we’ve spent a couple days hanging out.
He offered to take me to a beginner surfing spot to show me the ropes of what he does, and I offered to help him make an ass out of himself on social media.
I did it as a joke, not thinking he’d go for it, but then he got this gleam in his eye and nodded, laying out an entire plan.
A plan that Liam has just fed into perfectly.
“That sounds like a challenge to me,” I call out to everyone. “I think Brody could do it.”
“But he won’t.”
“Brody would never.”
“Hah!”
“Brody, you watched the video, right?” I ask him.
He nods.
I’m not sure if anyone else sees the smallest hint of a smirk, or if it’s only because I know the truth.
“Think you can do it?”
The smirk tugs up further, making itself known for everyone to see. “Bet I could do better than Liam.”
“Bullshit,” Liam spits, finally standing back up. “Fifty bucks says you can’t.”
“Do you ever learn?” Hailey asks. “You remember the last twenty you lost to me when it came to Wyatt?”
“You fuckers cheated,” Liam accuses, pointing a finger back and forth between her and me. “You set me up.”
“They spelled it out right in front of you,” Quinn says, patting him on the shoulder. “We were all there.”
Liam eyes us all. “Whatever. There’s no way Brody does this better than me.”
“What constitutes better?” Brody asks.
“Get through the whole thing.”
Brody eyes me. I give a shrug. This is up to him.
We’ve practiced this whole orchestrated dance trend.
An exercise ball between us while we use it to move around each other in a simple, but complex looking set of moves.
I’m certain we can do it, but we were also a few beers in at my place, so doing this sober might be a whole new challenge for him.
He gives me a subtle nod, then looks directly at Liam. “Make it a hundred and we’re on.”
“For a hundred, you need to do it on the first attempt,” Liam counters.
Brody glances at the ball slung under Nate’s arm, gives it a moment of contemplation, then nods. “No problem.”
I can’t tell if he’s nervous or just making an act of it. It solidifies the fact that I would not want to play this man in poker. He’d bluff his way through a seven-two off suit and come out with the entire pot.
“Hailey, you recording?” I ask, catching the ball that Nate throws me.
“Yes.”
Brody pushes off the wall and comes to stand in front of me.
We’re between the station and Hailey, who is closer to the street, with Nate, Quinn, and Liam dropping down onto the bumper of the firetruck to watch.
They’re in view of the camera so that it catches their reactions, and I know it’ll be a hit on socials when I post it.
“Ready?”
He nods, and I put the ball between us, the two of us using our chests to keep it in the air.
Then, both our arms are up and we’re spinning in opposite directions, the ball staying stationary.
Once we’re facing each other again, me holding back laughter, Brody looking like he’s trying not to shit himself, we squat down to the ground at the same time, the ball moving with us.
If it weren’t for the ball, we’d look like we were going to kiss each other, and it has me laughing as we stand back up.
Each of us grabs the ball with the opposite hand, step backward from each other, twist the ball around so the back of our hands is holding it, then walk towards each other, back to back, the ball sliding along our shoulder blades and down the opposite arm as we face each other with me in his original place, and him in mine.
“This is where they’re gonna fuck up!” Liam calls out, because this is where he fucked the whole thing up.
While Brody stays upright with his hands up and out to the sides, I kneel, keeping the ball between us by moving my face along it, then my head.
Which in turn makes the ball slide down Brody’s body, over his junk—the spot Liam got squeamish about—and through his legs as I crawl between them, rolling the ball along with me as it moves over the back of my head and down my shoulder blades until I get back to my feet so Brody and I are facing away from each other.
“You’re about to lose a bill, Liam.” Quinn’s glee is tangible throughout as everyone laughs.
With both of our arms in the air, we spin back toward each other and high five with both hands.
I let out a whoop of victory, taking the ball from between us, and I’m half surprised when Brody follows suit with a holler of his own, holding his hand out to Liam.
“Pay up.”
Liam shakes his head. “How the fuck did you, of all people, do that?”
Brody shrugs, taking a few steps towards him. “I paid attention.”
“It’s not that hard—”
I’m cut off mid-sentence when a cascade of water drenches me from above, followed closely by a second one. Shouting as I put the ball over my head and hit my knees instinctively trying to duck, a round of laughter and shouts erupt.
Looking way up to the roof of the building, Luke stands grinning over the edge with a bucket balanced on the side. He waves, wiggling his fingers at me.
“Nice dance,” he calls down. “Thought you needed a celebratory shower.”
The words “you asshole” are about to leave my mouth good naturedly, but at the last second I remember we’re outside the station where the public can very clearly hear me.
Swallowing down the curse, I hold up my middle finger of the hand still holding the ball up.
It’s positioned so no one but him and the rest of the crew can see it, which sends everyone into another fit.
“I’ll get you back for that,” I yell, getting to my feet.
“Get back at Brody, it was his idea!”
Brody looks up at Luke. “Nark!”
Luke shrugs. “Hailey made me promise not to get into another war.”
“You were all in on it!” I accuse, pointing a finger at each of them.
Their looks of guilt are blatant, but it’s only mock outrage on my part. Being pranked is a rite of passage, and I know what it means. I’m accepted. I’m one of them. These are my brothers and sisters, through and through.
It fills a void in my chest. When I left home and came to California, I had no idea what was going to come of it.
Didn’t know if I’d have to turn around and go back home and admit defeat to my dad and brothers or if things would turn out.
I knew getting through fire academy was the first step, and being accepted as a probie was the second, which filled the homesickness void that sometimes clawed at me.
When I swapped stations, the void came back; it was another road of unknowns, but then there was Bryn.
As short lived as that was, it helped me through the awkward first month of getting to know a new group.
The ache in my chest when I think about her is strong enough to knock me on my ass most days, but moments like this, with this group, with Brody, have dulled it enough that I can handle it. That I can keep the hope for us alive.
She’s meant for me. A week removed from her breaking things off, and I’m still sure of it.
“Be happy I knew,” Hailey said, coming to my side. “Why do you think I asked to film everything from your phone?”
My jaw drops as she holds it out to me. “Did you film that too?”
“You bet your ass I did.”
Taking the phone, I engulf her in a bear hug. One that she very much protests but has no way of getting out of. By the time I’m done, she’s a quarter soaked as me, and I’m grinning as she smacks me in the chest.
“Jerk!” But she says it with a laugh.
“Giving head and making the ladies wet.” Quinn gets up from the bumper. “So much talent, cowboy.”
“What can I say?”
“You better go get changed…” Nate says, the last word trailing off as his attention diverts over my shoulder.
A car is pulling in behind me, and I turn to find the words “Fire Investigator” lettered across the panel beneath the SUV’s rear driver-side window.
Behind the wheel, a blonde woman reaches for something in the back seat, revealing hair pinned back in a low bun.
She climbs out a second later, pausing when she takes in the scene in front of her.
Me looking like a drowned rat, exercise ball tucked under my arm, water all over the pavement, and everyone standing around just outside the bay doors.
Slowly her eyes move skyward, but Luke’s not there anymore.
He’s making his way to us from inside the bay, still smiling from ear to ear.
Pleased as shit with himself and what they pulled off.
It makes me wonder how much he knew ahead of time, if Brody put him up to it.
I didn’t even notice him disappear. An oversight on my part.
“Nate,” the fire investigator says.
Nate nods, coming to meet her halfway, which is just a couple feet from me. “Tina. How you doin’?”
“Better than this one, by the looks of it,” she says, waving in my direction. “Breaking him in gently, I see.”
Nate shrugs. “You know us. Nothing like a few harmless pranks.”
“The things I miss about being in a house,” she says, then glances at all of us. “I wish this was strictly a social call, but it isn’t.”
“Arsonist?” Brody asks, coming to stand beside me. Close enough to hear everything but far enough to maintain the respect of Nate being the lieutenant and her addressing him first.
She nods solemnly, holding a folder out to Nate. “You know we’ve linked fires from four districts to him, but there’s something more concerning starting to emerge.”
Nate opens the folder and scans the top page. His eyes dart up. “The last three fires were all within our district.”
Tina nods, the rest of the crew joining in a semi-circle around her. “That’s not the worst of it.” She pauses, meeting Nate’s gaze again. “The last three were all while you guys were on shift.”
“Fuck,” Liam breathes.
Tina’s lips form a grim line before she delivers the final blow, “Your crew may be a target.”