Collins
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, walking out of his house and down the steps. “I could probably just walk there.” I look over at him, and he glares. “It’s two-thirty in the morning.”
“And it’ll be three by the time I get home, and I can go to bed for three more hours.”
“I have a serious question to ask you.” I stop halfway to his truck and cock my hip. “And you have to answer me honestly.”
“Always.” His hand comes up to tuck my hair behind my ear.
“Will I ever win an argument with you?”
He holds my face in his hands as his thumbs rub my cheeks. “I let you win last night, right before bed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You said we always do what I want to do in bed, and I let you choose the next position.” He smiles big.
“You didn’t let me win. You said, ‘Either on your knees or you ride my dick,’” I say, mimicking his voice.
“And you chose riding me.” He shrugs. “It was a great decision by the way. Watching you on top of me, trying to focus on me while my thumb played with your—”
I lift my hand to block his mouth. He pulls me closer to him, and as I move my hand, his mouth finds mine. His tongue slides into my mouth as I fall into him and the kiss.
He lets go of me, and my eyes flutter open. “See? You win sometimes.” He rubs his nose with mine and smacks my ass before walking to the truck.
“You’re lucky you are really hot”—I march to the truck and open my door—“and you are okay in bed.” That makes him laugh, and I hide my smile as I reach for my seat belt.
“Did you get the bag I packed?” he asks me, and now I look at him with a soft smile.
“Yes. It weighs a hundred pounds.” I put the bag on my legs.
“I just want to make sure that if you don’t have time to stop and eat, you have food.” After dinner last night, he cut me some fruit and then took out a couple of protein bars and some fruit snacks. He also made me a grilled chicken, cheese, and lettuce wrap because I mentioned how I like wraps.
“If you get out and walk me to the door, I’m never going to live that down,” I tell him when we reach the station.
He laughs. “Okay, I won’t walk you to the door, but I’m not not kissing you.”
“Fine,” I give in.
He leans over the console and kisses me. “See? Again, you win.” He kisses my neck. “Call me when you get a chance?”
“I will.”
I enter the station as quietly as I can, knowing the firemen are sleeping.
They also do twelve-hour shifts, but their change is at 7:00 a.m. A couple of us have complained about our shift changes being in the middle of the night, and we’ve requested an adjustment, but it is always ignored for reasons unknown.
I walk up the stairs and head to my locker before grabbing my uniform and going to change.
Only when I try to zip up the pants do I stop and look at my little bump.
It’s coming along. I try in vain to get the button closed, but nothing will make it fit.
I look up at the ceiling and know that in the next week, I’m going to have to come clean to everyone.
I’m almost at four months, way over the twelve weeks.
I take out my phone and send Theo a text.
Me:
My pants don’t fit me. I need to come up with an excuse.
Theo:
How about “I’m having a baby?”
Me:
Thanks for nothing.
Theo:
Baby, there are parts of you that have changed.
I don’t bother texting him because he calls, saying, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You basically just called me fat,” I point out.
“I did not. Don’t ever say that out loud again,” he says, exasperated. “Baby, your body is changing.”
“I look the same.” Though my bra feels tighter. “Okay, my boobs have gotten a bit bigger”—I check behind me—“not my ass though.”
“You were perfect before. You are perfect now, and you’ll be perfect after you have our baby.”
“Barf,” I retort. “I have to go.”
“Have a good day.” The gentleness in his voice makes me shake my head and disconnect.
I go through my bag, grabbing an elastic out of my makeup case, and do a loop with it before putting the button through it. “That’s better.”
I’m pinning my hair on top of my head as Roman comes in. “Hello,” I greet, and he grunts. “It’s two weeks, and then we’ll be back to your vampire hours,” I remind him, knowing he prefers that shift over this one. “I’ll be in the common area.” I pat his shoulder, grab my bag, and walk out.
The morning is so slow. I sleep for two hours sitting on the couch before we get our first call three hours into our shift. I jump up, grabbing some snacks from my bag in the fridge before heading out.
“Here we go.” I smile, getting into the front of the ambulance.
The first call is for someone who has been having chest pain all night.
The calls come in nonstop after that, and when we finally get back to the station six hours later, I’m starving. I’m taking a bite of my sandwich when Theo calls.
“Hey, baby,” he says softly, and I don’t want to smile, but something about his voice just automatically brings one to the surface. “Where are you?”
“Having lunch,” I say while chewing, since I don’t know when the next call will come.
“I’m outside. Can you come out?”
I get up and head down the stairs. A couple of the guys are outside and give me cheeky smiles as I make my way over to Theo, who is leaning against his truck. He’s wearing steel-toe boots, and his jeans and shirt look dusty and dirty, but it’s doing something for me all the same.
“Hey,” I say when I get close to him.
“Are you allowed to kiss at work?” He pushes off from the truck.
“Um, not sure,” I reply, happy to just stand in front of him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m out getting lunch for Caleb.” He glances over at the guys. “He wants us to go out with them tomorrow night. You think you’ll be up for it?”
“Unless I’m on a call, I’ll be done at three. As long as I have a nap before, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, I’m going to go so I can get done by three. We can nap together.” He winks at me, and I know full well I’m blushing. “See you at three.” I watch him walk around the truck, and he stops. “This is the last time I leave you without giving you a kiss. You’ve been warned.”
I roll my eyes. “Bye.”
“That’s the look of a man in love,” Hudson says, chuckling as I pass him on my way back inside. “Didn’t even notice us glaring at him.” I stop walking when he continues. “Had eyes only for you.”
“Good job, Collins,” one of the other guys tacks on. “Heard he’s a good guy.”
“I’m glad I got your seal of approval.” I shake my head and go finish my lunch with a smile on my face.
I’m changing out of my uniform when the phone rings. It’s an unknown caller, but I answer anyway.
“Is this Collins Henderson?” a woman asks me.
“This is she,” I reply, putting my uniform in my bag to take home.
“This is Lisa with Montgavin Power. I’m calling about your house at 246 Bishop Street.”
“Yes?” I swing the bag over my shoulder and give Roman a wave as I head out.
“I’m calling to let you know that work will be done tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“We have to rewire the whole service since someone cut into the wires.” I stop mid-step. “We will be making an investigation into it,” she adds, but all I can hear is a buzzing in my ear.
“Someone cut the wires? I thought maybe it was just a fuse or something.”
“Yes, the technician went there today, and it was cut clean through. If we do find out it was you, Ms. Henderson, there will be charges to your account for the work that was done.” I close my eyes as she tells me the steps that are going to happen. “It should be done by tomorrow night.”
“I didn’t cut my own wires,” I defend myself.
“I was making dinner when it happened. I have a witness who was there with me.” I wait for her to say something, but I’m pretty sure she hears this all the time, and nothing I’m going to say will change her mind.
“Let me know if you need anything else from me.”
“Will do,” she says and disconnects the phone.
I push the door open and spot Theo standing exactly where he was the last time.
“What’s wrong?” he asks me as I approach, his eyes on mine.
Everything in me wants to tell him, but I just can’t do it. I can’t tell him my parents are fucking with me by going out of their way to cut my fucking electricity. The lump in my throat gets so big it’s hard to swallow. “Nothing, really. Just got a call from the electrical department.”
“Yeah?” His jaw gets tight. “And?”
“They can come fix it tomorrow.”
“Good.” He opens the door for me. I get in and watch him walk around the truck and get into his seat. “We need to talk when we get home.” I’m curious, but he doesn’t say anything else before we get to his house.
When he opens his front door, the cold air hits me right away. The door isn’t even closed before he’s pushing my back against it. His hand grips the side of my neck before he kisses the ever-loving shit out of me.
“Want to shower with me?” he asks. I nod my head, and he leads me through the house to the bathroom. He starts the shower as he peels his shirt over his head. “So, I was thinking today . . .”
“Yeah?” I watch him lean down and untie his boots.
“I was wondering if you would be willing to . . .” I wait for him to say the rest. “. . . move in with me?”
“Um, what?”
“We’re dating already.”
“Hasn’t it been just four days since we’ve been official?” I hold up my hand with four fingers. “Not months, not years . . . days.”
“Right, but we sort of have been living with each other for the past two weeks.”
“Um, where?” I laugh. “When was I there?” I point to myself.
He laughs. “We stayed with each other at my other house, near my parents.”
“Right, for three days. Today is four.”
“But before we went there, we were together for two weeks. Anyway, it’s just a number.”
“It’s not a big number. And I have my own house.”
“So rent it out,” he tells me like it’s nothing.
“Or if you want, I can move in there. But with the baby coming . . . all I’m saying is think about it.
I don’t want to go to bed without you knowing you aren’t going to be coming home to me.
” He shakes his head. “Actually, it’s nonnegotiable.
We aren’t sleeping without the other person.
So if you won’t move in here, I’ll move in with you.
My bed is bigger, though, and you do like to sleep like a starfish. ”
“I do not sleep like a starfish,” I defend myself. “How could I sleep like a starfish when you cocoon over me all the time?”
He smiles as if I didn’t just insult him. “I want you close,” he retorts softly.
“Theo, can you imagine what people are going to say?”
“I don’t give a fuck what they say. I know the truth and you know the truth, and that’s all that matters.”
“It’s not as easy as that.” I shake my head.
He comes to me, standing in front of me.
“It is if you make it that easy.” He kisses me and pulls my shirt over my head.
“All I want is for you to think about it.” He bends to kiss the side of my neck.
“Now let’s take a shower because we need to fuck, nap, and then go for dinner.
” I can’t help but burst out laughing. Something I have to admit I’ve been doing a lot more of since he’s come into my life.
Things might be crashing around me, but he makes me feel like he’s got a protective shield surrounding me.
Still, I know more than anyone, a shield can only be up for so long before someone knocks it down.
The next day, I’m in the middle of my shift, sitting on the couch as we wait for the next call out, when my phone rings.
“Hey,” I say to Finley, getting up and walking down the steps to talk to her privately, “it’s about time you called me back.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve been—” She trails off. “I’m here. What’s up? What’s going on?”
“Do you think it’s too fast to move in with Theo?” I ask her, fast-forwarding through all of the rest. “Like, it’s not a good idea, right?”
“Why not?”
“I don’t even know him. He doesn’t know me, and—”
She cuts me off. “Aren’t you guys having a child together?” She laughs. “I’m pretty sure you at least like each other a little.”
“But . . .” It comes out almost as a whine.
“Collins,” she says softly, “what difference does it make that you didn’t know him before or that you get to know him while you live with him?”
“I can’t have a conversation with you when you make sense,” I joke. “By the way, how are you?”
“I found out Davis is fucking his secretary and her best friend, as well as a couple of his clients.” I close my eyes. “And he still refuses to divorce me.”
“Why don’t you come visit me and get away? My house isn’t anything big, and I don’t have air-conditioning, but at least you’ll be away.”
“You really know how to sell a holiday.” She laughs.
The bell rings, letting me know a call came in. “I have to go.”
“Call me later. Love you.”
I spring into action, and for the rest of my shift, I don’t have time to think about Theo.