Chapter 22 - Beck
~
Beck
“Rhea!” I hurried across the station’s lawn to where Rhea was standing on the sidewalk. “Thank you for coming, Madam.”
I gave her a deep bow and she laughed. “I was told there’d be lemonade.”
I was glad that she’d agreed to help me out with the community open day. I was supposed to do the kids’ talk and tour, and that was a tough job to take on alone. If Rhea was there, I was sure that I could make the experience fairly magical.
“Oh, there is,” I said mysteriously. “Only the finest of lemonade for the grandest of princesses.”
This time, Rhea shook her head at me as she followed me to the lemonade station, where one of the administrative staff was filling several huge jugs. I wasn’t sure there would be that many people, but I wouldn’t complain if we had leftover lemonade for the rest of the week.
I got Rhea and myself each a glass, before I spotted Calder across the lawn, busy installing one of the banners.
My jaw tightened. He and Ash had filled me in on Rhea’s suggestion, and told me exactly what had happened on the morning of the ice cream fire.
They’d both told me to think about being part of the whole thing, that they both thought it could work out well for all of us.
I wasn’t so sure about that.
It had been fun so far, dating her alongside them, but it was meant to be a competition. I’d had my heart set on coming out on top, not ending in a tie. I was hoping there was still a chance that she’d change her mind, but I didn’t think that was very probable.
Which meant that I had to choose whether I could share her, or whether I would call it quits.
“You okay?” Rhea asked, looking up at me with eyes that could melt steel.
I smiled. “Oh, yeah, just thinking about my speech. You think kids would want to know about the full historical relevance of the color red when it comes to firefighting? Or would it be better to just show them cool stuff?”
Rhea raised an eyebrow at me and glanced at the rig. It was perfectly shiny, prepped to have dozens of kids climbing into the driving seat and dreaming about being firefighters one day. “I think maybe cool stuff is the way to go. Most kids aren’t particularly interested in color theory.”
I didn’t point out that that wasn’t what color theory meant. Rhea might not always have had the perfect puns in the bank, but the longer she was with me, the more accurate her jokes would become. It was one of the perks of being in my vicinity.
“Fair, fair,” I nodded slowly, rubbing at my chin as if I was deep in thought. “Last year, we had Roberts on it. I can’t believe he abandoned us for the big city.”
“You don’t like kids?” Rhea’s question was curious rather than accusatory.
“No, they’re fine,” I answered insistently. “I’m just not particularly experienced at interacting with them.”
“Mm, step one would be using simpler language,” she suggested with a sly wink. “Maybe stay away from all of those big words.”
“Good advice.”
“But I wouldn’t worry.” She traced a finger over my arm. “You’ve got this. You’re funny and confident, and you’re a firefighter. You’re going to do great. Anyway, what can I help with?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot I’d asked you to come for a reason,” I said awkwardly. “Uhm, could you help me put up the posters on the tour’s stops? Ash said that visual presentations will make it more… engaging.”
“Of course.” Rhea patted me on my arm. “Just show me where.”
We walked around the station, putting up posters and joking with one another.
The whole time, it felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Whenever I saw Calder or Ash working on their parts of the day, I felt a powerful pang of jealousy.
One part of me wanted to fight them, but I also saw the way that they looked at Rhea, and the way that she looked at them.
It made it harder that she was looking at me in the same way.
The two of them had agreed to do this whole thing together. I felt the pressure of that weighing heavily on my shoulders. I didn’t want to be the one guy who ruined everything. But I wasn’t sure whether I could give her what she wanted from me.
“There you go, last one,” Rhea said when we’d finished with the poster on the door of the gear room. “It’s almost time, isn’t it?”
“Starting in fifteen,” I answered nervously, shaking my shoulders and arms to try and get rid of some of my anxiety. “I hope I don’t bomb.”
“No way,” Rhea said, taking my hand and opening the door to the gear room. I followed her curiously, wondering where this could possibly be going. It’s not as if we had a lot of time to get up to shenanigans.
Inside, Rhea put her hands on either side of my face, staring intently into my eyes. “You’re going to be amazing. You love your job, and you’re a hero. The kids know that. They’ll think you’re the coolest thing since sliced bread.”
“That’s a high bar,” I whispered. “Sliced bread is really cool.”
She chuckled, before pulling my head down for a kiss. It was short and gentle, the kind that could encourage you to run into a burning building. I felt myself gain a bit of courage, and I suddenly believed that I truly could do anything I put my mind to.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile when Rhea backed away. “I might need a top-up a little later.”
Rhea shook her head as we left the gear room. “We’ll see how the day goes, okay?”
“Aww,” I said, but the playfulness I felt drifted off as I noticed Calder approaching us. He had a mischievous look on his face, one that wasn’t very familiar to me.
“Hey, there’re some people already.” He gave Rhea a wink. “Don’t sneak off too often, they might notice.”
Rhea blushed, and gave him a playful hit on his arm. She seemed to be really happy right there, between the two of us. Almost automatically, she leaned against me.
“Don’t worry, I know how to behave myself,” she answered, before starting to walk away. “Ash actually asked if I could help give out some fliers. I’ll see you guys later, okay?”
We both watched her walk away, and Calder let out a sigh when she was out of earshot.
“She really is something, isn’t she?” he said to me, and I simply nodded.
I wasn’t sure how to say what I was feeling.
Mostly, it was confusion. I could see how Rhea lit up when she spoke to Calder, and how comfortable she seemed around both of us at once.
I didn’t want to take that away from her, but I didn’t know if I could really date her seriously with two other men.
I did manage to settle on something to say. “She’s magnificent.”
“Ah, I know you’re not sure about all of this,” Calder answered, probably sensing my hesitation. “But just give it a chance. You might be presently surprised.”
He slapped me on my shoulder before he headed off, probably to go prepare for his own talks on the grownup side of things. I headed over to the fire engine to wait for more people to show up.
Soon enough, the entire station was abuzz with curious people; mostly kids gawking at the engine and parents grabbing lemonade.
I noticed Rhea flitting through the crowd like she was dancing, offering informational pamphlets to everyone with a bright expression. Everyone seemed to be enchanted by her, and I couldn’t blame them. Just being around her was enough to put anyone in a good mood.
Is it greedy of me to want that all for myself? I thought as I helped a dad get a good picture of his toddler in the rig. Would the magic be more powerful if I shared her with the others? What if it’s far better than I could imagine?
“Thanks,” the dad said, and I nodded at him. The little kid offered her hand for a high-five, and I complied, to which she giggled.
“Fire-man!” she squealed happily, and that made me laugh. Maybe Rhea was right. I was doing pretty well so far, and most of the kids were just excited to meet a real life firefighter. None of the embarrassing scenarios I’d imagined the previous night had happened yet.
The day still had a ways to go, but I was feeling good. When Ash called me out to demonstrate the hoses, I even felt like showing off.
“Absolutely no tricks, Beck,” Calder warned me with a serious face as I approached the hose. “Do not stand on one leg, do not point the hose at the sky, no crazy antics.”
“Buzzkill,” I sighed, rolling my eyes for extra drama.
“Health and safety isn’t a joke,” Calder insisted. “We don’t want people thinking they can copy you and getting hurt.”
“Fine,” I breathed rebelliously, stomping over to the hose like I was about to throw a tantrum. From the corner of my eye, I could see Calder scoff. He was amused.
Ash took up the job of crowd control, one of his less practiced skills.
Luckily, he did just fine, and our demonstrations all went off without a hitch.
I soaked in the claps and the cheers, and the adoration of the people.
It felt as if we were being praised by thousands, even though the real number attending the event was probably closer to about a hundred.
Maybe less, I’d never been particularly good at math.
“Hot dog time!” I announced around lunch, carrying my full tray around and offering refreshments to everyone I came across.
Rhea was standing with Ash a bit further out from the busiest part of the event, but I went out of my way to offer them each a good ol’ dog.
“Hungry?” I asked, glancing from Ash to Rhea.
Ash seemed a little annoyed with the interruption, but Rhea’s smile never faltered. “Bet I can eat one faster than you.”
“That so?” Ash raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief. “Beck, do you believe she can?”
“Mm, doubt it,” I replied, leaning in to whisper to her. “Ash is the fastest eater in the station, except for me.”
“Please, you lost the last competition,” Ash said hurriedly, grabbing one of the hot dogs from my tray. “If anything, we’re neck-on-neck.”
“That was just because I already ate!” I defended my honor, and this turned into a stare-off between Ash and I.
That was, until Rhea cleared her throat, and we looked over to see her wipe a bit of ketchup from the corner of her mouth. “I win.”
Ash and I both laughed, and the competition was somewhat forgotten.
“I should see if there’s something I can help with,” Ash eventually sighed. “Promised Calder to get more involved in community work. Don’t want him to think I’m trying to slack off.”
He gave Rhea a quick look before he left. She offered him a little wave before turning back to me. The way she was looking at me now had me convinced.
“Can we talk privately?” I asked, nodding toward the side of the station, where there weren’t any people. Rhea frowned, but she followed me anyway. I didn’t want to make her worried, but I also didn’t want to do this in front of the whole neighborhood.
As soon as we were out of eyesight, I started my speech. “Look, Rhea, I really like you. Like, a lot. Very, very much.”
“Okay…” she said, trailing off with a glance at the tray of hot dogs I was still holding. It probably wasn’t the best prop for this conversation, but I’d completely forgotten to hand it off to someone else. So, it would have to do.
“And I know you like me, too,” I continued. “But I also know you have feelings for Calder, and for Ash, and they feel the same way about you as I do.”
Rhea stayed silent, probably waiting for me to drop a bomb.
“And I’ll be honest, I’m not sure it would work for all of us to keep dating you at once.” I saw her face fall for a moment, but I pressed on. “But… I’d like to give it a shot. I’m not going to fight my feelings for you, even if that means I have to share you.”