Chapter 6 #3
“I was glad to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Very well done. The grandmother’s good people. The sister, too. Sure they appreciate what ya did.”
“Just doing my job.”
Ned put his hand on Mason’s shoulder. “Whatcha do means a lot ta us. Doncha ever think otherwise.”
“Thanks, Ned. Appreciate that.”
“Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
“Such a great guy,” Blaine said after Ned had moved on. “Best father-in-law a guy could ever hope to have.” Ned was married to Tiffany’s mother, Francine.
“People like him make this job worth all the crap.”
“For sure.”
Their food arrived, and they dug in like they hadn’t eaten in weeks.
Mason had something he wanted to ask Blaine, but it sounded so stupid in his own mind that he couldn’t imagine saying it out loud.
Still, he had to know, and Blaine was the only person he’d dare to ask.
He forced a bite past the tightness in his throat, which happened only when he was nervous.
It was ridiculous, really. Blaine was one of his closest friends.
He had nothing to be nervous about with him, and yet this was still embarrassing to admit, even to him.
“Can I ask you something kind of weird?”
Blaine ran a fry through ketchup and popped it into his mouth. “Yep.”
Mason had no sooner posed the question than he regretted it. There was no way he could ask such a thing without sounding like a goddamned fool. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“Oh, come on! You’ve got me all curious.”
“If I ask you this, you have to forget I asked ten seconds after, you got me?”
“Ah yeah, I guess.”
“It’s so ridiculous.”
Blaine sat back in his chair and grinned at Mason. “This is gonna be good. Lay it on me.”
Mason felt like he’d returned to middle school. “Have you ever, when doing mouth-to-mouth without a shield, has it ever been like, well…”
“Like what?”
“Kissing?”
Blaine stared at him for a long moment before he blinked. “Uh, no. Usually, I’m grossed out by having to put my mouth on someone else’s when I don’t have a mouth shield handy. Why? Did that happen to you?”
“Nah, it was just this weird thing. Forget it.”
“No way. Who were you… Oh! Jordan Stokes?”
“Shut up, will you?” Mason glanced around to see who might be hearing that he’d felt like he was kissing Jordan Stokes when he blew air into her lungs.
“You felt like you were kissing her?”
“Not exactly, it was just this strange thing. I don’t know. It’s stupid. I never should’ve said anything.”
“You felt something when you…” Blaine rolled his hand to encourage Mason to continue.
“I don’t know what it was exactly. But it was something.”
“I’ve never had that happen. Usually, I try not to think about anything other than getting air to lungs that need it and then finding the Listerine.”
“Same. Nothing like this has ever happened before. It was so bizarre, but her lips kinda moved, like she was trying to get more.”
“Stop it. No way.”
“Yes! I’m telling you. It was nuts.”
“Wow.” Having apparently lost interest in his fries, Blaine appeared to give Mason’s revelation considerable thought.
That was the last thing Mason wanted. “Forget it. It was nothing.”
“What if it wasn’t nothing?”
“I wish I’d never said anything. I already feel stupid enough even thinking it was something, so don’t make it worse.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying that stranger things have happened than connecting to someone during an emergency.”
“That’s not what this was. We didn’t ‘connect.’ I got her breathing normally again.”
“And she tried to kiss you. But other than that, nothing happened.”
Mason signaled for the check, eager to get out of there now that he’d made the huge mistake of mentioning it to Blaine.
Blaine cracked up. “I’m not busting your balls. I swear I’m not. I just think maybe you shouldn’t discount it as nothing.”
Mason tried to retrieve his wallet, but his arm protested the movement. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
“Mr. Saunders picked up your check,” Carly told them. “He said to tell you thanks for your service.”
“That’s so nice of him,” Mason said.
“He’s the best.”
“Don’t repeat what I said about Jordan. I can’t have something like that getting out.”
“I won’t say a word.”
“Even to Tiffany.”
“Even to Tiffany. Let me know how it goes with Jordan.”
Mason rolled his eyes and got up to leave.
“Let it go, Blaine. Seriously.” He walked away as Blaine, that bastard, was still laughing.
He hoped he hadn’t made a huge mistake by sharing such a thing with him.
And why had he, exactly? Stupid fucking move that he’d regretted almost the second the words had been out of his mouth.
He should’ve just chalked up the thing with Jordan to a weird second and forgotten about it.
Except, he could still recall how her lips had moved under his and how she’d seemed to want more.
As he returned to the barn, and they called the fire side of the public safety building, he vowed to put the matter out of his mind so he could concentrate on work. And then he remembered he’d been invited to dinner with Jordan—and her enticing lips.
“Fuck.”