Chapter 8
Tristan
I walk between the ladder truck and the fire engine, their red paint gleaming and reflecting on the polished concrete floors of the bay.
The space is large and airy, with high ceilings.
It smells clean and mechanical, and is strangely cozy, with ceilings designed to look like timber frame (though I suspect they’re actually metal because, you know, fire hazard), framed photos neatly arranged on the walls, and shockingly soft lighting.
The bay extends back to a wall with doors labeled “offices,” and on the left, there’s a staircase leading up to a loft-style second floor.
I hear voices from above, so I take the stairs.
“Probie!”
Five firefighters are sitting at a table with a platter of donuts and coffee, and they’re all beaming at me.
One of them, a woman in her fifties with shoulder-length black hair and strong dark eyes, stands and walks to me to shake my hand. “Captain Elizabeth Hyun. Welcome to the team.”
“I’m Tristan Cavanagh. Nice to meet you.”
Captain Hyun gestures to the others at the table.
“Let’s meet the crew! This isn’t everyone, because some of the engine crew aren’t here yet, but you can meet them later.
Here we’ve got Vinnie Siragusa, Charlie Morton, and Mila Chaudhary, who are usually in the truck.
Then, in the ambulance with you, we’ve got Nick Gutierrez. ”
I’ve never been a fan of prank videos or shows.
I tend to be awkward in my life already, and I don’t need any help from hidden cameras.
I’ve never been paranoid that I’m secretly being pranked, but right now, I’m about 75% sure someone’s about to jump out with a camera and an air horn and shout, “Gotcha!”
Because sitting at the table, gorgeous, handsome, chiseled face showing just the slightest amount of utter shock, is the very same Nick Gutierrez I met at a fetish club last night.
The very same Nick Gutierrez who asked me out.
The very same Nick Gutierrez, whom I said yes to, and who just moments ago was inspiring the first butterflies in my stomach for over a year.
That Nick Gutierrez.
They say the universe has a sense of humor, and to that, I say fuck me.