Chapter 70
Nick
Together, Tristan and I spend a couple of hours inventorying, inspecting, and cleaning out the ambulance.
We chat while we work, about how his dad and Bobbie are about to tour a memory facility, about how I cooked breakfast for Abigail this morning, about what we could maybe do when we go down to Los Angeles.
“We could see some of my old friends when we go down there,” Tristan suggests. “I know this one guy with a house in Malibu. He throws the best parties.”
“And we should definitely hit up some of the clubs,” I add.
“Yes. You know, there’s this fetish club that I think we should try. They put on sex shows sometimes. Maybe we could see one of those?”
“Look at you, all kinky and shit,” I say with a laugh.
He winks at me, and, god, he’s just perfect. My very soul is aching to tell him I love him again, but I’ll wait. If I must, I’ll wait!
Though it’s almost like Tristan is toying with me.
Something has definitely changed since the other night. Whatever had him anxious seems gone. Like he really is ready to say it, he’s just waiting, stretching out the anticipation.
I smile to myself. That cheeky little fuck.
Oh, I love him.
Mila appears on the other side of the ambulance. “Yo, Nick, Tristan. Cap wants to see us all upstairs for a quick meeting. Something about that rumored inspection.”
I make a face at Tristan.
“Great,” I mutter.
We follow Mila up the stairs. I keep a hand resting on Tristan’s lower back, not because he needs my physical support, but because it just feels good to be touching him.
Captain Hyun is waiting up in the kitchen. Vinnie and Charlie are already there, as well as the team for the engine truck. Captain Hyun nods at us when Tristan and I join.
“Grab a seat,” she says.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
I know Captain Hyun like she’s family, and I can tell from her expression that she’s got something on her mind.
“I wasn’t supposed to know this,” she says, “because it’s supposed to be a surprise, but we’re getting an inspection later today.”
Vinnie and Charlie groan in unison. “Don’t they trust us?” Vinnie moans.
Captain Hyun gives them both a stern look, and they shut up.
“As you know,” the Captain says, “the City has invested a lot of money in our station, reopening it six years ago and getting us the best equipment. What you might not know is that Shaw, the Fire Chief, was never my biggest fan.”
“What?” Mila says, her voice cold. “That racist, geriatric cowboy?”
“Mila,” Captain Hyun says exhaustedly. “That’s not going to help. He’s neither geriatric nor a cowboy.”
“You’re not denying the racist part,” Mila points out.
Captain Hyun frowns and then seems to decide to ignore Mila’s comment.
“Well. Elena Andreyevna gave me a heads-up this morning that she thinks Shaw himself is coming for the inspection.”
I sit up straighter. “You serious?”
I’ve never been too fond of Marshall Shaw, the Fire Chief. As Mila pointed out, he has certain… unsavory views. She didn’t include “homophobic” on her list of his most glowing personality traits, but she easily could’ve.
“I’m afraid I am serious,” Captain Hyun says. “Apparently, he wants to see how things are running here. Elena didn’t know any details, and obviously, she wasn’t supposed to tell me in the first place. So, if he does show up, which he probably will, act surprised.”
We all nod. Fine, fine. We can put up with this.
“When’s he coming?” Vinnie asks.
“I wish I knew,” Captain Hyun says. She shakes her head. “All right. Let’s get back to work.”
We all make to stand, and Captain Hyun gestures to Tristan and me.
“Not you,” she says. “I need to talk to you two.”
Uh-oh. Tristan and I exchange a glance. I catch the others from the truck crew looking at us apprehensively.
“Is something wrong, Cap?” Tristan asks.
Captain Hyun laces her fingers together.
“I’m worried there might be,” she says quietly after the others have dispersed. “You see, Elena mentioned something else. Something sensitive, and I didn’t want to say it in front of the others.”
My stomach sinks.
“Shaw heard about your relationship,” Captain Hyun says. Her gentle gaze shifts from me to Tristan and then back to me.
“I don’t know how it made it from HR to him. I figured it would be no big deal. I know that he’s not the most open-minded person—fuck it, I know that he’s a raging bigot—but I hoped that it wouldn’t be an issue. Even he has to follow equal employment laws.”
Tristan looks horrified.
“What are you saying? Like, will he try to fire us because of our relationship?”
Captain Hyun makes a face. “He can’t do that, at least not directly. But I worry that if he’s coming to do a ‘surprise inspection,’ he might have some ulterior motive.”
She nods at Tristan. “He might be doing it under the guise of checking in on your progress as a probationary firefighter.”
“Fuck,” I mutter.
“My thoughts exactly,” Captain Hyun agrees.
? ? ?
What we are fearing happens only fifteen minutes later, like Shaw was waiting until we were all properly anxious before he arrived.
He’s a big man, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with badly styled white hair, a nose like an old potato, and beady little eyes that look suspiciously around our station.
“I’d be a mean old fuck too if I looked like that,” Tristan mutters, as we look over the second-floor balcony at Fire Chief Shaw.
I hide a smile. “That’s awful.”
“Is it a lie?”
He smiles when I look at him. “No,” I agree. “Not a lie. We should probably go look busy.”
“Maybe we can hope for an emergency while he’s here,” Tristan muses. “Then we can’t talk to him.”
“Be careful what you wish for.”