Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
NATE
“Does she realize how lucky she was?” Liam asks as we stare down the hallway on Savanna’s floor.
He met us here fifteen minutes ago after Savanna and I stopped at the firehouse to grab some gear. Once we got dressed, we headed into the building right away, with a list and location of everything Savanna needed.
“I don’t know,” I say hesitantly, my eyes glued to the door that I kicked open. It’s charred black now from smoke and flames, and it makes me sick to think that she had been stuck in that room. If we hadn’t found her when we did… “But I’m not going to tell her.”
Liam nods his agreement, his mood sober for once. “Probably for the best.”
Not wanting to stand there and think about the “what if’s” any longer than I have to, we head towards Savanna’s door which has definitely sustained some damage from the smoke and heat. It’s black just like the other door. This one, however, opens when we try it, just like Savanna said it should.
We both take a moment to peer inside, taking in the extent of the destruction. Overall, it’s not bad. There’s definitely some smoke damage that will need to be cleaned up by restoration, but everything looks salvageable from first glance. It’s one good thing about these apartment doors. They can be good in a fire. Unlike the piece of crap door for the trash room.
“C’mon, let’s go,” I tell Liam, just wanting to get in and out.
“Tell me where to start, boss. I’m not opposed to the underwear drawer,” Liam says, punching me in the shoulder as he strolls across the threshold into Savanna’s apartment like he owns the place.
I grit my teeth together to keep from punching him back. “You won’t be going near her underwear drawer,” I growl at him.
It’s something I’ve already thought about, and I figure it’s safer if I take care of the clothes on the list and he can deal with everything else.
“Pfft, dude, I’ll be way better at picking out the good stuff. You should let me do this for you. This way you can be surprised when you finally land the girl,” he says, taunting me.
He’s a smart fucker because he stays out of my reach as I move into the apartment, the need to hit him growing stronger by the second. I don’t generally condone violence, and I’m usually pretty level-headed, but Savanna seems to be bringing things out in me that I’m not used to. I feel protective over her. While that’s not necessarily out of the norm for me with any human, there’s a drive inside me that seems hardwired to protect her.
“You’re on cell phone, laptop, and purse duty,” I tell him, choosing to ignore his teasing. Instead I take a more thorough look around the place, taking in my surroundings instead of the damage.
Everything I see shouts “Savanna” at me. The couch looks big and comfortable, but the chair is what really catches my attention. I can picture Savanna lounging in it, maybe curled up with a book on a quiet evening or watching a hockey game during the season. Both things she mentioned she liked to do last night at dinner.
Plants are scattered around the apartment, most noticeably within a nook at the window, and I smile at all the life that she has within the place. “Maybe see if you can find a box for the plants too. I doubt they’ll survive if we leave them. Hell, some of them might not survive anyway with the smoke damage.”
“Roger that, Lieutenant.”
I roll my eyes and head for the bedroom, finding more of Savanna in here. A lot more. I overlooked it in the kitchen just inside the apartment door, and then again in the living room, but her neatness can’t be ignored in her bedroom. Everything has a place.
She’s got some jewelry stands on her dresser along with a host of lotions and perfumes. A lamp and book sit on her nightstand. A light gray and pink comforter is crisp on her bed, not a dent in the material, the pillows perfectly placed at the top. The place is feminine, organized, and seems like her.
I head for the closet where she told me a suitcase would be and get to work pulling things out, folding them haphazardly and stuffing them in her luggage. She’s probably going to kill me for it, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Once I’ve checked off everything from the closet, I move to the dresser, pulling out everything except for her underwear.
I’m avoiding that for as long as I can, but it’s inevitable that I’m going to get there.
Honestly, I’ve been simultaneously looking forward to it, and dreading it. The number of times I’ve thought about Savanna in her underwear from the night of the fire is probably reprehensible—I try to be a gentleman, but I’m still a guy—and going through her underwear drawer is only going to add to that mental image. I really don’t want to be a creep, though, so I’ve been trying to psych myself up for it.
I can’t put it off any longer. I’ve got everything that needs to go into the suitcase besides her bras and panties, and toiletries from the bathroom. I could go do those first, but if I have to spend more time in her bedroom afterwards, Liam is going to question me.
Christ, he’s probably going to question me anyway.
I’d rather only go through that once, so I suck it up and pull the drawer open, letting out a low “fuck” the second I see the contents.
This woman.
Everything is arranged by color and material. There’s definitely some obsession with organization there, but I don’t mind it.
Jesus, I think I kind of like it.
My eyes are feasting on an array of lace, satin, and cotton in every color under the sun. I can just picture her in her business getup like she had on the first time we met with a pair of bright coral lace panties beneath that pencil skirt, something only she would know, and it’s hot. Really fucking hot.
“Attaboy,” Liam says from behind me, and I slam the drawer shut, whirling around on him.
“The fuck, man?” I bark at him. He’s standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk the size of Texas on his face. “Shouldn’t you be finding a box for the plants?”
“Done. I also did Savanna a solid and cleaned out her fridge. Then I decided to check on your progress. I see it’s going well,” he says, barely containing his laughter.
I know I’m the color of a tomato right now which is probably more obvious in our yellow gear, so I point out the door. “Go be useful and start packing up her bathroom stuff.”
Now he does laugh but heads for the bathroom, calling over his shoulder, “Okay, but don’t jizz in your pants, dude. It won’t be a good look for you.”
Cursing him beneath my breath, I get back to what I was doing. One good thing about being interrupted is I feel more capable of dealing with the underwear drawer. Though by capable I mean I’m just grabbing handfuls of lace and satin and shoving them into the suitcase, paying no attention to what I’m picking up or where it’s going in the bag.
By the time I’m done, I’ve got most of the drawer emptied, and I’m a little concerned that I look even creepier by bringing along so much of her underwear. Maybe I’ll just explain that I didn’t know what to bring, so I took everything. Or maybe I won’t say anything at all. I’m not entirely sure what sounds less like a disgusting, filthy pig.
“Dude,” Liam says from behind me, but this time his voice is full of apprehension instead of amusement. “What the hell is this?”
I turn around to find my best friend holding a velvet bag in one hand, and a mini plastic cup in the other, and I can’t help it, I burst into a fit of laughter.
“That,” I gasp between snickers, “is karma.”
The horrified look on his face has me doubling over.
“What is it?!” he virtually screeches, sounding very un-Liam-like. A second later he’s flinging the cup out of his hand. It hits the bed and bounces to the ground, ending up right back at his feet. The way he dances out of the way like it’s a piece of molten rock has me grasping my sides as I howl even harder. “Dude! What is it?!”
“It’s,” I try to pull in a breath to tell him what it is. “It’s a,” another breath, “a period cup.”
The color drains from his face. Liam, the guy who has never had a relationship in his life, is currently facing something he probably doesn’t even know exists. I have to wonder if he’s ever seen a real tampon in his life, let alone a cup.
“Why on fucking earth do you know what a fucking… fucking peri… why do you know what that is?” he sputters, repulsed.
This might be the funniest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never seen him so horrified, and we’ve encountered some nasty shit in our days as firefighters.
Sucking in a deep breath of air, I try to get a hold on myself. “Christ man. Because I’ve got a sister who lives with me, and she leaves her shit all over the place. Not to mention, I have actual relationships with women, I don’t just fuck them.”
“That is some fucked up shit right there,” he tells me, watching with a grimace as I cross the room and pick up the cup that he tossed along with the bag that also ended up on the floor.
“You do realize where you stick your dick, right?”
Liam scowls at me. “If you ruin sex for me, I will fuck you up. Not another word!”
The guy is going to be a bachelor forever.
He chooses to stand by the door to wait with the things he got together while I finish up the rest of the packing. I think maybe I’ve scarred him for life, and I look forward to the times I’ll have the opportunity to bring this up in the future. The prospect of that makes me gleeful. As much shit as I get from everyone about not having a woman, Liam gets it just as bad for being a player.
Once we’re finished, we make our way back downstairs and out of the building to where Savanna is standing beside my truck waiting for us to return. She perks up when she sees us, jogging over to relieve Liam of her purse and laptop bag.
“You brought my plants?” she asks, looking from them to me.
I shrug casually like it’s no big deal, but I can tell by the gleam in her eyes that it is. “Figured they’d survive better if they were taken care of properly.”
“They weren’t even on the list,” she says, her voice thick with gratitude. “Thank you. Both of you.”
Liam grunts, setting the box on the edge of the tailgate to my truck, clearly not over what happened upstairs. “All I have to say is, you owe me.” He shudders so hard and dramatically I think he might tip the plants over.
Savanna looks to me for an explanation and I pull the little velvet bag out of my pocket and hold it out to her. “You know how they say curiosity killed the cat? Well, curiosity bit Liam in the ass.”
Then, like me, she bursts into laughter, though she tries to cover her mouth and contain it better than I did.
“I definitely want to hear all about this,” she says.
“Screw you both. My part in this is done.” Opening the backdoor to the truck, he sticks the box inside and then shuts the door, hardly giving us another look as he turns to walk to his vehicle. “You both owe me a beer later!”
We look at each other and grin. “I’ll tell you all about it,” I tell her, hoisting her bag into the back of the truck bed. “I should probably also tell you about your underwear drawer…”