Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
August
Iworked on the watercolor in my stall, watching the vivid colors appear on the page.
The sunset from my date with Drake remained in the forefront of my mind.
My client load was lighter tonight due to a cancellation.
Technically, I could cut out, but I liked taking the time to work in my space around people.
Something comforting existed here that I treasured.
My earlier conversation with Drake was unfinished, but considering he was on a twenty-four, chances were he was dealing with business.
He got a lot of random calls out, but I’d started to recognize the patterns.
If I knew he was on a shift, his silence would be because of work.
It was a reassurance compared to other partners where they’d ghost me or leave me on read.
He always managed to message back when he could, offering me a reassurance I hadn’t realized I’d needed.
Everything with Drake was better than I could’ve imagined.
I wanted to keep him so badly.
And this time, I was going to try.
I snagged my phone and shot out a text. Can you meet up anytime soon?
I knew I wasn’t going to get an immediate answer, but butterflies burst in my stomach. I’d tell him. He was worth the attempt.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” Rory burst into the back from where he’d been manning the front.
“What’s wrong?” I shot up in my seat on instinct from the storm clouds broiling off Rory.
“I just saw a local alert—there’s a bad fire at Turnpoint Apartments.”
My heart stuttered and stilled.
Bad fire.
In the past, it was an abstract thing. The danger was sad but didn’t strike as immediate. Right now, I connected the dots—because it was a local place, and that meant Drake was in the heart of the blaze.
No wonder he wasn’t responding.
Fuck, what sort of bad was this fire? My brain spiraled to worst-case scenarios, and my stomach bottomed out.
“You okay?” Rory asked, concern clear in his eyes. It was obvious why he’d rushed back to tell me the news. “Why don’t you get out of here? You don’t have anything else on the books.”
“Yeah,” I said woodenly, my head bobbing with the nod. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Rory rested a hand on my shoulder. “He’s a professional. He’s done this before, and he’ll make it through this too.”
Even though his words were meant to be a comfort, my terror didn’t subside. I hadn’t ever experienced this kind of fear before, someone I’d fallen for in direct danger like this.
And if he made it out, if he wanted to pursue something with me, I’d experience this in the future again.
I swallowed hard, a metallic fear lingering on my tongue. Yet, I wanted him anyway. I couldn’t turn off the feelings that erupted for him as much as I could stop breathing. If being with him meant worrying more or spiraling every now and again, he was worth it.
“You going to get out there or stare into space?” Rory said, his voice light.
“Right.” I nodded, balled my hands into fists, and then shook them out.
“Going to the apartments would be the best chance of seeing what’s going on.”
Rory wasn’t wrong. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready for what I’d see when I got there. Still, I couldn’t hang back. Not when Drake was out there and in danger, so close to me. My whole body was a taut string that could snap at any moment.
“I’ll text you,” I promised as I cleaned my brushes and put away my paints and the piece I was working on. That could be dealt with later.
“You’d better,” Rory called as he walked toward the waiting area again. I patted my pockets down for my keys and wallet, then headed for the door. Rory offered a nod as I passed by, one I returned before stepping outside.
The sun was bright, but it didn’t seep past my skin, not while my mind rioted. My legs grew numb as I quick-walked over to my car, barely able to register anything else. Fuck, what if Drake got trapped in the building? What if he got hurt?
This was something he did every day. Something he prepared for.
He had to make it out of this.
Because I needed to tell him that somehow, he’d become the person I thought of first when I woke up, and the one I lingered on when falling asleep.
His presence dominated my attention, and being with him made hope blossom that those dreams of finding the right one for me might actually be fulfilled.
I turned on the ignition and set off down the street, clutching the steering wheel with enough force to take it off.
How bad was this fire? All I could see in my mind’s eye was the decimated hulk of a shopping center that had been ravaged by a fire when I was little. I’d seen the scorched beams, the guts that remained of what used to be a bustling strip, but the fire had destroyed it.
Imagining someone surviving that. Fuck.
Black smoke billowed into the air as I neared the apartments.
My stomach churned. That couldn’t be a good sign.
Sirens lit the air as I veered toward the apartment complex.
Cops had arrived on the scene to help manage the crowds.
I parked along the street instead of trying to get near the blockades already in place.
Two fire trucks were stationed in the parking lot, and the glimmer of orange flames mingled with the plumes of choking black smoke that threatened to snuff out the horizon.
My heart accelerated as I parked and burst out of my car.
The stench of the smoke was strong even here, adding to the churning in my stomach, and I loped up the grassy knoll leading to the parking lot for the apartment complex.
The area by the road was being monitored by the cops, but I dodged in through the tree line, sneaking through.
The tenants were all clustered in groups across the parking lot, everyone giving the firefighters a wide berth. A woman was collapsed on the ground in tears with a few people surrounding her and trying to pat her on the back.
My heart squeezed tight. The crackle and groan of the timber sent bursts of panic through my system. Fuck. Where was Drake?
Two of the guys in turnout gear stood by the hose, sending volleys of foam to suppress the fire in the worst area.
Another of the guys raised the ladder to the second floor, and my heart snagged in my chest. Something deep in my gut told me Drake was in there. That he wasn’t any of the guys out here.
And that gut instinct was one I didn’t always listen to, even though it was always right.
The ladder stopped right by an open second-floor window. A minute later, a firefighter in turnout gear stepped up to it, someone hanging onto his back. He climbed onto the ladder with care and surety to his movements, a confidence I’d recognize anywhere.
Drake.
That had to be Drake.
Fuck.
He clutched the ladder, which began to slide back down, with him and an older woman on his back in tow.
“Oh my god!” A scream came from the crowd as the woman who’d been sobbing burst forward.
Another creak sounded, and part of the building behind them on the second floor crumbled. Just fucking fell away. My heart lodged in my throat. He’d been right there. So close to that.
Drake climbed off the ladder, carrying the elderly woman in the process, and got himself onto the ground.
Relief whooshed through me.
The cops were trying to keep the woman back, who attempted to rush Drake and the elderly lady. My hands balled into fists as I kept myself from bursting forward, just to see if Drake was okay. If he’d run into any trouble in there, incurred any wounds in the process.
I took a few steps closer, allowing myself that as he joined the others who were putting out the fire. Another hose added to the effort, and the foam began to suppress the sections it hit, similar to the way he’d smothered the one in my kitchen months ago—even though that felt like a lifetime now.
I swayed in place, relief pouring through me as more and more of the flames were doused, and the firefighters got them under control.
Drake had gotten away from the building, which put him in less danger than he’d been in.
The elderly lady was escorted to the woman who knew her, and they fiercely embraced. Pride thrummed in my chest.
Drake had done that.
He’d saved her life. Carried her out of danger.
As much as I was terrified for him, I was so achingly proud too.
I took a few steps closer, wanting to be near him with every fiber of my being. I wouldn’t interfere while he was putting out the fire, but fuck, I needed to hold him, kiss him, be with him.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there and watched, but I remained steadfast as the crew handled putting out the fire. It went from a hearty blaze when I’d arrived to nothing but charred and smoking remains, covered in foam and then blasted by water.
My heart ached for the people affected by this fire—their homes, their possessions were all scorched to ash by the blaze. But after seeing the risk of more, that they could’ve gotten caught in there, I was relieved that all of them had escaped with their lives intact.
At long last, the fire crew stopped the spray of the hoses and began to tuck them away.
My feet carried me forward.
A shout sounded by my side, one of the cops signaling that I stand back, so I stilled where I was.
One of the firefighters looked in my direction, and he began striding my way.
Drake took off his helmet and mask, his sweat-soaked features dosing me with relief, longing, lust. Everything all at once.
A bright grin lit his face, one that pierced right through my heart. His expression held a giddiness that told me how much he loved this work, that he faced the danger gladly.
And I loved him a little more for it.
Drake walked over to me with long, loping strides, those muscular legs eating up the pavement. The cop seemed to relax once he saw Drake handling the situation and returned to helping situate the crowd.
“Heard there was a bad fire here,” I said, my voice a little hoarse from watching in worried silence this whole time.
“Think we got it managed.” He winked and slipped up to me. The space between us grew so tense I was surprised it didn’t cause a spark on its own.
We hadn’t proclaimed anything between us, and he stared at me, a searching in his eyes as if he was trying to figure out where we were too.
Fuck it.
I closed the space between us and pressed my lips to his.
He wrapped his hand around my nape, drawing me in as he hungrily met my kiss.
Drake took control at once, his tongue driving into my mouth with a possessiveness that made me reel.
After the fear that had roiled through me, kissing him filled me with such elation.
My entire body burst with bright bubbles as I savored each kiss, each brush of our lips together.
God, this man was everything.
The stench of the smoke didn’t even faze me as I drank in his presence, his commanding kiss. I loved him with my whole heart and soul, and I needed to tell him.
Whistles broke out from behind us, and Drake separated from me.
“Going to join the rest of us?” Dooley called over, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Drake lifted a hand. “Be right over.” He shook his head, his dark eyes dancing. “I’ve got to get back to the job.”
“Come to my place after?” I asked. “I’ll leave a key under the doormat.”
Drake’s eyes crinkled with his smile. “Fuck yes. That sounds perfect.”
He gave my nape one more squeeze before separating from me and then waved as he jogged over to the rest of his coworkers—who now knew something was going on between us.
I’d been nervous before, but the fact he’d publicly claimed me like that gave me hope that he wanted more too.
I brushed my fingers against my lips, still sensitive from those bruising kisses, then headed off in the direction of my car.
Tonight, I’d make this real.