“Your guess is as good as mine,” Jim said. “As for Jocelyn. She’s keeping quiet about it. She normally does.”
But the nodding of Jim’s head up and down more than once and the wiggling of the eyebrows gave him exactly what he was hoping to hear.
23
MORE THAN SEX
“Dude. Who was the hot chick you came out of the complex with last night?” Justin asked him.
Guess word traveled fast.
“No one you know,” he said.
“I don’t need to know who she is to be interested,” Justin said. “Everyone is talking about it.”
Chance blew out a breath. “They can keep talking,” he said.
“You’ve always been the guy who doesn’t kiss and tell,” Randy said. “It drives us nuts.”
“Sorry, guys. You need to get your own woman.”
“Maybe I’ll pick up a shift or two at the bar and that can happen,” Justin said.
“I need someone to cover shifts if you want,” he said. “Of course it’d be better if we didn’t work the same shifts.” He wouldn’t be drawn into the trap that he brought women home from the bar. Or they brought him home.
“I always say I want to do it but then work other jobs. Scott on the A shift was looking for something part-time. Guess he’s got a ring he needs to buy,” Randy said, laughing.
“Tell him to reach out if you see him again. I’m always looking for people to cover shifts.”
Especially since he had a reason to be off now.
If he said that, the guys would start busting his ass over it.
They got to work on the list of things that needed to be done in the firehouse between calls, him ignoring any comments about where he was last night.
His phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the text from Jocelyn asking how his day was going.
He wasn’t sure of her mood today with him leaving in the middle of the night, but there was no reason to go back to bed, just to get up at five to go home and shower and get ready for work.
They weren’t at a place where he was leaving clothes there and it was a pain to bring his uniform.
Last night, he went home, got in bed and was sleeping in minutes and got up at six, rather than five.
He replied it was a normal day. She said the same and they left it at that.
It didn’t help him any thinking that things were still awkward.
The last worry he needed was that what started for them was going to fizzle so soon.
He didn’t like to label anything, but what they had was more than sex in his mind.
Was she waiting for him to say that? Could it be that?
Last night’s conversation was heavy. More than he had with anyone else.
Their upbringings were like two worlds that would never collide.
Yet they were.
