“Not that you’re not in shape. Girl, you got some muscles,” Brinley added.
“Speaking of muscle, that must make things interesting in bed.” Alley said. “Who runs the show?”
Laughter burst from my lips. These ladies were nothing if not straightforward. “How do you even—”
“Oh please,” Alley started, cutting me off. “We could see it written all across your face the moment we walked in today.”
My hand went to my face and the girls giggled.
“We’ll get to the details of that in a bit,” Alley said as we slowly made our way out of the room and back down the hall toward the lobby. “I want to add first that we all have your back with the bastard who is giving you hell.” Her tone was venomous and bold as she came to a halt and looked me in the eye. “You’re one of us.”
“You’ll get used to her,” Gemma said, teasingly. “And she also has all the baseball bats if push comes to shove.”
I’d heard about the bats, but I hadn’t seen them.
Alley’s eyes twinkled with humor, but the edge was still there. “Just pick a color,” she told me, wrapping her arm through mine as we started walking again.
I so wanted to be her when I grew up.
Chapter Twenty-Four
BRONSON
Only a few more days.
We’d been busy between work schedules and other things, but date night was finally on the horizon. While it had only been a few weeks since I officially asked my girl to go out with me, it had felt like forever.
It was Wednesday. Lake and I both had to work that evening so Stormi was staying with Embry. Normally I’d been working days so I was with her, but we had a few guys out sick so I was covering a shift. Luckily the girls got along well and since they’d started going to the same school, it worked out great when situations like that came up.
Things had been fairly quiet all evening and I found myself constantly thinking about Lake. Not one to get involved, I didn’t do the whole dating thing. Or at least I hadn’t until Lake.
Friday couldn’t come soon enough in my book.
Just then a call came in. I let thoughts of Lake drift away as we headed toward the traffic accident on a very bad stretch of highway.
When we pulled up with multiple emergency crews already on scene, I couldn’t help but wonder if Lake was there.
While we hadn’t bumped into each other previously during our jobs, I got a niggling on the back of my neck that screamed it was about to change.
And things didn’t look good.
I just didn’t realize right away how bad they might be.
Chapter Twenty-Five
LAKE
“Stay with me,”I urged in a soft, pleading tone.
Even through my clothing, sharp edges of stone bit into my knees where I was perched on the rocky hillside. Through the open passenger door, I held the hand of the woman trapped in a mangled vehicle that had careened off the winding road above.
The car had flipped, only stopping by the grace of God when it hit a big tree. The red Honda managed to land upright, but the crunched dashboard had the lady’s legs pinned, not allowing me to free her from the unstable vehicle.
I was afraid it could slide at any moment, taking the woman and me with it as it barreled the remaining distance down the embankment. But I refused to leave with someone stuck inside, knowing there was a chance they could be saved, even if my colleague had practically begged me to. I could hear the worry in his voice, but I held steady. I had to.
I’d been to many calls just like this one and while I worked to compartmentalize my emotions so I could do my job as efficiently as possible, it was never easy seeing someone so scared and in pain.
Heaven forbid if they didn’t make it. That stayed with me for a long time after. I knew I couldn’t always save everybody but I would damn sure try.
