“Sure,” added Kellan. Before I could either agree or disagree, my little group of friends walked after Paisley, leaving Macey and me with Hansen, who was still scoping me out as though he were trying to pin exactly what he didn’t like about me. At least, that’s what I figured he was thinking. But he was probably thinking nothing of the sort because Erik Hansen probably didn’t think that bad on anyone.
But even that didn’t make me feel better.
“B,” Macey said, stepping forward to squeeze Hansen’s arm. “You’re going to scare him off. Knock it off.”
“I’m not even doing anything,” said Hansen, looking insulted.
“Yes, you are,” insisted Macey. “You’ve got that demeanor about you. The same one you use on all the new recruits to make them afraid of you.”
I forced a laugh that could have been nothing more than an awkward squeak, hoping to break the ice, but it seemed to be frozen solid between us. I didn’t know what I could say at this point to get this guy to like me, so I figured just being me would be a fair gamble.
“It’s fine, Mace,” I said, putting my hands in the air. “I wouldn’t expect him to like me right off the bat. I’ve got to impress him, right? Show him that I’m good for you.”
“That’s right,” said Hansen, and I swear I saw the small smile flicker on his lips, but it was barely there before it was gone. Still, progress.
“He acts tough, but he’s a teddy bear,” Macey told me, gently nudging Hansen’s arm. “Isn’t that right, B? You don’t have a mean bone in your body.”
“She’s full of it,” Hansen said to me, and I silently agreed that she probably was. Erik Hansen was captain of the firehouse and a respected man in this town. I wouldn’t want to tangle with him on a bad day.
“Come in, Jayce,” Macey said, tugging at my hand again. “I’ll take you to meet everybody.”
Feeling like I hadn’t even adequately dealt with the first person on Macey’s list, we followed Hansen through the lounge area and back into the kitchen where a few more firefighters were already sitting around the table. A couple were eating, a handful were reading different parts of the paper, and some were playing cards or reading books. This seemed to be the number one hangout spot in the station. It felt like walking in on a family before supper.
“Everyone, this is Jayce,” Macey said, pulling me up to her side as Hansen went to the fridge for drinks. I looked around at the new faces as they waved their hellos and nodded their heads in greeting.
“Jayce, that’s Kyle Wolf on the end,” said Macey, nodding towards a beefy guy who glanced up to scope me out. “Kyle is Rescue Squad Lieutenant. And these other weirdos are Nick, Matt, and that’s Captain Davis over there.” As she pointed, a dark-skinned man stood up from the end of the table and nodded at me. He was very possibly ten times more intimidating than any of them, but he had a kindness about him that I imagined made for a good Fire Chief. A stern father-figure, of sorts.
“Jayce,” the older man said with a small smile. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. We’ve all heard a lot about you.”
“Only good things, I hope.”
“Depends on the day,” teased Macey.
“Here.” Hansen handed me a can of soda, and another to Macey, and she took a seat at the enormous table. I followed suit. It was intimidating to be dating a woman who was constantly surrounded by some of the toughest guys in the state, but I didn’t mind, because I had nothing to hide from them. They were a family here, I could tell, and I was glad she had them, especially since her own family, aside from Hansen, was so far away. I envied the relationship here, the closeness.
“Of course only good things, Jayce,” Macey continued, popping the top on her cola to take a drink. “There’s nothing bad to say.”
“And if there is, she’s not going to tell me,” Hansen muttered from across the table, but Macey glared at him.
“You’d be the first one I’d tell, B.” She looked at me, popping her eyebrows teasingly. “Word would get around this station, Jayce, so try not to break my heart.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said softly, and that was the entire truth. Firefighting family or not, I couldn’t imagine ever hurting Macey. Not ever. But as I opened my mouth to start to say this, the echo of my friend’s excited voices bounced off the walls, and I knew they were on the way back from their tour. A moment later Paisley came through the door, followed by our small crew of friends. Dalton and Beau were talking excitedly about the surprising strength of the fire hose while Kurt, Candace, and Kellan still hovered around Paisley, deep in conversation about the running of the ambulance and the calls she’d been on. Macey stood when they arrived and introduced everybody, and I was mildly surprised to see that my friends actually looked glad to be there. As if they were enjoying themselves.
“Thanks for letting us come and see the place,” Candace said, sliding into a chair next to Macey. “It’s really cool here.”
“You are all welcome any time,” Hansen said, and Chief Davis and the others nodded.
“It’s a safe place here,” said Chief Davis.
“Unless you break our M’s heart,” said Kyle Wolf. He didn’t smile when he said it, and I knew he wasn’t really kidding. Kyle Wolf wasn’t a guy I’d want to piss off. None of them were.
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Dalton said to the room, elbowing me. “This one is whipped. Whipped good.”
Some easygoing laughter floated around the table at this, and a couple of the guys high-fived.
“Okay, like you’re not,” muttered Kurt to Dalton, and Candace chuckled.
“You know it.”
