“There’s nothing wrong with being whipped,” Hansen said, and his eyes landed at once on Paisley, who caught his smile over the table and blushed. As he said this, a round of applause and shouts echoed around the table as the other firefighters joined in.
“All this talk of being whipped,” Kyle said, shaking his head. He tossed the newspaper he’d been reading back onto the table with a mock scoff. “I’d rather stay single, thank you very much.”
“Keep it up and you will be, Lieutenant,” the guy Macey introduced as Nick said, grabbing the tossed paper with a wink.
“Ignore these monkeys,” Chief Davis said politely, standing up to point out the empty chairs around the room. “Stay and have lunch, won’t you? The lasagna should almost be ready, and there is plenty to go around.”
“No big?” Dalton asked, and Chief Davis smiled.
“No big. You are all welcome here any time for food, company, or just for something to do. Our house is your house.”
“Be careful, though, because Hansen might make you all run drills if you come around too often,” Kyle said.
“Not like the team doesn’t need it,” muttered Beau, and this brought another round of laughter from the table. I looked at Macey, who still had a hold of my hand. She was smiling, listening in on the conversation, seemingly...content.
“Are you okay if we stay?” I asked quietly, lowering my voice as to not put her on the spot. “We don’t have to if you don’t think it’s appropriate.”
“You heard the chief,” Macey said, leaning forward to kiss me gently on the lips. “Our house is your house. I’m happy you’re here, Jayce. Thank you.”
Chapter 20
Macey
Ihad three missedcalls from my mom when I finally got home that night, and I was almost too tired to call her back. After the guys had left earlier in the evening, much to my dismay and everyone else’s, we’d been hit with a sudden onset of emergency calls, something that was bound to happen every once in a blue moon. Addy and I had completed eight medical calls alone, not including the fire calls where we tagged along for in case of injuries or casualties. Now it was after eleven, and I’d already told Jayce I needed to go home and sleep, but I knew mom would still be awake. She hadn’t slept much since Melanie.
Sure enough, she answered on the first ring, sounding just as harassed and cranky as usual. “I called you three times, Macey,” she said, starting in on it before I could even open my mouth.
“I’m sorry, Mom. We got swamped at work.”
“Well I’m sure,” my mother sniffed, as if this was obvious. “It’s a full moon.”
I rolled my eyes and sat down on the edge of my bed to kick my shoes off, wincing as the soreness in my feet traveled all the way up my shins. “What’s up, Mom?”
“What’s up is that your cousin Beatrice is getting married, and you should be at the wedding.”
“My cousin who?”
