“What kind of building?”
“An apartment building. There are two more buses en route.”
“Second bus ETA is three minutes,” said a rough, familiar voice. I freeze, turning on my heel to see a firefighter jump out of the truck. He’s dressed in full bunker gear, and I almost didn’t recognize him beneath the dark ash that tints his face. My eyes widened.
“Matt.”
Chapter 22
Aaron
Class that morningseemed super tense, as it should be. It was the one we all had together, our Fucking Class, as Jake called it, and so much thick tension hung in the air I was not sure how anyone could even breathe. Renee was already at the lab table when the three of us showed up after shift that morning, and we all hesitated at the door's entrance. No one said anything, but we could all feel it. Even Jake, who wasn’t even there this morning.
Who gets to sit by Renee today?
“Gentlemen, would you like to come in?” Professor Jensen asked us, pointing to our near-empty table. “As far as I know, Ms. Lyon doesn’t bite.”
Hard, I think with a smirk. Jake rolls his eyes and shoulders past me and Matt, settling down on the same side as Renee. Matt didn’t say anything to this, but I could see the annoyance on his face. I was sure Jake would pay for that one later with a cock-shot.
“Good morning,” I said to Renee, taking a seat with Matt across from her and Jake. “Officially, I mean. In the real world.” She looked so beautiful today, even covered in a simple, white-knit sweater and dark blue jeggings accentuating her backside's soft curves. “How was your night? I didn’t ask you about it this morning since we had a call right after.”
I wasn’t sure what I said that made Renee flush red and drop her eyes from mine, but she did, making Jake and Matt stare at her, too. I noticed Matt was popping his fingers, a nervous habit I’d grown to notice over time. Unconsciously, I scoot a few inches in the opposite direction and focus my attention back on Renee.
“The night was fine,” she said airily, but under that confidence was a tone that shook just slightly. “Thanks for asking.” Her gaze wavers from me and lands on Matt. She still seems surprised that he’d showed up at the ER this morning, fully dressed in PPO. Apparently, she had no idea this entire time. I wonder how she felt about that.
“I heard you did well with the fire victims this morning,” Matt said quietly. “My chief told us you guys saved them all.”
Renee flushed and shook her head with a slight shrug. “It was the physicians,” she said quickly. “I was just an RN in training. Definitely not as cool.”
“That seems pretty cool to me,” Matt said, and Renee said nothing to this. I waited for more, all of us do, but that seemed the best we’d get out of her. As Professor Jensen began his usual monotonous drone, I kept my gaze on Renee, having to focus extra hard today not to let my erection pop through my jeans. I couldn't even be in the same room with her without feeling like I could explode. And she smells so good, like always. Today it was lilacs and vanilla, a subtle, sweet smell that makes me hungry for both her and a piece of pie.
Renee made it a point to ignore us the rest of the class, including me. I didn’t know why, and I was in the middle of wracking my brain to figure out why she might be upset when I caught a quick glance between Matt and Jake. I couldn't read their expressions, but I knew something was going on because when Matt got home late last night, he and Jake went at each other like a couple of angry bulls. I figured it was something stupid and stayed out of it, but now I was wondering ...
Were they fighting over Renee?
No, no way. Neither of them is involved with Renee, as far as I know. She would have told me.
