Chapter Six: Evan
“Dude, did you see this?”
Without waiting for a response, Noah shoves his phone in my face. The screen is so close to my eyeballs that it takes me several seconds to actually focus on what I’m supposed to be looking at.
It’s the FDNY Instagram account, because apparently they have one of those, and the photo I’m looking at shows a row of very well-dressed people posing for the camera.
With a gentle push, I move Noah’s hand back enough to read the caption. But Noah is impatient and starts explaining it to me like I’m five.
“They took group photos of all the firehouse captains and their dates, but they put Midtown’s seven captains on the last slide.”
I stare up at him from where I’ve been lounging on the couch in the station’s television lounge. It’s half past midnight and I’m only a third of the way through my shift.
“Okay…?”
Noah rolls his eyes at me, then hops over the back of the couch to flop onto the cushions beside me. It jostles me so much that I have to grab the armrest to avoid being knocked off entirely.
“Dude, like,look. Whoever is running the account put us last on purpose, despite that fact that Hargrove and Rapunzel are definitely the hottest people there.”
“Rapunzel?”
“Haven’t you seenTangled? You have a kid!” Noah scoffs at me.
“Leo isn’t really into that—”
“Anyway, Rapunzel has long blonde hair and green eyes and a can-do attitude. Just like our girl Lila.”
“Our girl…”
“Figure of speech.” Noah shoves his phone back in my face. “Anyway, look how fucking amazing she looks in that red dress.”
Despite my better judgment, I peer closer at the picture. Lila does look fucking amazing. The gown fits her like a glove, andshe styled her hair to make it look all glossy and smooth. Personally, I think it looks just as nice when she leaves it all wild.
Not that I’m payingthatmuch attention to our new PR manager.
I push Noah’s phone away again. “You shouldn’t objectify women, Trent.”
He snorts. “Bite me, dude. I’m not objectifying her. I’m stating a scientific fact. Don’t act like you haven’t noticed how gorgeous she is. You’re polite, but you’re not blind.”
“Who’s polite?”
We twist on the couch at the same time to find our captain, still dressed to the nines in his tuxedo, hovering in the doorway to the lounge. Most of the guys are puttering around in the kitchen or down in the gym, so other than Old Bill—that’s what we call him, despite the fact he’s only in his forties—dozing on the recliner, we’re the only people in here.
Instead of answering his question, Noah lets out a loud wolf-whistle.
“Looking good, Cap!”
Hargrove ignores him, flicking his stoic gaze over to me. “Everything okay?”
“It’s been a quiet night so far,” I confirm.
“We were just gossiping about how sexy you look tonight,” Noah adds with a smirk, waving his phone in Hargrove’s general direction. “Where’s your hot date?”
He stares at Noah for a long moment, but the resident golden retriever doesn’t take the silent cue to shut the fuck up. “Ms. Hart is upstairs.”
“Ms. Hart? What is this,Bridgerton?”
“Trent, go mop the first floor hallways. They’re looking dingy.”
