He nodded to the table and I picked up my cards. “I guess we’ll see, now, won’t we?”
Chapter Thirteen
ADAM
Luckily,the station wasn’t busy, so coming in a little late didn’t end up causing any issues. I felt better once Dylan had a car stationed outside. There was no way I could leave Lyla in the apartment by herself knowing the arsonist could be outside watching. I get that me being there wouldn’t stop him if he wanted to do something—like set the building on fire—but if I was there, I could at least make sure she got out alive. And like I told her, I would just be preoccupied if I went in, and that was the last thing the guys needed. In our line of work, distraction got you or someone else injured, or worse.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Seth said just as I cleared the last step and entered the common area.
Now what?
I followed his glare to Zack, who held up a T-shirt and wore a huge shit-eating grin. I choked back a laugh. The T-shirt design was a red ladder and a black silhouette of a firefighter with the words “save a ladder, climb a firefighter” on it. That was the title accompanying a viral video that had blown up of Seth carrying Violet down a ladder back in August.
“Savannah made them. She’s sold a ton already, and she’s going to make some for our FD vs PD volleyball game in February.” Zach’s smile seemed to grow. “Oh, and I told her we’d do a calendar.”
“No fucking way,” Seth snapped, pushing to his feet and violently shaking his head.
“It’s a joint promotion with the local animal shelter.” Zack tossed the T-shirt in his hand at Seth. “You saying you don’t want to help support all the poor animals that need homes?”
“I’ll donate money,” Seth clipped.
Chief Thompson entered the common area from the hallway that led to his office. “Need everyone to participate.”
Seth’s eyes widened as he looked over. “Seriously?”
“We need our portion of the fundraiser for those new face masks you all want.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You want to explain to everyone why we don’t have the funds for them?”
Seth huffed but didn’t say anything else.
“Jesus.” Logan sat up in the recliner, grumbling. “Chief, I’m too old for all that.”
“But you’re our silver fox. The ladies will go fucking nuts.” Zack smirked.
I’m pretty sure Logan growled at him before muttering, “I’m not that old.”
Zack shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They all love the slightly-older dad vibe.”
I shook my head and headed to the bunk room to put my stuff down as the guys continued to complain about the calendar. I honestly didn’t have an issue with it. I had no problem holding akitten or puppy and posing for some pictures. But then again, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to support the Half Moon Lake FD.
When I stepped back into the room with the guys, they had moved on to discussing details for the volleyball game Zack was pulling together. For the last few years, Zack had managed setting up and organizing all the community outreach programs and events the fire department participated in. He was the most extroverted and organized out of all of us, and when he volunteered to help, the chief was all too happy to take him up on his offer.
“Tickets will go on sale the first weekend in November.” Zack looked over at me as I headed across the room toward the coffee pot. “Hey, any update on project kiss the girl?”
I rolled my eyes at the stupid label. The fact that he compared my plan to a scene in a Disney princess movie shouldn’t have surprised me, though.
“I think I’ve got her attention.” At least that was my hope after her reaction to me coming out of the bathroom this morning, and then again when I got close to her in the kitchen. Not to mention the questions in her eyes during our moment last night when she woke up with her head on my shoulder.
“Perfect. If she’s feeling up to it, do you guys still want to supervise an ambulance at the Touch-a-Truck event next Saturday?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
The lights that surrounded the speakers overhead flashed, and we were all moving, knowing the alarms were about to blare and a call was going to come in. Once we were in the truck and headed toward the scene of a car accident, with at least one overturned vehicle, I focused on steady breathing. This was my first crash since being back, and I knew this could bring up memories of the one we responded to involving Lyla. The one where I feared I’d lost her.
“You good?” Logan asked from the driver’s seat next to me.
I sent him a clipped nod. “Yep.”
“Good. Kyle might need help. I don’t think the young buck he’s riding with today is gonna last, but hopefully it’s just probie jitters.”
