Chapter 42
Tristen
Sunshine bathes the roomin a toasty golden glow and the scent of something rich wafts through the air. It’s strong enough that my nose wrinkles from its strength but my stomach growls as if it knows what it’s up.
I have to blink a few times to get shit to focus—to get my contacts to slide back into place—but when they do … I stiffen.
It tweaks my ribs, and I bite down hard on my lip to silence the whimper.
A foot is hanging off the side of the bed, the leg stretched out and fuckingbeneath my head.
My lungs trip up.
Behind the overwhelming scent of smoke that still lingers on my skin and something cooking downstairs, is something even stranger.
Emmett.
He let me … lay on him?
Last night is so fuzzy that I can’t remember much beyond hearing dispatch call out that Noah was in the building and the radio crinkling with all the callbacks that couldn’t find him.
The crew had entered on the cooler side of the blaze, and I knew—just fuckingknew—he’d be somewhere inside the hottest parts of the fire. I didn’t think, I just ran in.
Everything after that is a blur.
So how I got here …fuck, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it.
Taking a moment, I work a swallow down my raw throat. My ribs ache. Chest tense like I smoked a pack of cigarettes in one sitting. My face and arms feel like I was in the sun all night instead of sleeping.
None of these are uncommon for me, especially after the last few days.
Hell, the last fewyears.
Not even the stiffness in my shorts surprises me.
It throbs when I acknowledge it, the length trapped beneath my bent thigh.
I really need to do something about that.
It’s been days—weeks?—since I’ve practiced some self-care and it’s showing.
My balls draw up as if in agreement.
Fuck.
Pulling back a semi-deep and cleansing breath, I ignore my protesting ribs and go to roll my head back to see if Em is awake.
I bump into something and freeze.
Is he … hard?
The thought—the possibility that he’d be hard with my head on his lap—has my dick leaking precum in my shorts.
Does he even realize I’m here?
My mind wanders, my heart thundering in my chest, and I lick my dried lips.
Is he long and thick? Just as pale as the rest of him?
