“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Nate.”
“It’s just a tour, Hailey.”
She nibbles on her bottom lip and looks over at the guys and starts laughing. When I look over my shoulder they’re all using prayer hands and urging her to come to the station.
“Okay, fine. A quick tour.”
I toss an arm over her shoulder; she tenses under my touch, but quickly relaxes. Her hair smells heavily of her cherry scent as I walk her back over to where we were eating lunch.
“Everyone, this is Hailey. Be fucking nice. I’m going to give her a tour.”
“Oh, trust me, you don’t want a tour from this jackass. If you want a tour from a real firefighter, it should be with me,” Raymond jokes.
“Yeah? What makes you a better firefighter?” Hailey asks.
Raymond puts his hands over his heart like she just shot him.
“Look at me. I’m a prime Alpha specimen.”
Hailey looks him up and down, clicks her tongue and scrunches her nose.
“It appears she isn’t convinced,” Sterling says, giving Hailey a smile and holding out his hand. “Hey, I’m Sterling.” Hailey shakes his hand, which comically engulfs hers. “If anyone should be giving you a tour, it should be me. I’m the highest rank out of these assholes.”
“Oh, big shot fucking driver engineer, get over yourself,” Joey says.
Hailey smiles, watching the interaction.
“Well, if you’re the one in charge it only makes sense,” Hailey says.
Joey and Raymond act like complete idiots, acting like they just got rejected as Sterling gets up and starts showing her the firetruck.
I grab one of the plastic hats we give to kids when they come for tours and place it on her head. She laughs, but still every time she glances at me her cheeks turn a bright pink.
“Do you want to go inside?” Sterling asks, opening the driver's side door and helping her up. “Go ahead, turn on the siren for a sec.”
She flips the switch, smiling while she does so, before turning it off.
“So, you drive this thing?” she asks, sitting high up in the seat as she talks to Sterling.
“Yup.”
“Do you ever hit stuff?” she asks, holding on to the wheel, having to extend her neck and back to see out the front windshield.
I laugh into my fist and Sterling slaps my chest.
“No, I’m an excellent driver.”
“Except—”
“Don’t listen to this asshole, Hailey,” Sterling says and she smiles even wider.
As soon as Sterling helps her down, an alarm blares and it’s time to go. Fuck.
Sterling and I are already running to get dressed. Hailey backs away toward the wall and watches all the commotion. Joey and Raymond are ready to go as I get in the passenger side and Sterling in the drivers side.
There’s no time to get her number, or apologize, so like a complete jackass, I wave at her. She gives me a small one back as we pull out of the firehouse and head toward the call.
“You’re so fucked,” Raymond chirps over the headset and it takes everything in me to not unbuckle and punch him in his nose.
