The line clicks dead just as Brittany drops to her knees in front of me, pulling me into a hug so tight it knocks the air from my lungs.
“Are you alright? What happened? Should I call Keoni?”
I shove my phone into my pocket and fold my arms around her, giving her a strong hug.
“I don’t know, Britt. I…” I release a heavy sigh. “He’s the one I want to call when shit like this happens. But I can’t keep fucking up his life and career. It’s his first week back.”
She leans back just enough to meet my eyes, her brows knitting together, a soft smile tugging at her lips. “Then let’s go to him.”
Britt helped gather me up and signed off for the rest of the day. Someone must’ve told my therapist about me screaming, and knowing how close Britt and I are, he likely relayed the message. I’m grateful she managed to ease the panic attack that I know I would’ve had once hanging up the phone with Markus.
Still, my anxiety spikes the moment we pull up to the fire station. The garage door—if that’s what they call it—is wide open, the hulking nose of a fire truck filling the frame. Dom crosses in front of it with a clipboard in hand, disappearing around the other side without even glancing at us. For that, I’m oddly relieved.
I don’t know why walking in here feels so damn hard. This isn’t like the bar, or the cabin. This is theiroffice. Their world.
Britt shifts the Jeep into park, and I peel off my seatbelt slowly, buying myself seconds. She’s already out of the car by the time I reach for my door.
“Dom!” Her voice carries, firm and familiar, like she’s done this a hundred times before.
The burly man steps back into view and lifts his chin in a nod. Not angry. Not bothered. Just… Dom. It causes some of the weight to slide off my chest.
His gaze finally flicks to me climbing out of the Jeep. “Everything alright?”
“Yes and no,” Britt answers before I can. “Where’s Keoni?”
Dom wedges the clipboard into a slot on the side of the gleaming red truck. “They just wrapped briefing with the last squad. Head on in. I’ll get him.”
She turns to me and rushes to my side, looping her arm through mine before ushering me in. We pass the firetruck, another oneparked just across from it, and between them a rack lined with their coats. Everything is pristine—clean, orderly, meticulous. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; from what I’ve gathered, they’re an extremely organized group.
Britt pulls me up a flight of stairs and through a door that opens into a sprawling living space. A kitchen runs along the far wall, and across from it, a massive window stretches wall to wall with a door leading out to what looks like a patio. Several couches are clustered around a mounted television. But what really steals my attention is in the corner…
A pole. A real fire pole, shooting from the ceiling straight through an opening in the floor. That’s… actually a thing?
We’re barely there a minute when the sound of rushing feet snaps my attention toward the hallway. Two blurs come barreling out—Taylor and Kali.
“What’re you guys doing here?”
I don’t even have time to answer before they slam into me with tight, warm, hugs. It surprises me, because it doesn’t feel like friendship. It feels like family.
Like I’ve come home.
Kali squeezes me just as hard as Taylor does, before the latter breaks away to wrap Brittany up in an embrace.
Another set of footsteps drags my gaze upward to see Keoni. He steps in alongside Dom, worry etched across his handsome face. His hair is tied back in a bun, a black T-shirt pulled tight across his chest, uniform pants sitting comfortably low on his hips.
“They missed you,” Dom says, voice flat and unreadable as always. Then he glances at the women. “Let’s go, ladies. We’ve got tasks to finish. Brittany, make yourself useful.”
Her gasp has the girls giggling. “I don’t work here. I’m just a chauffeur.”
“If you want to eat, you’ll work.” Dom deadpans.
I catch movement in my peripherals as everyone begins filtering toward the door I came through. Everyone except Keoni. He brushes past them, giving Britt a quick pat on the shoulder before making a beeline straight for me.
“Keo, I’m so sorry to show up un—” I’m swiftly cut off by hismouth on mine.
He doesn’t hesitate for even a moment—not even to check if anyone has left. And I’m almost certain they are still here, because only now does the door click shut.
My shock lasts only a second before my arms wind around his back, pulling him in. One of his arms cinches possessively around my shoulders while the other settles at the back of my head.
