“I had my guardian angel at my back.” Viv smirked.
Amaris ground her teeth. Viv may have believed in the protection of the supernatural universe, but Amaris never felt the presence of a positive energy or even a god when she was throwing her life on the line every day. “We were already upstairs.”
“And you would be dead and out of air if I hadn’t come to help you.”
Amaris held back her frustration, sitting on her hands to cease their trembling as the adrenaline faded from her system.
“Fuck, Mar.” Viv sighed, gripping the outer edges of her arms. “I’m sorry.”
“I could’ve killed you all because I decided to go in,” Amaris huffed, forcing back the sting in her eyes. “This was my first fire as a lieutenant, and I blew it.”
Viv gripped her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. “You should’ve taken off today.”
Relief settled over Amaris with Viv’s arms wrapped around her. She squelched the beginnings of a sob. She always took a vacation day on the anniversary of the shipwreck, but at twenty-five, shouldn’t she have been able to stave off the heartache of her parents’ deaths by now?
It’s been seventeen years,she reminded herself, but no matter how much she wanted to forget that horrible day, she couldn’t.
“I thought I could push through,” she lied, thumbing the ruby in her silver engagement ring.
The thought of spending an entire day at home, mulling over her and her fiancé’s fight threatened to boil her stomach. She asked for one thing from Derek, but apparently setting a wedding date was too much for him. She cringed as their argument from last night repeated in her head, spinning to the endless track of the longest engagement ever.
Viv eyed the paramedic walking toward them with the vitals monitor and lowered her voice. “We’ll talk more later if you want. We all made it out. Don’t forget that.” With a flick of her braid, she was gone, directing the eager young man with the clunky monitor toward another pack of exhausted firefighters.
Amaris would forever be grateful for Viv, even if they bickered like siblings. She’d first met Viv at the fire academy. Viv had been loud and boisterous, everything Amaris wasn’t at the time. She’d fit in regardless of what the other cadets had whispered about the two of them.Hormonal misfitshad been a favorite insult murmured under their classmates’ breaths. Being the only two women in their class, they’d automatically been roommates. Sharing their first box of tampons five years ago in that cramped dorm room had solidified their friendship.
Amaris sighed and picked her chair up, dropping it inches from Charlie’s head. A few of his dark-brown strands clung to his forehead and others stuck out at odd angles. Sweat soaked the fibers of his navy shirt, leaving two thick lines where his bunker pants suspenders had been.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Exhausted.” A short reply for a drained soul.
“I hope you’re ready for round two. I sense a second fire in my bones tonight.”
She bit her lip, balling her fists in anxious anticipation. They used to play a game of guessing what their next call would be. She hoped her attempt at humor could rally his spirits. At least one of them needed to not feel like shit about themselves.
“Yeah, whatever you say.” He raised a trembling fist, his muscles fatigued.
A twinge twisted in her gut. A few months ago, he would’ve guessed an iguana stuck in a tree or some other ridiculous call. Now, with her promotion to lieutenant, he’d backed off on the jokes.
“I don’t expect you to want two fires in one shift.” Amaris guessed, if he was playing the role of firefighter, she should offer some kind of positive feedback as his superior officer. “I do appreciate the enthusiasm.”
He rolled his head lazily to the side, raising a dark brow. “I knew what I was getting into when I applied for the job.”
She picked at the chipped pink nail polish on the edge of her thumbnail. “What about a lieutenant who could’ve gotten you killed today?”
The guilt dropped on her shoulders like a load of bricks. It was one thing to risk her own life, but Charlie had stayed in with her.
He let out a sigh and sat, grasping his knees. “I’ve worked with you for two years, Amaris. I know you,” he said. “You don’t sit back and play it safe. That’s the kind of leader I want to be someday.”
That should’ve been a comfort, but it dropped another load of weights, sending her further recoiling into the chair. She was his lieutenant now, and it was her job to keep him safe.
“Don’t ask me to leave you behind,” he added. “I won’t do it.”
She remembered the mumbled gossip around the firehouse, constantly whispering about whether she was ready for the role or had what it took.Maybe I don’t,she thought, but she forced a grin. She couldn’t agree to any of it. Not to Charlie or Viv. They were her friends—she couldn’t risk their lives.
Chapter 2
Theo
