“Not interested?What does that mean?” She started stretching. “And what doestriedmean?”
“Pretty self-explanatory.” Dhillon copied her stretches. The girls might only be twelve and thirteen, but he got a workout coaching them, so he needed to warm up first.
Hetal narrowed her eyes at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but just then, the first of the girls arrived, so Dhillon was given a reprieve while she turned her attention to the players.
Riya was dating? Living at home must have made it easier for her parents to pressure her, that was all. She was just going through the motions to make them happy.
Or was she? And what difference did it make? He had told Hetal the truth. Riya wasn’t interested, and no matter what she had said that night about it not being weird, it was. Because every time he saw her, all he thought about was how soft her skin had been over her muscles, how his new favorite flavor was beer on her lips, how all he wanted to do was keep her safe.
“Dhillon!” His sister’s voice jarred him from his thoughts.
“What?” He sounded more agitated than he’d expected.
“The team’s here.” She smirked at him as if she knew what he had been thinking about. “Can you start the drills?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” He nodded at the girls standing in front of him and forced himself into the present moment. “Let’s do this.”
Each girl grabbed a ball and followed Dhillon onto the field. He pushed all thoughts of Riya to a small corner in the back of his head as he directed the girls in the drill. Dhillon focused on critiquing their performance. After twenty minutes, they switched: Dhillon’s group went over to Hetal’s station, and Hetal’s group joined Dhillon at his. Riya was all but out of his head when he heard the girls talking.
“Coach Hetal said she knows a female firefighter. We’re going down to the station after this to meet her.”
“What was that, Kayla?” Dhillon asked.
“We’re going to the fire station to learn about being a firefighter. Coach Hetal knows one of them—a girl!” Kayla’s eyes widened in awe and excitement. “We’re going after practice today.”
“Really?” Dhillon glared at his sister across the field. She had insisted they bring only the one car. So now, apparently, he was going to the firehouse for a lesson in fire safety and how great firefighting was. Fabulous.
“You’re coming, right, Dr. Vora? Coach said you would.” The young girl looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, and he had no choice.
“Of course. I’m your assistant coach. And don’t forget—”
“You taught Coach everything she knows,” they chorused.
Dhillon managed to make it through practice. The girls helped load equipment back into the car before getting into car pools with some of the parents. Dhillon had half a mind to call an Uber and go home. If it weren’t for the fact that the girls wanted him there, he would have. His sister must have counted on that.
They arrived at the fire station to find Riya and a couple of other firefighters waiting for them. One of the others was also a woman. Dhillon did not remember seeing her at this house before.
The girls were chattering and laughing about whatever twelve-and thirteen-year-old girls chattered and laughed about. Dhillon’s attention was drawn to a certain dark-haired woman in her firefighter blues, who was pointedly not looking his way. Not to mention that Hetal seemed so comfortable at the station. Talking to Riya’s lieutenant. She was twirling the hair in her ponytail around her finger.What?
Dhillon tore his gaze away from Hetal and back to Riya, who stood next to her captain. The man was in dress uniform, while the rest of the crew were in their firefighter navy blue T-shirts and pants. He was a tall, solidly built man, a bit older, but easily as fit as—if not fitter than—his younger counterparts.
Riya had taken the floor, and the girls were completely captivated. “Hi, ladies. I’m Firefighter Riya Desai, and we here at Engine and Ladder 52 are thrilled to have you here. We’ll show you whatever you want to see, but I just have a few things I want to say. First, if the alarm goes off, go with your coaches and get out of the way, ’cause we’ve got to go.
“Next, let me introduce you to my captain. This is Captain Davis. He has over twenty years of experience as a firefighter and is always ready to share that experience. Next, I’d like to introduce you to a new friend of mine, Lieutenant Katie Meringue. Lieutenant Meringue is visiting all the way from Engine 23 in Baltimore just to meet you all.”
Lieutenant Meringue stepped up. “I am really excited to see so many young women here today to learn about firefighting. In the past, firefighting was left to men, but as you can see, that is no longer the case. I hope you will take what we have to say to heart and consider firefighting as a possible career.”
Katie? That was who Riya had asked Daniel about. Daniel had helped facilitate this? Dhillon knew he hadn’t liked the guy.
“And this is my lieutenant, Jeff Ambrose,” said Riya.
The lieutenant stepped away from Hetal (about time!) and corralled the girls in a circle. He made a few introductory remarks and turned the floor back over to Riya.
Dhillon stepped closer so he could hear her better. Her eyes raked over him as he moved, but her gaze never landed on his. She knew he was there; she just wasn’t going to acknowledge it.
Fine.
The girls nodded, intent on Riya’s words. Dhillon couldn’t blame them. Even her instructions had him spellbound.
