“I would love that as well. You know what? I’ll make time,” I assured him.
Sunny was a ray of sunshine, as cliché as it was to say. Every time I visited her, it made me happier. Her son was this joyful, chaotic toddler, and I couldn’t wait for her to have another baby I could swoon over.
“You’ll see me soon,” I promised, pulling the ambulance door open and then sliding inside. Freddy was already situated in the driver's seat, ready to take our patients to the hospital.
“I’m counting down the days!” Blaze declared dramatically as we pulled away, and I muffled my giggle behind my hand.
If he heard me laughing, it would just feed his giant, puppy-like ego. Still, I rolled down the window to toss him a lollipop as we drove off.
Merrick was there in the distance, and our eyes met as Freddy pulled the ambulance out into traffic. If only candy would do the trick with him. But I had a feeling it was going totake something very different to get us to exchange more than ten words. And I had to admit that…I really wanted to.
Chapter 2
Hailey
“Well, shit. I’m going to need this!” I declared as I grabbed the sparkly dress I had impulse bought a few weeks ago.
“I’m surprised you agreed to come out.” Alice laughed from where she lay on my sofa, already wearing a mini dress, her makeup done to perfection.
How she managed to look so damn good while running herself ragged with work was a downright mystery. Alice never had a hair out of place. And then there was me.
I was pretty sure my hair purposefully fought against any taming.
Alice worked as a dispatcher. Not long after I started as an EMT, I quickly got used to the sound of her voice letting us know where we were needed. When we finally met at an emergency services fundraising picnic, we got along like a house on fire and had been good friends ever since.
“I’ve been working so much lately. If I don’t have a little fun, I’m going to shrivel up and die,” I said, my tone thick with sarcasm, even if the truth wasn’t all that far off.
I was in desperate need of a distraction, and after seeing Merrick, I needed…maybe a little something else too.
“Well, we can’t have that!” Alice laughed, sitting up with a toss of her hair. “Then who would I whine to about my boy troubles?”
“What boy troubles?” I scoffed, eyeing her with just a tad of jealousy. “All the boys love you!”
Alice sighed dramatically. “You see,that'sthe problem. I have too many options.”
She wasn't wrong. There were several alphas sniffing after Alice. I didn't blame them. She was absolutely stunning, smart,andstrong. If I swung that way, Alice would be on my radar too. The fact that she made an incredible friend was icing on the cake.
“If you could convince all those boys to form a pack, you would be golden.”
She sat up a bit straighter. “I mean, if anyone could convince them to make a pack, it would be me…”
“Didn't the guy you went on a date with last week punch the librarian you were dating?” I pointed out, not blinking as I regarded her.
Alicealsohad a very convoluted dating history, and sometimes it was hard to keep up, but I did my best.Huh, I bet the guys feel that way…
“He did.” Alice bit her lip, absentmindedly fiddling with the fluffy hem of one of my throw pillows. “Do you think that rules out a pack, then?”
“Well, if anyone can make it happen, it’ll be you. But it would probably be helpful if the guys actually, I don’t know,likedeach other?”
Silence hung for a moment, and then we burst out laughing. I finished pulling on my lashes and glanced in the mirror.
Alice beamed in the background behind me, getting up and resting her hands on her hips, proudly. “You know what, you’re right! I’ll convince them to come around to the idea.”
I was pretty sure thatwasn’twhat I said, but when Alice set her mind to something, there was no arguing with her, so I just smiled, nodding along.
“For tonight, though, we need to take tons of photos and show them exactly what they’re missing!”
“So, whereisthis place we are going to?” I asked, looking around nervously.
