“Only if you do.” He pointed at my hands.
I ignored the throbbing pain in my palms. “Absolutely.”
Colt stood when I moved and fell into step beside us, close enough that he kept up that protective stance.
I ignored that too and walked Cody over to the young paramedic giving us a warm smile from the back of the ambulance. “Thought for a minute I’d have to track you both down.” She patted the floor of the ambulance. “Who’s first?”
Cody slid an arm around my leg and hung on for dear life. Seven going on seventy but he still needed his mother’s reassurance.
I showed her my hands. “I’ll go first.”
“She kicked down a door but got burned cuz she tried to open it using the knob. It wouldn’t budge so she kicked the shit out of it.”
“Cody.”
“What?” He stared up at me, wide-eyed. “You said sometimes a situation calls for a cuss word.”
Heat flamed in my cheeks, but the paramedic laughed and ripped open a pack of bandages. “Your mama sounds pretty badass.”
Cody’s eyes gleamed and he gave me a look so full of awe that I didn’t even try to hide my smile. “See? You’re a total superhero. Like Batman.”
In Cody’s world, there was nothing better than being a superhero. I took the praise with a nod. “Thanks.”
The paramedic cleaned my blistered palms with quick and efficient moves that required me to lock my jaw against the sting. Once she wrapped them in gauze, she turned her attention to Cody.
“So.” She pulled open a drawer. “I have one very important question. Batman, Spiderman, or Wolverine?”
Cody shot to his feet so fast he almost fell out backward.
Colt braced him with a hand in the center of Cody’s back, and our son flashed him a smile as bright as the sun. He whipped around and began discussing the merits of each superhero while the paramedic checked the tiny scratch on his arm from where the door had caught him on our way through.
Once we’d been seen, our wounds addressed, and moved away, Hawk and Diesel joined us.
“We’ve put out the main blaze.” A man in a firefighter uniform stopped in front of me. “We’ll stick around a bit and check for hot spots. You should go on home. Check with us tomorrow and get your insurance adjuster out here to take a look. Might not be a complete loss.”
I nodded, my mind scrambling to keep up with the influx of information.
Hawk took my elbow in a gentle grip. Searing heat swept up my arm, and I pulled away, shaking my head at him. His lips flattened into a thin line. “I’m not going to let you fall over because you’re being stubborn.”
I crossed my arms. “Let’s be careful with who we call stubborn around here.”
He took the verbal hit with barely a blink. “I need an answer, Callie.” His voice dipped, his head swinging closer. “Whose is he?”
I really did not want to do this right now, but I’d run out of options to delay, and lying didn’t help any of us. “He’s Colts.”
Colt froze. Every part of him except his eyes went so still he might have been made from marble. Except his eyes. They shot wide in a mimicry of Cody’s, and he glanced at the boy by my side. His jaw worked several seconds, and his face hardened in a way I’d never seen on him before.
A nervous skitter of fear raced up my spine and twined around my neck. I’d known he wouldn’t be happy about the news, but I had no reference for what he might think about the situation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Colt stayed put within arm’s reach, but a sudden invisible distance dropped a chasm between us.
I opened my mouth to answer.
Crack.
15
DIESEL
