Page 16 of Dueling Flames

“Nah. I’m good.”

“Well, you’re still handsome. Maybe we should hang out sometime soon.”

I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me. “I’m back. He was there.” Lissa slowed to a stop behind me. “Oh, hello.”

“Hello. I’m Milo.” He stuck his hand out, and Lissa shook it without looking at my pinched face.

“Lissa.” She looked at me, and her smile faltered, and she pulled her hand free from Milo’s.

“How do you know Hawthorne?” Milo asked.

“Hawthorne?” Lissa scoffed. “We work together. Partners on the same truck.”

“Oh. Is it hard working with someone so clumsy?” Milo’s smirk turned into the false concern he’d perfected long before we’d met.

“Clumsy? Thorne isn’t clumsy.”

“He broke his ankle.”

“A chimney fell on him. That’s not clumsy. That’s not running faster than gravity can pull down bricks.” Lissa stepped closer to me and looked Milo up and down with a slight sneer.

“Oh,” Milo said. “He was always a little clumsy when we were together.”

I rolled my eyes. I was never clumsy and the audacity of him to even suggest it boiled my blood.

Lissa looked at me. “Okay.”

“Well, we were leaving,” I cut in and motioned for Lissa to follow me.

Milo grabbed my arm. “Wait. Would you like to have dinner sometime?”

I stared him straight in the eyes. “No.”

My crutches couldn’t carry me fast enough away from that man. Lissa caught up easily and didn’t say anything until we were inside the apartment. I landed hard on the couch with a sigh as I leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

“So we hate him, right?” she asked.

“Yes.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

She leaned toward me. “He your ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes.” I could feel the pout form on my face, and I couldn’t stop it.

“I didn’t know you liked men.” She sat on her feet and waited.

“I’m bisexual.”

“We’ve been partners for almost two years, and I never knew this.”

“It doesn’t really come up in conversation. Plus, we’ve only just begun to talk about personal things in our lives over the last month. Not like you’ve told me you’re sexual preference.”

She nodded. “Hum. I’m straight. Since we’re sharing.”

“Are you okay with me being bi?”

Lissa raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m okay with it. Should I not be? Has anyone given you a hard time at the station? Let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”

I smiled. This might be the first time she’d ever been defensive over me. It made me feel warm inside. “No one’s said anything. Don’t think they care.”