Page 30 of Dueling Flames

“What?”

“You don’t look happy that the elevator is fixed.”

“I think I’m just used to…you. It’ll be different.”

She leaned over and kissed my cheek this time. “You might as well stay during your physical therapy. You have time to slowly move your stuff back, and we can start adding stairs on our daily walks.”

I studied her face. I knew her lying face, because she was terrible at lying. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

My shoulders relaxed and I felt myself smile. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” She put her hand through my elbow. “You still owe me a house with a balcony.”

Chapter 12

Lissa

“It’s only been a little over two months, and you’re already back in my office. This is unheard of. Do you know exactly why you’re here?” Captain Cole asked me.

“No. I have no clue.”

“Trevor is complaining about you after every shift. It’s only been four weeks.”

I blinked at him. “This is a reverse of the last time we worked together.”

“He’s complaining that you’re cheating at all the games and making him look bad.”

“Sir, I’m not cheating on anything. I come to work. Do my job. And go home. What am I cheating at?”

The captain put his head into his hands, then looked up at me. “I don’t even know. Something about loading the truck and mopping the bay.”

“Oh, just a way to pass the time. A little competition to see who can do their side first.”

He stared at me like I had a second head. “You hate those kinds of competitions. You’ve ignored years of Thorne trying to play those games. Why are you competing now?”

I shrugged. “I thought it would help Trevor relax. He’s so uptight these days.”

He sighed. “I know what you’re doing, and I’m not going to stop you. He’s only here on a temporary basis. There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

I sat and waited while he shuffled around some papers. “About your request for a new partner, I can probably make that happen now.”

I just stared at him. It took me a minute to remember when I requested a new partner. That’s right, in April, after the failed training I had with Thorne.

“Captain, I know Thorne can annoy me, but we work well together. I’d like to withdraw my request for a new partner. I made that request in anger. Sorry to waste your time.”

“Good. It would have required you to move to another firehouse, and I really didn’t want you to go.” He smiled at me and threw the top sheet of paper away. “Get out of here.”

I nodded and left his office, looking for Thorne. It was at the end of our shift and time to go home.

I found a few guys in the lounge. “Youse guys seen Thorne around?”

“Yeah. Some guy came in and asked him to breakfast. Said to tell you he didn’t need a ride.”

“Oh.” I checked my phone. No text. It felt odd. I really wanted to tell him how his plan to mess with Trevor was working.

I sent off a quick message making sure he didn’t need a ride and went to grab my things before I went home.