Page 3 of Slow Burn

Tonight was going to be so much fun. And maybe she’d meet someone. It wasn’t like she had to get acclimated at work to have a good time.

A ding on her phone let her know her Uber arrived. She locked up her apartment and took the stairs two at a time. She was so ready for the night.

She definitely wouldn’t say no to a good night kiss.

Who knew where the night might take her.

ELIJAH BARNETT HAD little patience for anything outside of work and his close-knit group of friends, who also happened to be his coworkers at Landmere Fire Station. Hell, he was thirty-eight and focused on his career, his schedule was never the same, and he was notoriously known for not having a friendly attitude. Elijah didn’t have people pounding at his door for dinner.

And he preferred it that way.

When his phone rang on his day off, he was tempted to ignore it. But it was Nash Cross, someone he considered a close friend. The same person who saved his life two years ago, and Nash refused to even hear a thanks for it. Elijah wasn’t all warm and fuzzy, but the man dragged him out of a fire that went haywire. Fucker didn’t even accept the thank-you beer, which led Elijah to feel indebted to him.

Perhaps this was an opportunity.

“Cross, what’s up?” Elijah answered his phone as he walked into his kitchen.

Since coming off a forty-eight-hour shift, he slept for twelve hours straight when he got home. Now it was after seven, and he was starving. He opened his refrigerator and grumbled.

“What’s your problem? You have seventy-two off. Enjoy the next three days, asshole. It’s only been a month, but I love our new 48/72 shift schedule. Two days on was hard to get used to, but I love having the time off. I swear my sleep is better. How are you adjusting? Was that what your bullshit whine was about?”

Elijah slammed his refrigerator shut.

“I like the new shift schedule, and I’m not fucking whining, you dick,” he tossed back to his friend. “I have no food in my house, and the last thing I ate was the pasteles Benny made.”

“Do you think he made it or his mom since she was visiting from Puerto Rico? We’ve had his food, and it’s never been that good.”

Elijah paused. The food was too good to have been cooked by Benny. “Had to be his mom. It was seasoned. I doubt Benny even knows what a plantain is.”

“Shut up,” Nash joked. “I had no idea I even liked plantains, and I had three servings.”

“Fat ass.”

“Well, the good friend I am, I have a solution to solve your hunger problem. Come with me to Lighthouse.”

That’s not a bad suggestion. Lighthouse was one of the five bars lining Colgate Street, the most popular nightlife area in Landmere. This specific bar was more laid-back than the others. They typically had a band on the second floor, and they had outside patio seating.

If Elijah was going out with his friends, it was usually to Lighthouse. It’s even become a pseudo firefighter bar, and the manager gave them a discount.

“Stop dragging your dick and meet me there,” Nash pressed when Elijah didn’t answer right away.

“At least my dick touches the floor.”

“Fuck you,” Nash laughed with no concern. “The size of my dick is the reason women petition for the yearly firefighter calendar. Just meet me at Lighthouse tonight.”

“You need a wingman that bad?”

“I’ve never needed a wingman. You’re the one who needs to get laid,” Nash reminded him. “You’re too commitment-phobe to fuck someone who lives in Landmere.”

“Some would consider it noble,” Elijah countered.

Commitment-phobe was also a stretch. Just because he had no desire to get married didn’t mean he was afraid of commitment. He was committed to many things, just not to a woman who expected him to be someone he wasn’t.

Nash was cracking up on the other end of the phone. “You think it’s noble to go to a neighboring town and randomly fuck a woman there rather than do it here?”

“There may be some cracks in my logic, but has a pissed-off woman ever shown up at the station for me?” Elijah asked, bringing up the last time one of Nash’s random hookups caused commotion at work.

“No,” they both answered at the same time.