This was absolutely crazy. But I knew deep down he was right. Sophia had nobody, but someone was definitely after her for whatever reason. If Kaden was asking us, it meant he was desperate and out of ideas.
I glanced at Alden, who stared back unblinking for a minute, then ever so slightly tilted his head in agreement. We were all she had right now, and it’d be wrong not to help someone who needed it. That was the reason we signed up to be firefighters. Not because it was our legacy, but because helping people was in our blood. Sophia and Kaden would always be part of the fire family, with or without Chief Harding alive.
“You can count on us, Kaden. We’ll take care of her. Darren shouldn’t mind either. We have a spare room after all.”
Kaden blew out a long sigh of relief. “Thank you. Seriously, I’ll be forever grateful to you three. I promise to help with whatever expenses when I can.”
Alden scoffed and finally interjected. “Dude, we got you. She’s tiny as hell so I doubt she eats as much as Porter here. The three of us can handle whatever she needs until she can get back on her feet.”
Kaden laughed loudly. “You have no idea. Sophia isn’t your average girl. I’ve seen her put me to shame eating and can drink a grown man under the table. Plus she’s stubborn as hell. You’re gonna need all the luck you can get.”
We chuckled at his joking, but secretly, I was excited to see if Kaden was telling the truth.
“Just let us know when we need to pick her up and we’ll be there,” I replied confidently.
“You got it. Thanks again. I’ll be in touch later.”
We said our goodbyes and Alden suddenly looked hesitant.
“What’s up? Second thoughts?” I asked him worriedly.
“Not about taking her. More about what Darren will say.”
Then a thought occurred to me. “I don’t think it’s Darren you gotta worry about. He’s been just as worried about her as us. It’s Misty you’ll have to reckon with.”
Misty was Alden’s on again-off again girlfriend that neither Darren nor I were fond of. She was a jealous bitch who was as crazy as she was hot. And I had a bad feeling she would not be happy if a girl moved in with us. Least of all one as stunning as Sophia.
Alden’s jaw dropped. “Fuck! I’m screwed.”
“Yep. Have fun with that,” I slapped my friend on his shoulder, apathetic in the war he was about to wage with his psycho girlfriend. “Imma run by the station to see Darren. Best to do this in person rather than over the phone.”
Alden’s curses followed me all the way back up the steps. He was absolutely a dead man. No doubt that girl could find a creative way to murder him and hide his body.
I’d miss him.
Sophia
“I’m goingwhere?!” I shouted at my brother over the phone. The asshole hadn’t called me back until the day I was finally being discharged from the burn unit. Now, I knew why.
“Look, they saved your life, and I trust them to help you get better,” Kaden explained. “You won’t come here and you have no other options there. At least there you don’t have to worry about anything while you heal and can stay with them until the insurance goes through for the house. Then you can find something else. Please don’t fight me on this.”
Ireallyhated that he was right. It was a generous offer that these guys were giving me, and I’d be stupid not to accept the help. But at the same time, who wouldn’t be a little weirded out going to live with three men they didn’t even know? Sure, they saved my life and had known us as kids. Yet they were still strangers. Who did stuff like this?
“You really couldn’t come up with anything better? I have money. I could’ve gotten a cheap hotel room for a few weeks,” I tried arguing, though I knew it was futile. And probably an even more stupid idea than living with strangers. Even the cheapest hotel would drain my savings dry.
“No, I couldn’t. So just be grateful, please? And be nice. They’re good guys.”
I rolled my eyes at his ‘be nice’ comment. I was nevernotnice to people. I just wasn’t totally sure this was going to work.
“Fine,” I finally relented. “I’ll go.”
“Good. Cause Porter should be there to get you in like ten minutes.”
With an agitated groan, I said goodbye and hung up, handing the phone back to an expecting Alice standing next to me.
“So? Going to live with the hunky firemen?” she asked with a raised brow.
“You don’t even know what they look like, for one. And two, this is all your fault. You didn’t warn me that strange men were checking up on me this entire time. Let alone that Kaden knew about it and was pushing them to continue.”
