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I had her number. Another achievement unlocked. Now that I had it, all I wanted to do was send her all kinds of messages but coming on too strong would not work on Hunter. No, I had to melt her slowly. Ease her in. Give her just a little bit at a time until she got used to it and decided she wanted more. I’d be right there to give it to her.

My first message was corny, absolutely, but she had fought a smile.

Hunter wasn’t the only thing on my mind when I got back home after the yoga class. I’d chatted with Micah and if my feelings were correct, I had to introduce him to Torrin. Reading between the lines, Micah was single and I was dying to know if something would spark between him and my brother. I wouldn’t be a good sister if I didn’t do my best to introduce him to someone who was exactly his type.

I sent Tor a message asking when he was going to yoga again and to tell him that he should do what he could to get there on Monday nights so I could go with him. A little brother and sister bonding experience. Nothing more than that. Not trying to set him up with a pretty boy who looked like an elf prince turned model who loved his job working with kids, was allergic to peanuts, and dreamed of visiting Holland to see the tulips. I’d managed to get a lot out of him in a short amount of time, but people liked talking to me. You could get a long way with a dimpled smile and being interested in what someone was saying to you.

Tor was on shift so he didn’t get back to me right away. Buck sighed as he lay across my legs.

“Oh, have you had a hard day?” I asked him. “I’m sure you did.”

He blinked his eyes open at me and then went back to sleep. I wished I had his life. Whenever I was on call, I usually left him with my parents or Tor would come over and take care of him. He was rarely alone and never missed a meal or a walk. My little brothers played catch with him for hours and he’d come back to me completely worn out.

While he slept, I scrolled through my phone. I should be getting sleep myself, but my mind was restless. Having one or two overnight shifts a week messed with my sleep schedule already, so I’d adjusted to being able to sleep whenever I got the chance.

I had Hunter on my mind. I wanted to send her another message. To get a conversation going.

I wanted to know her, but she wasn’t going to make it easy on me. My frustration warred with my competitive instincts as I mentally wrote and rewrote several messages. I didn’t want to type anything out in case she saw it and then wondered at my silence.

I’d just have to wait for her to come to me. I’d put my hand out. It was her turn to reach for me.

Hunter didn’t respond to me the next day. I kept obsessively checking, just in case. We had a call for a small kitchen fire, a possible carbon monoxide leak at a business, and a water main break. Nothing too strenuous, but I did take a picture of myself before I took off all my gear and thought about sending it to her.

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Coop said, peering over my shoulder.

“No one. I was just talking a selfie,” I said, showing her.

“Were you taking it for anyone in particular?” Rivera asked as she pulled off her gear.

“Nope,” I said, pulling off my boots.

“Think you’re lying,” Coop sang, and I was tempted to throw a boot at her.

“I bet it’s whoever she was waiting for at the gym on Sunday night,” Rivera said.

“Come on, we’re both single. You owe us,” Coop said, and that was true. Whenever one of us was in a relationship, we always gave the other ones the gossip and teased them mercilessly.

“I’m not in a relationship. Yet.”

“Okay, we’re going to need to sit down and talk about this. Meet at the diner in an hour?” Coop asked.

“Deal,” I said.

I told Rivera and Coop the situation with Hunter, and they rolled their eyes.

“Of course you fell for someone on a call,” Rivera said.

“It’s a good place to meet people!” I said and Coop threw a balled-up napkin at me. We were at the same diner I’d taken Hunter to. When you worked strange hours, having a place that would feed you no matter the time was essential to our survival. They knew us here and sometimes snuck us extra desserts. Especially pie.

“You’re shameless. She sounds like she’s not interested,” Coop said.

“She is. Trust me. She is.” I’d seen the way that Hunter looked at me and you didn’t look at someone that way that you didn’t want to get naked. I also might have thrown a little bit of my game her way to see how she responded. All systems were go. Now I just had to get behind all those walls she put up. Or knock them down. Either way, it was going to happen.

“Well, I’m invested to see what happens,” Rivera said, finishing her plate of fries.

“I know we give you a hard time, but you know we’re in your corner, right?” Coop said, squeezing my shoulder.

“Yeah, I know.” They were. Even if they were a pain in my ass most of the time.