Page 14 of Double Dirty
It was hard enough for me to be her friend and nothing else. But watching Rafe struggle not to flirt with her, watching her avoid touching him at all costs was exhausting. I told them about the fire call we went on the day before when some idiot dumped a whole can of lighter fluid on thegrill before dropping a match in there just to try and dispel some of the awkwardness.
“Dumbass was lucky he only lost his eyebrows and burned his forehead. He could’ve been nothing but a pile of teeth after a fireball rolled over him,” I said.
“Pile of teeth? Mmm. Great dinner convo, Leo,” Lexi said.
“People do a lot of stupid crap that gets them killed. It’s like the unofficial motto of the fire department: Rescuing dumbasses who do stupid shit.”
“Aww, you should cross stitch that on a pillow for the couch,” she teased, “My job would be ‘Convincing drunks to try and get their kids back’. How about you, Rafe? ‘Making lazy people fit?’”
“Empowering people to get stronger,” he said.
“Ugh, so sincere all the time,” I groaned, “Why do we even hang out with him?”
“He makes good chili?” Lexi suggested with a shrug. Then she looked at him shyly and blushed when he met her eyes.
I wanted to throw my glass of ice water on them both. They were making googly eyes at each other, and it was ruining my chicken sandwich experience. I eased out of the booth, saying I was tired and going to head into the station a little early for my night shift.
“I’ll go too,” Rafe said, jumping up to follow me, which was weird. “I should get to bed.”
“Well, I’m going to stay here and finish my milkshake. I’ll see you when I get home,” Lexi said with an eye roll.
When we got to the house, I turned to Rafe, “What’s the deal with following me out? It looked like you two needed to be alone.”
He shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck inexasperation. “That’s the last thing we need. Last week when you had to cover Glen’s shift, she had a nightmare. Woke up screaming, the whole thing. I went in there to wake her up and comfort her. But I got carried away and I kissed her. So, go ahead and punch me. I deserve it. She moved in here so we could protect her and take care of her, and I put the moves on her.”
He hung his head, clearly ashamed. “Bro, it’s nothing I haven’t wanted to do. Living with Lexi has its own set of hardships. Like when she goes to reach for something on a high shelf and her shirt rides up and you see that little sliver of stomach, damn,” I said in full commiseration.
“Yeah. It’s that or when we’re on the couch and she leans back against me or drapes her feet in my lap—God. It’s a miracle our water bill hasn’t quadrupled with the amount of cold showers I’ve been taking,” Rafe said.
“I know,” I told him. “It’s rough. But she’s worth the trouble. And if she kissed you it’s because she wanted to. I know Lexi well enough to know she doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to.”
“True. We just have to believe it’ll get easier, once we’re more used to living with her. It’s only been, what, a month or so?”
“Yeah, and we’ll make a pact. We don’t make any moves on her. If she wants you—which by the way she’s stealing looks at you, she does—we let her make the first move. No harm, no jealousy. Priority one is protecting her and making her feel safe with us.”
“She has to be able to trust us. No matter how painful it is to live with that temptation,” Rafe said.
“We should both try going out, getting laid. Maybe if we weren’t both sitting her with blue balls it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“I don’t want to go out with some woman who isn’t Lexi,” Rafe said.
“I know, bro. Well, I’m going to head into the station. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
My shift was almost done.It was six in the morning when the call came in. I was in the fire and rescue vehicle in less than a minute, and Donny scrambled in behind me. He had been asleep while I was eating an egg sandwich and thinking it would be nice to get some rest at home. I’d even wondered if Lexi would still be there when I arrived. I thought about picking her up a latte on the way.
It wasn’t a dumbass playing with lighter fluid that time. It was a car wreck, a couple of teenagers taking a curve too fast after being out all night doing God knows what. A woman in a bathrobe was spraying at the flames from a distance with a little kitchen fire extinguisher. We waved her off and tried to fight the blaze but it was too late. After half an hour it was obvious there was no way to save them.
I filed reports while Donny talked with the cops and waited around to speak to the family. My shift had been over for an hour and a half when I left the scene. I knew by that time it was a couple of sixteen-year-old girls, that they’d left a sleepover early to get to track practice, that they had been running late. Instead of showering at the station like I normally would, I just dropped off my bunker gear and headed home. I needed my own shower and my own bed.
My eyes burned, and my head ached as I unlocked the door and stumbled inside. Lexi should have been long gone like Rafe was, but she was home.
“Hey, are you okay?” she said, rounding the kitchencounter and coming to me. I tried to come up with a joke or a shrug, but I didn’t have it in me.
“Tough call right at the end of my shift,” I told her, my voice sounding like gravel.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” she said, pulling me into her arms.
“No, I’ll get you dirty,” I said, lamely trying to push her away.