Page 5 of Fire Me Up (Front Range Motorcycle Collective #2)

Liv linked her arm through mine, careful of my injured shoulder. “I think about that too, sometimes. But I’m glad we have each other. That’s part of the reason Marisol and I are tolerating the mess you make of our couch.”

“I’m the oldest now, in the family.”

“Okay, oh great and wise elder, lead us to lunch!”

I laughed. “Shut up. It’s just that I feel like I should be the one taking care of you and Marisol, but you guys are doing more to help me. I’m barely keeping my own shit together most days.”

“You don’t have to be the parent, Gael. We’re all adults.” Liv squeezed my arm gently. “But I get it. It’s nice having someone like Lena around who makes you feel... taken care of, I guess. Maybe the three of us should do more to be that for each other.”

We reached the loading dock, where three food trucks were parked in a semicircle around a seating area. Egg Me On’s bright yellow-orange sign was tempting, but I headed for Lena’s grandson’s blue and white truck.

“I’m gonna grab a breakfast sandwich,” Liv said, pointing to Egg Me On. “Meet you at that table?”

I nodded, heading toward Lena’s truck with Bacon in tow.

The line wasn’t long—just a couple of people ahead of me.

I checked my phone while waiting, trying not to think about how spectacularly I’d embarrassed myself in class today.

Between my obvious crush on Dylan and my inability to focus on anything he was teaching, I was probably his worst student ever.

“Gael! You come to try my food?” Lena’s face appeared in the service window, her gray hair escaping from its bun as usual.

I grinned up at her. “Couldn’t resist after hearing you talk about those gyros all class.”

“Good boy. You wait, I make a special for you.” She disappeared back into the truck, leaving me standing in line with Bacon, who’d found a particularly interesting patch of grass to sniff.

“Special treatment already? I’ve been coming here for months and she still charges me full price.”

I turned at the familiar voice, my heart rate immediately doubling. Dylan stood behind me, hands in his pockets, that same crooked smile on his face that made my stomach flip.

“Firefighter privilege,” I managed, hoping I sounded normal and not like I’d been fantasizing about him for the past two days straight. “We’re very persuasive.”

“I bet you are.” Dylan’s eyes did a quick sweep of my body that felt almost physical. “So you’re actually eating Greek food? I thought you’d be more of a protein shake and chicken breast guy.”

“What, because I’m a firefighter?” I laughed, relaxing slightly. “We’re not all gym bros, you know.”

“Could’ve fooled me with those arms.” Dylan nodded toward my biceps, and I felt heat creep up my neck.

“I, uh My mind went completely blank. Was he flirting? Was this just how he talked to everyone? I had no fucking clue, and my brain refused to supply appropriate words.

“Gael! Food ready!” Lena called, saving me from my own ineptitude. “Extra tzatziki, just like you like.”

I’d never mentioned tzatziki preferences to Lena in my life, but I wasn’t about to correct her. “Thanks! Looks amazing.”

Dylan chuckled. “She’s already adopted you, I see. She only gives extra tzatziki to her favorites.”

“What can I say? I’m charming.” I winced internally at how lame that sounded.

“Yeah, you are,” Dylan said, and my brain short-circuited again.

I mumbled something that might have been “see you tomorrow” and retreated with my gyro and cat to the table where Liv was already seated, unwrapping an enormous egg sandwich.

“Why are you all red?” she asked immediately.

“I’m not.” I focused intently on unwrapping my gyro, which looked and smelled incredible.

“Mmhmm.” Liv took a huge bite of her sandwich, talking around it. “Does it have anything to do with the fact that Dylan is staring at your ass right now?”

I resisted the urge to turn around. “He is not.”

“He absolutely is.” She grinned wickedly. “And you’re into it.”

“I’m not I stopped myself, staring at my food. “Okay, fine. Maybe I am.”

Liv’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re actually admitting it?”

I took a bite of my gyro to buy time, the flavors exploding in my mouth. Lena wasn’t kidding about her cooking skills.

“I think...” I set the gyro down, wiping my hands on a napkin. “I think I might be bisexual.”

Liv’s expression softened. “Is this news to you, or just to me?”

“Just you” I sighed, keeping my voice low. “I’ve always kind of known I was attracted to guys too, but I never did anything about it. It was easier to just date women.”

“And now?”

“Now I’ve got a ridiculous crush on your coworker, and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it.” I rubbed my face. “Guys are just... intimidating. Especially guys like Dylan, who are so confident and seem to know exactly who they are.”

Liv studied me for a moment, then broke into a huge smile. “My big brother has a crush on Dylan Kim. This is the best day of my life.”

“Please don’t make this weird.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely making this weird.” She leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “You know what this means, right? I’m going to help you get your first boy kiss.”

I groaned and dropped my head onto the table, narrowly missing my gyro. “Why did I tell you anything?”

“Because you love me, and you need my expertise in queer dating.” She patted my head. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this all under control.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” I mumbled into the table.