Page 11 of Her Paramedic (Men in Uniforms #3)

“H ow was everyone’s New Year?” Zuri asked when the ladies met for lunch a week later.

“Aryah and I made our favorite snacks, watched movies, and counted down to midnight,” Aariah responded. What about you?”

“Nova and I went to a family gathering, ate a lot of food, and played some games,” Zuri responded.

“How were your mom and grandmother, Alivia?” Nova asked.

“They were good. My grandma insisted we try to build a volcano to set off at midnight.”

“How did that go?” Talia asked with a laugh. Alivia’s grandmother was a riot and always up to something. Talia thought she might have been a low-key pyromaniac because she was always trying to make something erupt or explode.

“I’m pretty sure she put gunpowder in the bottom when Mom and I weren’t looking because that explosion was insane, and some cinders caught a bush on fire.”

The table laughed while Alivia shook her head. It wasn’t Talia’s first time hearing that something had caught on fire during one of the older woman’s antics. It was the reason for her assumption.

“Anyway, what about you, Tal? What did you do?” Alivia asked.

“Kaydence, Journee, and I went to a party at Maximus’ house.”

“Did you all have fun?” Aariah asked.

“We did. The party was fun; his house is beautiful,” Journee responded.

“Axel told me it was a ski lodge before Maximus bought it.”

Talia nodded. “Slate said the same thing. I don’t know how it looked originally, but the remodel is beautiful.”

“Slate?” Alivia asked. “You saw him at the party?”

“They went together,” Nova stated passively, and Alivia returned to her food.

“What do the two of you have planned for your twenty-fifth?” Zuri asked the twins, changing the subject.

Talia listened to the conversation but didn’t miss that Alivia’s demeanor had changed.

She hadn’t told her yet that she and Slate were dating, mainly because it was new.

They made it official barely a week before, and even then, it was more of an understood officiality.

He’d told her he was hers, and she’d agreed.

It was all that needed to be spoken for them to be on the same page.

Alivia didn’t enjoy finding out information regarding people she was close to from someone else.

Talia knew this, but it seemed she couldn’t catch a break since it’d happened twice now.

She wasn’t trying to keep her relationship a secret or keep her friend out of the loop.

She hadn’t told anyone, even though she knew Kaydence and Journee likely suspected.

From the end of the table, Nova caught her attention and mouthed, “ Sorry.” She must have picked up on their friend’s change in mood, too, and figured out the cause.

They were in the parking lot after lunch when Talia asked Alivia, “You want to start a new show?”

She shrugged. “Sure. You can come by at seven.”

“Okay, I’ll bring dinner.”

She’d rather have the conversation over sooner than later, and food was always the perfect catalyst for any discussion.

W hen Talia knocked on the door at seven on the dot, it was with food from their favorite Thai place in hand.

Alivia opened the door and stepped aside to let her in.

The smell of fresh linen filled the air from the incense and candles the other woman liked to keep burning at all times unless she wasn’t home.

“Did you choose something to watch?” Talia asked as she entered the living room.

“Some procedural drama,” Alivia responded, going into the kitchen. A minute later, she returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Talia spread the food on the coffee table, opening the different containers while Alivia poured the wine. The show started, and silence lapsed between them for a short while before she bit the bullet.

“I wasn’t keeping that I’m dating a secret from you. It’s new.”

“And yet, Nova knew.”

“No,” Talia responded. “Nova only knew he asked me to go to the party with him. We just made it official on New Year’s.”

“Official, but you were dating before then.”

“We were taking things slow, and I didn’t want to jinx it.” She left out the fact that slow hadn’t lasted long.

“But you mentioned him to Nova. So you’re only worried about me jinxing it.”

Talia sighed. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“ Alivia ,” she stressed. “My not mentioning dating Slate isn’t about you. It’s about me wanting to keep something to myself for a while to see where it went, if it became serious. Because if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be worth bringing it up. Now that it is, I’m telling you.”

“The week before Christmas, when we had dinner and watched movies, I asked if you wanted to have lunch the next day, and you told me you had plans. Were you ‘taking it slow’ then?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve been dating for a while?”

“Only four weeks.”

“Four weeks and already official. Wow.”

Talia sighed. “This is why I don’t tell you when I first start seeing someone, because you say things like this.”

“I’m pointing out that for someone who says they don’t enjoy rushing into relationships, you went headfirst with him.”

That was true, but, “There’s something that feels different with him. I know that makes little sense, and I can’t figure out what it is, but there is.”

“You thought the same thing about Chris, and you remember what happened. That man played with your feelings like they were a gaming console, constantly lied and made promises he never intended to keep, to string you along because he enjoyed having sex with you.

Seeing the aftermath of that and being there through how you felt was devastating, because there was nothing I could do or say to make you feel better.

And that whole situation with him started this trend of you jumping into relationships where the two of you want vastly different things, and them ending with you in disappointment.

Regardless of how often you try to build on something other than attraction. ”

Talia was quiet as she allowed Alivia’s words to sink in. Her friend was right, but the connection she’d felt with Chris a few years ago and the one she now felt with Slate were vastly different. She knew that.

“I don’t want that for you again,” Alivia said after the silence hung for a bit too long.

“I know, and I appreciate that you’re always there when things go south, but I know this is different.”

Alivia studied her over the rim of her glass in quiet contemplation. “Okay. I hope it works out.”

She knew that was the best she would get for now.

Just like she’d seen Alivia through all of her flings, her friend had been there to see Talia in lust-filled, whirlwind relationships that didn’t last and didn’t give her what she wanted.

But she hadn’t been lying. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something different in her attraction to Slate, in what she saw in him, and she wanted to see where they went.

? ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ ?

S late finished filling out the encounter form for the patient they dropped off.

He double-checked it before pulling out the middle copy and giving it to the intake desk.

He walked outside to find Jonah flirting awkwardly with a nurse.

It was a recurring event whenever they brought a patient, and she was there.

He wasn’t sure why Jonah hadn’t asked her out yet.

It was obvious she liked him, too. She flirted as awkwardly as he did, and maybe that was why neither of them realized their interest was reciprocated.

He gave them a few more minutes and unlocked the door, getting back into the van. He pulled his phone out to send Talia a message when he saw he had one from her.

Talia: Do you work this weekend?

Slate: I’m off Thursday and Friday.

Talia: Do you work Saturday morning or night?

Slate: Night. What’s up, baby?

Talia: I wanted to see you. But I don’t want to come down and keep you awake on Friday.

He was on nights until March, and he didn’t mind her keeping him up, but she’d come to him last time.

Slate: You came to me last time. I’ll come to you. How many appointments do you have on Friday?

Jonah got in, and Slate didn’t miss how red his ears were. He would not pass up the opportunity to pick on his partner.

“What did she say that made you blush like a bride?”

“I am not,” Jonah denied.

“Sure. Did you at least finally ask her out?”

He pulled out of the hospital drop-off area and headed towards their usual place to park.

“She doesn’t like me that way.”

Slate shook his head. “This younger generation is so clueless. If you ask her, she’ll say yes. She blushes when you talk to her, too.”

His phone vibrated, and he knew it was Talia texting him back. He listened to Jonah converse with himself about whether the nurse liked him and what signs she might or might not have been giving off. He was talking himself in a circle when he only needed to bite the bullet and ask her.

When they pulled into the parking lot fifteen minutes later, he backed into their usual spot and picked up his phone.

Talia: Six. And you came to me last time.

Slate: I picked you up for the party. That doesn’t count.

Talia: True. If you don’t mind me working, you could come on Thursday evening and stay.

Slate: I can do that, baby.

Talia : Okay. Let me know when you make it home.

“You haven’t heard a word I said.”

Slate turned his attention to Jonah. “You mean you finally finished talking to yourself?”

“Har, har, har.” He removed his seat belt and pulled out his Switch. “How long do you think the guy will have to stay in the hospital?”

“They’ll discharge him in the morning once they set it. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Lucky for him. What possessed him to climb onto his roof with ice covering it is beyond me.”

“Jim Beam is what possessed him. When people can’t hold their liquor, dumb shit occurs.”

Slate pulled out a crossword book, and they settled into their usual routine as they waited for their next call.

S late walked through his front door after his shift, with breakfast from the place he’d taken Talia on their second date. He tossed his keys into the bowl, went into the kitchen, grabbed a drink, and settled at the bar.

After breakfast, Slate put a load of laundry in the washer and went into his en suite. He turned the shower on, placed his phone on the counter, and took off his uniform, tossing it into the hamper. He stepped into the shower, dipping his head under the water spray.

The rest of their shift had been busy. It seemed stupidity was the theme for the night because after the man fell off his roof, they’d received several calls involving others doing things that made no sense to him.

Those were the calls they got on New Year’s and Independence Day when idiocy ran rampant like an epidemic—not a week into the year.

When he stepped out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and ran another over his hair.

After brushing his teeth, he lined up his goatee.

Ten minutes later, when he looked at his phone, he found it was after eight.

He was supposed to text Talia when he got home, but he figured she would still be asleep when he did.

Slate took a picture and sent it to her.

Slate: Good morning, baby.

Talia: That’s a nice way to start the day, but don’t be shy. Move the towel. ??

Slate chuckled, shaking his head.

Slate: You can undress me whenever you want.

Talia: I’m going to hold you to that. Get some sleep. I’ll call you after work.

Slate: Yes, ma’am.

He exited the bathroom and dressed in a pair of boxers. He put his phone on the charger and slid into bed. If his upcoming shift was like the last one. Slate would need all the rest he could get.