Page 16 of Striking the Match (Redwood Bay Fire #3)

Cassius

“Bryan, I can tell you’re home,” I say with a sigh through the intercom. “If you want me to fuck off, just tell me. Otherwise, please let me in.”

I’d never invade my PA’s space unnecessarily. His time and his privacy are things I will always strive to protect. But he hasn’t been answering my calls or texts, and I was genuinely getting worried.

The fact that I also need advice so desperately I might actually explode could be another factor in what pushed me into driving to his door tonight.

“Duuuude,” I wheedle, pouting at the camera where—if he’s watching—I know he can see me. “Come on. I don’t care if the place is a mess. You’ve seen more than one of my homes at their worst. You know I won’t judge you.”

Still nothing. Fine. I’ll bring out the big guns.

“I have goh-sip,” I announce in a sing-song voice.

The door clicks open immediately.

I chuckle to myself as I head into the entrance foyer and go to push the second buzzer that will let me through to where the elevators are. My finger barely touches it before it also clicks open.

Lol. I knew I’d win him over eventually.

I opt to take the stairs as it’s only a couple of flights up, and soon find myself in front of Bryan’s apartment door. I knock and wait a few seconds before it cracks open. My PA narrows his glittery eyes at me through the slim gap.

“You swear you’re not going to judge anything,” he says dubiously.

I crook an eyebrow at him, truly curious what could be so bad it’s got him this cagey. “Cross my heart and hope to die,” I promise, swiping my finger over the left side of my chest.

He hums like he doesn’t believe me but can’t back out now.

With a defeated huff, he swings the door all the way back to allow me into his entrance hall.

The first thing I notice is that there are a lot of discarded cardboard boxes all over the place.

He’s so hot on the environment and recycling, I’m surprised he hasn’t dealt with them immediately like he did in my place.

Due to his freaky ability to guess what I’m thinking, he sighs and shakes his head. “The boxes are apparently more valuable than what arrived in them. Come on. I’ll show you.”

Still confused, I follow him into the open plan living room-cum-kitchen area…then stop.

There’s a five-foot-high roller wheel standing next to one of the windows. Shelving and little bridges are dotted across the walls. Several water and food bowls are on the floor as well as on the kitchen counters. Fluffy, crinkly, and feathered toys are littered everywhere.

And from the top of a six-foot cat tree peers a tiny fuzzy black face with green eyes.

“HA!” I crow, whipping my head around to see Bryan wincing. “What’s all this, Mr. ‘I Hate Anything Adorable,’ hmm?”

“I…I couldn’t leave her there,” my PA mumbles, avoiding my gaze. Now the mysterious scratches he’s had and the refusal to let me visit all make complete sense.

“You big softie,” I gloat, dragging him into a hug and probably crumpling his pristinely ironed shirt. For once, though, he doesn’t protest. “So this is Twelve, right?”

He glares at me. “Of course not. That name was the whole reason I couldn’t just walk away after she chose me. She’s far too elegant to be a fucking number on a list. Her name is now Noir.”

“As in…the French for ‘black’?” I tease him gently.

“As in Le Chat Noir, you philistine,” he grumbles. But when he glances up at his new fur baby, I see something soften in his lined eyes that makes my heart melt. When Noir stretches and yawns at us, I see a pink diamanté collar sparkling back at us.

Yeahhh. This kitty is going to be even more spoiled than my one.

I’m still grinning like a proud cat guncle when Bryan folds his arms and huffs at me. “You promised me gossip. I’m getting us beer and wine, and then you are going to deliver. You are also not going to say another word about this recent development in my personal life.”

I laugh as we both know I’m going to promise no such thing. But…

“Yeah, speaking of personal lives,” I hedge as he pads over to the refrigerator to retrieve the drinks he promised.

That finally breaks his prickly spell, and he pauses with his hand on the open door, leaning back so I can see him arching a manicured eyebrow my way. “You asked the cute firefighter out,” he guesses.

I wince and chuckle guiltily. “I didn’t exactly ask him out on a date,” I confess. “But we did spend all of yesterday afternoon and evening together.”

“So it was a date,” Bryan says as he pours his wine with a glug glug glug sound.

I shrug. “Maybe? But neither of us used that word.”

Bryan scowls as he comes back over to thrust a cold beer bottle into my hand. “Did you fuck?”

“What?” I cry in horror. “No, absolutely not. Nothing like that happened. No kissing or handholding, and the only time I hugged him was because he got upset. It was all very chaste.”

“Hmm,” he says, apparently a little mollified. “Okay, then. So you really did just hang like bros.”

He knows he’s winding me up. I drop onto one side of his L-shaped sofa while he perches on the other. “Not like bros,” I say firmly. “It was…really sweet. I’ve never spent time with anyone like that before.”

Bryan bites his lip before letting out a long breath. But there’s a smile playing on his lips, telling me he’s not actually mad at me.

“So it was a date, but you were just too chicken shit to call it one.”

“Bingo,” I say ruefully, shaking my head before taking a swig of my drink. I love that even though he can’t stand the stuff, he always has the brands of beer in that I like. He might act like he hates everyone and everything, but it’s all a load of bullshit.

“So what’s the problem?” he asks, getting straight to the heart of the matter. “You’re not sure he feels the same?”

I pick at the corner of my bottle’s label, considering how to answer.

“I know I have to be careful that I don’t put myself in a vulnerable situation with a gold digger or a psycho or anything like that.

But from what I can tell, he seems incredibly genuine, and the chemistry is…

” I whistle, unable to describe it better.

“For what it’s worth,” Bryan says, “my online investigation into him hasn’t turned up any red flags so far.”

I almost spit beer onto his couch. “Your what?” I demand.

But he just rolls his eyes at me from behind his glasses.

“As if I wouldn’t look into him,” he says scornfully.

“You’re lucky I just gave myself the task and didn’t hire an actual investigator.

But this is a big deal, Big Man. I am not going to be caught off guard by the first guy you hop into bed with.

This has to be treated with extreme caution. ”

“There’s been no hopping,” I remind him testily.

“Yet,” he says like it’s only a matter of time.

I puff out my cheeks, because isn’t that exactly why I’m here?

He continues. “You’re worried that hopping with the first guy you’ve been attracted to since you came out is going to end in a big fat mess,” he observes accurately.

“I don’t mean to whine about being an incredibly successful football star,” I say as we both laugh appreciatively.

“But it’s been one hell of a cock block.

I feel like I’m fumbling around in the dark, and I don’t want to make a mistake that will hurt either of us.

” I glance over to see him watching me intently, glad he’s taking my concerns seriously.

“There was this one guy yesterday who got in my face and tried to push Teddy out of the way. I kept my cool, don’t worry.

But I swear he used the F-slur as he walked away from us. It really upset Teddy.”

And me, but I think I was honestly more bothered by Teddy’s reaction. Seeing him get choked up brought out something fucking primal in me, like a grizzly bear. It was probably best for everyone involved that the guy had already walked halfway across the next rope bridge by that point.

When I shake the memory off and look back at Bryan, there’s something unnerving behind his glittery eyes. “He called you both what?” he asks darkly but doesn’t make me repeat it. “Give me an hour. I’ll have that failed condom’s name and address good to go.”

I bark out a laugh, releasing some of the tension I hadn’t even been aware was so tight in my chest. “No, Bryan. We are not going to egg a homophobe’s house.”

“Who said anything about eggs?” he growls.

I point my bottle neck at him. “No. But this is my concern. How do I know if what I feel is strong enough to risk trying something official with Teddy and subjecting him to that kind of abuse on a global scale? The internet is a very cruel place. Not to mention people bothering him in real life. His job is important. He was trying to decompress from something genuinely traumatic yesterday when this guy pulled his crap. That could start happening all the time if people know Teddy’s with me. ”

Bryan stares at me for a few more seconds before apparently realizing I’m serious about not retaliating against the asshole from yesterday. Because as tempting as the idea sounds, that would be highly illegal.

“You make a good argument,” he concedes, sipping from his wine glass before tapping a polished nail against it.

“I’m not going to claim to have all the answers, but here’s my two cents.

You can’t control everything, and you can’t protect everyone.

” He holds up a finger. “Ah! No. Don’t pretend like that’s not always your job in your mind.

You bought your parents a house and put both your siblings through school.

He might be the firefighter, but you have just as much of a hero complex.

I hate to burst your bubble, but you are neither Superman nor Santa Claus.

It’s not your responsibility to save or care for everyone. ”

“Says the cat-hating twink,” I grumble, turning around to see Noir watching us with a swishing tail.