Page 28 of Striking the Match (Redwood Bay Fire #3)

The words die in my throat as the rescue team begin disembarking. “Probie!” Lili screams in delight. “You’re not dead! See, you guys, I told you he wasn’t going to be dead.”

My jaw drops and I watch in horror as the entire first watch of the One-Thirteen fire station pour out of the helicopter, as well as the police captain, Lucy Padilla, and another officer with a tracker dog. Everyone’s talking at once.

“Teddy! Are you all right?”

“You had us worried there, Foster.”

“We saw reports of a landslide in the area you said you were going hiking in and…”

The lieutenant slowly stops speaking as he approaches us, no prizes given for the reason why.

“Holy fucking shit,” Sawyer blurts out, smacking Anton’s arm. “Is that?—?”

“Hi,” Cassius says with a tired smile and a feeble wave.

“Uh, my friend sprained his ankle,” I say, trying not to meet all the incredulous eyes trained on me in that moment.

“Of course,” Lieutenant Flores says, hurriedly dashing over to help support Cassius from his other side. “Ortiz, over here!”

“Already on it, sir,” Yara tells him cheerfully as she and Dray make their way through with a backbaord. “Don’t you worry, Mr. Garda. We’ll have you taken care of in no time.”

She seems completely unphased, unlike the rest of my team who are still slack jawed and bug eyed. Well, except for Drayton. I’m not sure how long he’s lived here in the US, but I’m guessing American football isn’t as big in Australia as Australian football.

“There you go, sir,” he says as he eases Cassius from my grip.

I meet Cassius’s eyes, realizing that the last time he was carried out on a stretcher would have been when he ripped his rotator cuff and ended his NFL career.

My stomach swoops, but he reaches out and gives my hand a squeeze as well as a little nod, letting me know he’s okay.

At least that’s what I hope he’s saying.

Suddenly, the sniffer dog starts barking and pulling on their leash, drawing the attention of everyone in the group.

“Everything okay there, Officer?” Captain Padilla asks.

“Our missing person is alive and well over there.” I notice she gestures at me while pointedly not looking at Cassius, a blush on her cheeks.

I guess even 49er fans know a Seahawks legend when they see one.

The dog’s handler frowns as her partner starts dragging her toward a clump of bushes. “Not sure, Captain. What is it, Klaus? Have you got something?”

The German Shepard determinedly pulls her through the rain until they’re practically running toward the bushes.

Then a couple of teenage girls run out of the bushes, squealing.

“Don’t let it eat us!” one of them wails.

I blink in shock, completely thrown by their presence. Where did they come from? How long have they been there?

Oh…god. One of them is holding up her phone, despite the rain.

Captain Valentine pushes his way through the group with Padilla by his side. “Are you girls injured?” he asks in concern.

They huddle together, looking guilty and bedraggled in their raincoats.

“Um, no, sir,” the one with the phone says.

“We heard there was a landslide, so we came out to film some content while it still looked cool. Then we heard that guy shouting,” she says, pointing at me, “so we changed direction to see what that was all about instead. But then he kissed Cassius Garda! We didn’t want to interrupt, so we hid in the bushes, but then you guys landed, and we were going to sneak away, but we wanted to see how it all ended.

Mister!” She addresses me again. “Are you Cassius Garda’s boyfriend? ”

“Duh,” the other girl says to her friend with and eye roll. “He’s wearing a Seahawks hoodie. It’s probably Garda’s.” She clasps her hands in front of her chest and swoons at me. “You’re soooo cute together!” she cries over the rain.

I feel like a trap door’s opened up under my feet and I’m falling in slow motion.

“Uhh…” I croak, too afraid to look at Cassius.

“Hold up,” Padilla snaps, making both girls jump. “Are you filming right now?”

Miss Cinematographer flicks her gaze from the screen back to the captain. “I started live streaming on TikTok as soon as we arrived,” she admits sheepishly.

“She has over two million people tuned in!” her friend shrieks, dancing on her tiptoes as she looks at me. “Everyone is asking who the guy Cassius kissed is! Do you want to introduce yourself?”

My knees feel like they’re going to give out. I want to run, to hide. But there’s nowhere to go. My chest is heaving yet I can’t seem to fill my lungs, and the edge of my vision is going dark.

Am I going to pass out in front of two million people who have probably already made up their minds that I’m not good enough to be Cassius’s boyfriend?

Then our driver engineer, Gene, marches right in front of me to block me from the livestream and folds his arms with a harumph. “Kids these days got no respect,” he grumbles. “Too busy filming every second to help anyone out.”

Lili and Lochlan spring up to his right.

Lochlan might be huge, but Lili is radiating fury.

Anton and Sawyer mirror them on Gene’s left, creating a human shield.

The lieutenant joins both the captains who are still halfway between me and the girls, while Klaus starts barking again, his handler only just holding him a few feet back from the camera.

“Turn it off, now,” Padilla growls.

I startle as something touches my hand, only to look down and realize Cassius has slipped his palm against mine, a sympathetic look in his eyes above the oxygen mask my guys have put on him. Yara and Dray are standing close to the gurney, doing their best to protect Cassius from view as well.

My heart aches with love for my friends, but dread is still pooled in my belly. They can hide us now and force the livestream to end, but it’s too late.

Who knows how many millions of people saw me and Cassius kissing?

The genie is out of the bottle.