Truth was, Maisey was perfectly capable of fighting for herself. I’d seen her do it, but it would take being trampled nearly to death before she’d take the stand. It was her nature to help first. To make everyone else’s lives easier, regardless of what it did to her own.
“You need at least one shot to even the odds,” I insisted, waving a hand between her and the group. “We’ve all had a couple. Your clear mind would give you an unfair advantage.”
Maisey tugged at a tendril of hair.
I didn’t wait for her to argue more. I simply ordered the group a roundof tequila shots that Dee delivered with lime and salt. When Maisey’s tongue darted out to lick her hand before tossing back the shot, heat hit my gut, and visions of pulling her to me and replacing her tongue with my own filled me.
And that was just all sorts of wrong. I didn’t think of Maisey that way. Not ever.
It had to be the alcohol making me see and think things I shouldn’t. The alcohol and the long-assed time it had been since I’d had sex.
One thing was certain—kissing Maisey wasnotin the cards.
She was my best friend and nothing more. I wouldn’t sacrifice what we had for a night of pleasure that wouldn’t last beyond a few hours. I wouldn’t risk Maisey for anything. She was one of the best things in my life, just as she was.
When the trivia game resumed, I was grateful to replace tormenting thoughts of kissing my friend with smack talk, as the three of us testosterone-driven men battled it out with the three whip-smart women. We’d purposefully broken up the seating in guy-girl order so that we couldn’t share answers with our teammates. It left me with Fallon on one side, Maisey on the other, and an empty stool beside her.
As the night progressed, that empty seat became my nemesis. Several of the firefighters in my crew and a handful of other single men in town stopped by, using the stool as a perch to do their flirting with the women. One scowl from Parker had the guys leaving Fallon alone. And sandwiched as she was between two He-men and with her rejection-prone reputation following her, Andie only received a few shallowly placed offers, which left Maisey open to the remainder of the shots.
Our newest recruit, Leon, was one of the first, stammering out, “H-hey, Maisey. You sure look pretty tonight.”
The bad taste I’d had with Sweeney complimenting Maisey returned. I was about to give him a huge setdown and send him on his way, but all it took was one quiet, “Thanks, you look good tonight too, Leon,” from Maisey to send him running for the back with his pale skin turning the same color as his carrot-red hair.
It was Tejas who caused the most problems as he slid up to the bar to order a drink.
My second-in-command was dark-haired, tan-skinned, and had a reputation as the most charming firefighter at the station. He had a wide mouth that never shut up, earning him the Motor-mouth nickname with the crew, but he was also famous for popping out smooth lines that had women dropping their panties right into his hand.
“Maisey, it’s been far too long since you’ve been out,” Tejas said,leaning into her space.
Maisey didn’t notice. She was more focused on the trivia question on the screen above the bar than on Tejas as she responded. “I’ve been working extra shifts, covering for staff brought down by that summer cold winging through town.”
“Sounds like you’re long overdue for a good time,” he said, voice dropping low. “I know how to deliver a good time.”
I envisioned pushing him off his stool and barely stopped myself before biting out, “Back off, Motor-mouth. Maisey is here to spend time with friends, not get laid.”
She inhaled sharply and shot me a glare. “Since when is it your job to decide who ends up in my bed?”
Tejas chuckled, and my stomach turned to pure acid. “Trust me, Maise, you don’t want Tejas anywhere near you. You know that saying about an ego writing checks a dick can’t cash? That’s him.”
“That isn’t the quote at all, Captain, and I’ve never had one complaint lodged against my dick or my ego.” Tejas looked over Maisey’s head at me with a raised brow. “You offering Maisey an alternative?”
Maisey choked and turned a delightful shade of red that made me want to chase the color with fingers and tongue—What the actual fuck?
What was wrong with me tonight?
There’d been a brief period, after Maisey’s mom had died and before I’d graduated high school, where my teen hormones had tempted me to make something more of our friendship. But that had been a temporary pubescent insanity that had lasted no more than a handful of months, ending abruptly after the one horrible night that had solidified every belief I’d ever had about myself and relationships.
Maisey was my friend.
An attractive, sweet, caring friend.
I wouldn’t ruin twenty years of friendship to appease my dick for a single night.
When neither Maisey nor I responded, Tejas’s smile grew wider. He leaned in, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, and the intimacy of the move made me long to punch him in the face.
“If Romeo won’t man up tonight, Maisey, just remember, my door and my bed are always open to you.”
“Get out of here before I fire your ass,” I snapped.