“What did he say to you?”
“He gave us shit about Gianna’s shooting. After that nightmare, it was the last thing I needed.”
“You’re not in trouble, are you?”
“No, we followed orders and those orders followed protocol. But he strutted in so full of himself, as usual, like if he’d been there, he would’ve saved her instead of standing around like us with our thumbs up our asses.”
“That’s bullshit. You would’ve done anything to save her.”
“I know.” He hugged me tighter and sounded so sad. Resigned. “But it was still hard to hear. Even though I have zero respect for him and don’t give a shit what he thinks of me, it sucked to have my own doubts voiced aloud.”
“You’re an amazing firefighter, Dylan. So devoted and talented. I believe in you, and I’d trust you with my life.”
He squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe. “Don’t say that. I can’t think about you needing saving.” He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, ruffling my hair. “So that’s why I lost my mind when I saw you bleeding. It’s not an excuse, but I was already shaken up, between the nightmare and Chief Pratt, and then you were hurt… I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean what I said.”
“I know. It’s okay.” I said it, but I wasn’t sure I believed it. He wouldn’t have normally said and done what he did, but those worries came from somewhere. Deep down, was that really what he thought?
“I’m sorry I ruined your surprise. Can we do it tomorrow instead?”
He did ruin it, and that was disappointing. He would’ve loved that garage sale, and I was so excited. “No, it had to be today. It’s okay, though. The day isn’t ruined. Want to take a nap and then we can figure the rest out?”
Dylan stood with me in his arms like I weighed nothing. Without a word, he carried me to bed, laid me down, and climbed in behind me, fitting my back against his chest, his arms wrapped around me, his legs intertwined with mine, his whole body curled around me, like he could shield me from danger with himself.
“Thank you, baby,” he whispered into my ear. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back, trying to keep the worry and sadness out of my voice.
“Juls, can I ask what you had planned for today?” His voice sounded sad too.
“A garage sale. They said they had firefighter stuff, so I sent a message. She had a couple of boxes of her grandfather’s things from when he was a firefighter.”
“You’re incredible. You have no idea how much it means to me that you did that.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to go.”
“No baby, I’m sorry. For everything.”
“It’s okay.”
“How’s your thumb? Does it hurt?”
“It’s fine.”
Dylan soon fell into a restless sleep, often squeezing me tight before semi-relaxing again, but never letting me go. I hated how tired and worried he was. The thought of him lying awake and scared after a nightmare was almost too much to handle.
Hours later, I woke up to the afternoon sun shining warmly over us and Dylan lying awake, still holding me close. I rolled over and kissed him, and we made slow, sweet love.
We spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching a Karate Kid marathon. We fooled around for most of the first one, ate tacos that we’d ordered in and ice cream sundaes during the second one while discussing how we should have actually watched the first one and fooled around during the second, and then we fell asleep wrapped around each other sometime during the third.
27
Dylan
“See you shits Saturday,” and other loving farewells rang out as the next shift settled in and we left.
“Peace,” I yelled out as I jogged to my car, anxious to get to Juliette’s apartment.
Juliette and I had settled into a great routine. Thank God she’d forgiven me for being an overbearing asshole a few weeks ago and screwing up her plans for the garage sale. We were stronger than ever now, spending almost all our free time together, and when we weren’t together, we talked or texted.