Chapter 6
Mitch
It was weird leaving the firehouse in the middle of the day. After saying goodbye to all the guys I had met, I Ubered my way back to my apartment to order a pizza and binge-watchSupernaturalfor the rest of the night.
I didn’t want to be thinking about Cali, but I was.
I didn’t want to text Bryn, but I did.
I didn’t want to be nervous about my first day at a new station, but I sure as shit was.
I had never expected to miss my old firehouse like I did, but it wasn’t just that. I missed my dad, Walker, and Mags. I missed my old life, my house, my girl. Adjusting wasn’t going to be easy, but it was going to happen and the move was for the best—I just had to keep reminding myself of that fact.
After my large pepperoni pie was delivered, I sank down into my bed and flicked the TV on. Right as I was about to take the first bite of the greasy goodness folded in my hand, my phone started vibrating on the comforter next to me.
“Cali?” I answered.
She was sniffling into the phone. “Hey, Mitch. I’m surprised you answered. I was prepared to leave a voicemail.”
“I can hang up and you can call back to leave one.” I was kicking myself for answering in the first place; I knew better.
“I just was thinking about you and wanted to say hi. That’s really it,” she muttered before sighing.
“Cali, you did the right thing. You’re happy, right?” I asked, putting my food back down onto the cardboard box.
“Yeah, I guess…but I still miss you.”
I rolled my eyes; I hated when she did shit like that. “Look, Cali, you don’t like change, but this was your choice and you are with the guy you wanted to be with, traveling around on the road with a famous rock band. It’s a dream come true for most chicks. Mind you, most of them do it at nineteen, not thirty, but fuck it. Just live your life.”
“What?” Her shocked tone matched how taken aback I was that I’d just spit those words out.
“You heard me, Cali. You have to live your life and I do, too. Please just stop calling me like this. I need a break and I need to really get over your.” With that I hung up and blocked her number.
My hands were shaking as I stared down at my phone.I did it.I’d finally stood up to her in the only way I knew how. I didn’t want to be bitter and I had taken the high road throughout most of our breakup. I felt sick, but liberated. It was the right thing to do. It needed to happen. It felt so wrong.
There was no coming back from hanging up on her like that, but there was also no coming back from how badly she had fucking trampled my heart. Fair is fair. She’d made her bed, and I was going to have to make her lie in it, one way or another.
Triumphant, with a side of queasy, I ate more than half of the pie and watched four episodes of Sam and Dean kicking ass and cutting the heads off of vampires before I called it a night.
* * *
My alarm blaredat five-thirty and I groaned as I threw one of my pillows across the room. Having a couple of weeks off had completely spoiled me, and having to wake up so early was going to take some getting used to again.
Reluctantly, I got out of bed, stretched for a few minutes, then slogged into my closet-sized bathroom. A cold shower did the trick of waking me up, even though every damn second was more miserable than the last.
After brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and scarfing down a cold piece of leftover pizza, I was out the door.
Getting to the station thirty minutes early was the norm for me, but I was fucking nervous as all hell to walk through the front doors. I was an old dog; it had been just about ten years since I graduated from the academy. Time fucking flies, and being the new kid on the block was something I hadn’t experienced since I was a rookie.
One deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
“Hey, you must be Mitch Katz.” I was greeted by a warm smile from a weathered-looking guy. Judging by his graying hair and laugh lines, he was probably one of the older guys at the station.
“I am, and you are?” I asked, grabbing his outstretched hand.
“Lieutenant Dave Goff. Chief Hoover told me to keep an eye out for you. I’m about to start going over trucks and checking to make sure all the necessary equipment is working. Care to join?”