“He was generally just a bit of a dick. He was rude to the waitstaff. Very entitled…”
I nodded with a groan. “Say no more. Being rude to the server is ahugered flag.”
“Though I don't know why we're talking aboutmylove life when, all of a sudden, you’re bonded to the hottest firefighter of Station Sixteen.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes again. “Don't let Blaze hear you say that. You'll break his heart.”
Publicly I was only admitting to the bond with Merrick, thankfully most of my marks were hidden by my uniform.
“He's got an omega who could kiss it better.” Freddie shrugged. “Stop avoiding my question, Hailey.
A nervous chuckle escaped. “I'm not avoiding, it was all really sudden. Probably a little rushed, but I'm excited.”
“Are you going to give me the dirty details?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not yet. Things are still unfolding. Oh, look!” I pointed to a fire truck parked on the side of the road near where we were headed. “It’s Station Seventeen.”
Distraction working, Freddie pulled off to the side, and we were quick to get out and head over to make conversation.
I smiled when I saw one of my friend’s alphas. “Elliot, it's always good to see you. How’s Melody doing?”
A grin broke out on the alpha's face at the thought of his omega. “She’s doing amazing, working nonstop at the shelter. We have to remind her every day to eat and sleep, but she's never been happier.”
“I need to come see the place now that you've fixed it all up again.” I thought of when I’d last seen her. “How’s her hand?”
“A little red, but other than that, it looks like nothing even happened. There's not going to be any scarring, I don't think.”
“Great!” I gestured around us, the air in this area smoky and thick. “Are you guys here on wildfire duty?”
“We're just coming to consult on the plan of action.”
I nodded. It was typical to have a bunch of people around, determining what the best course of action was. Fires like these, because they were so unwieldy and temperamental, needed as many heads on the case as possible.
“Ooh, lookie, lookie. It looks like they've got the hot convicts out.” Freddie laughed.
Everything stopped. My heart hammered as I turned to see the familiar orange jumpsuits of the convict firefighters.
Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Was Preston in there? We couldn’t run into each other. Too much to explain and not the people we wanted to explain it to.
I lightly slapped Freddie on the chest, hoping to go anywhere else. “Stop ogling, and let's get to work.”
Reluctantly, Freddie followed along, and we headed to the tent that was set up for us to do our work. Our first patient just so happened to be one of the firefighters from Station Three.
“Hey, my captain wants me to come see you guys,” he said. He was wearing his turnouts and a gray T-shirt and was covered head to toe in muck and soot.
“I'm guessing he wants you to see us because you've hurt yourself. Care to tell us how?” I raked my stare over him, looking for familiar clues.
He waved off my concern. “It's nothing.”
“You know what? Why don't you humor us and sit on this gurney? For me?” I asked sweetly, batting my eyelashes, and the guy blushed just a hair.
“Don't look at her like that. She's a taken woman,” Freddie teased, and I rolled my eyes.
“I'll still do whatever she tells me.” The guy laughed, sitting down as I had instructed. “I kind of fell down a big hill and crashed into a few trees.”
“Well, that doesn't sound like nothing. Does anything hurt?”