2. Sam

The hypnotic whir of the treadmill drowns out every thought cycling through my head. Running is the only thing that helps calm my mind when I have too many things to think about.

“You gonna run yourself into the ground before we even get our first call?” Brody yells over the noise. His jeans are dirty, and his hat is turned around backward, telling me he’s been working with Daniel on the trucks.

I huff out a laugh. “I’m only at five miles. It’s practically nothing.”

He rolls his eyes while I push the stop button. He’s right, though. I shouldn’t go for too long while I’m on shift. Keeping in shape and staying warmed up is important to be able to do my job, but if I’m not careful, I can easily tire myself out.

“What’s got you all worked up?” Body asks.

“The usual. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” I shrug. Brody and I walk out of the small gym at the firehouse together. He’s been my best friend almost from the moment I walked through the door for my first shift.

He was hiding behind a door in an attempt to spook Rodney, another firefighter, and he jumped out at me instead. He scared the shit out of me, which made him die laughing. Then he pulled me behind the door to help him scare his intended target, and we’ve been playing pranks on the rest of the crew ever since.

“Ah. Anything I can help with?” Brody offers as we walk into the crowded lounge. He knows by now that I have to deal with my mom’s shit all the time. He doesn’t even need to ask for details.

“Nah. It’s not even my mess to clean up. I won’t ask you to wade into the dumpster fire, too.”

He shakes his head, used to my refusal of his help. I’ve been cleaning up my mom’s messes since I was a kid. It’s become second nature at this point. Adding another person into the mix would only make things worse. I’m still pissed at her for making me leave O’Malley’s before I was ready. I wanted to spend the night talking to Carter. Instead, I had to kick out another one of my mother’s wonderful, free-loading boyfriends. It’s happened on many occasions, and while I hate how disruptive it can be, I’d rather her ask me to help than do it herself. She always ends up with a black eye when she tries, and I have to help her anyway. It just would be nice to not need to save her all the time.

I flop down onto one of the recliners in front of the TV. Rick and Rodney are ripping on each other as they watch their rival baseball teams play. I think they purposefully root for different teams so they have something to argue about. It’s their love language. The two of them have been firefighters since they were in their twenties, and they’ll be smoke eaters until they physically can’t be anymore.

I jump out of my chair as an idea hits me. I scan the room for Taylor and Charlie. The two of them are always together, and I find them sitting at the card table we have set up. Charlie has her hair slicked back into her typical low bun. She’s the lone woman in the house and is a card shark. Looks like she’s trying to coax Taylor into playing poker with her again. It doesn’t seem to matter how often we try to teach Taylor how to play cards, he’s abysmal at them.

“Don’t fall for it, Taylor. She just wants you to stroke her ego,” I tease.

“Hey!” Charlie protests, throwing one of her poker chips at me.

Laughing, I interrupt her tirade before it can get heated. “Guys, I’ve got an idea.”

They both throw their cards onto the table. I catch Brody’s gaze and nod my head for him to come over, too.

When he sits at the table, I launch into my idea. “Rick and Rodney are both going to be fifty soon, and I was thinking we should throw a big party for them.”

“Oh, fuck. I forgot this was a big birthday for them,” Brody says.

“They’re going to hate a party.” Charlie’s grin tells me she loves the idea of making them squirm.

“I thought we could build off the fundraiser next week and bring out a massive cake or something,” I tell them.

“Yes! We could have a big banner saying Happy 50th Birthday, too,” Taylor adds.

“They’re going to hate this.” Brody laughs. “You need to get it approved through Cap, though.”

I grimace. Tucker James is our captain at the house, and he’s pretty hit or miss when it comes to our hijinks. Most of the time, we don’t ask and accept the consequences if there are any. Given that our fundraiser is a community event, we should probably get permission first.

“Okay, fine. I’ll ask him. Come up with a plan B just in case this doesn’t go the way we want.” I get up from the table and leave the rec room.

Tucker’s office is down the hall from our bunks. Being captain, he gets his own room. I’d be jealous, but I have no desire to do his job, no matter what the perks are.

I find him sitting at his desk, leaning over a stack of papers. His dark, wavy hair falls over his forehead, and his biceps look like they’re about to rip the seams of his T-shirt. The guy is fit, and I can’t help but check out his muscles. They’re hard to miss.

“Hey, Cap. You got a minute?”

Tucker looks up from his work. “Sure, Sam. Come on in.” He turns in his seat and hooks a second chair with his foot to pull it closer for me to sit in.

“So, I had an idea I wanted to run by you.”

“Is this another one of your pranks? Gotta say, I’m a little surprised you’re asking first.” Tucker smirks. He likes to pretend he hates our games, but I think he secretly enjoys them. We’re not stupid enough to pull one over on him, though.

“Well, we’d like to use the fundraiser next week to throw an impromptu birthday party for Rodney and Rick. We want it to be a surprise, though.”

“Their birthdays aren’t for another month.”

“Exactly! That’s why this is perfect. They’ll never expect it.”

Tucker thinks for a few minutes before he finally relents. “I need full updates about everything you plan first. And if you do anything that I’m not aware of, there will be massive consequences. Don’t make me regret this.”

“Yes! Thank you! I swear it will all be above board.” I jump out of my chair, ready to head back to the rec room, but something makes me hesitate. He knows Carter. He’s practically a brother-in-law.

Tucker’s eyebrows lift in question.

“Um…” I clear my throat. “You know what? Never mind.” I start to leave when Tucker stops me.

“Wait a minute.”

I freeze where I’m standing.

“I got a text from Nolan Ellis the other day. He was asking if I knew a guy named Sam. Apparently—and I quote—‘Carter had heart eyes all over him.’”

Pink floods my cheeks, and I thump back down in my chair. “I’m a little surprised Nolan was with it enough to even remember my name.”

“To be fair, there were approximately six typos in his text, so my guess is he was way past drunk when he asked. I haven’t responded yet. Do you want me to?”

“Well…” I grip the back of my neck. “Brody, Taylor, and I met them at O’Malley’s last weekend.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Tucker smirks.

“This is weird. Isn’t this weird?” I blurt. I’ve been kicking myself from the second I walked out of the bar without Carter’s phone number. My mom sent her typical SOS signal, which meant she wasn’t safe and needed my help to get out of it. I knew if I waited a single second too long, she could’ve gotten hurt, so I left without thinking. Now I have a chance to get more information about Carter, and I’m being a bumbling idiot instead.

Tucker rolls his eyes at me and turns back to his desk. He grabs a pen to write something down before turning back to me. In his hand is a sticky note with a phone number on it.

“This is Carter’s number. Do with it what you will, and I’ll tell Nolan he’s an idiot.”

I take the note with a laugh. “There’s no need for that. I should probably be thanking him. From what I could tell, I’m pretty sure he’s the reason Carter came over to talk to me in the first place.”

Tucker tilts his head. “Sounds about right. I won’t say anything, then, and let him wonder if anything ever happened.”

I frown. “Won’t Carter tell him if I reach out?”

“I doubt it. Carter doesn’t say much in general. He definitely won’t share anything with Nolan.”

Hmm. I didn’t get the quiet vibe when I ran into him by the bathrooms. In fact, he seemed to force himself to stop talking. Does that have to do with me, or was it the circumstance?

“Thanks for this, Tucker.” I hold up the note as I stand to leave his office. The hallway is quiet, giving me the space to decide what I want to do next. Do I send a text first? Call? Is it weird to have his phone number at all?

What if he didn’t feel the same spark I felt when I touched his hand? I’ve been thinking about Carter nonstop since I left the bar. What if my attraction was completely one-sided?

There’s only one way to find out.

Me

Hey, Carter! This is Sam Shields. We met at O’Malley’s last Friday. I realized I still owe you a drink for the mishap with your phone. You still interested?

I darken my screen and tuck my phone away in my pocket. If I don’t hide it, I’ll constantly be checking to see if he responds.

I find Taylor and Charlie again to let them know our plan is a go. Since we only have a week, we start planning right away.

All the while, my phone sits quietly in my pocket. I pretend to not notice, but deep inside, the disappointment is cutting.