Chapter 19

19

Rhett

It is beginning to become clear that I don't sleep unless I sleep with Sofia, because at the station I never sleep well. Which is why I'm up early before everyone else and jogging on the treadmill, trying to exhaust myself.

I increase the speed on the treadmill, pushing myself harder. The steady rhythm of my feet pounding against the belt helps clear my mind. As I run, I can't help but think about Sofia. It's only been a few days since she met my parents, but I already miss her like crazy.

We've been texting and talking on the phone, but it's not the same as having her in my arms. I never thought I'd be the guy who got so attached so quickly, but Sofia has changed everything for me. The thought of her smile, her laugh, the way she fits perfectly against me—it all makes my heart race even faster than this run.

"Damn, Hollywood, you trying to wear a hole in that thing?" Marchy's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. We're a pair, I can't sleep and he's an early riser.

I slow the treadmill down, grabbing my towel to wipe the sweat from my face. "Just couldn't sleep. You know me."

Marchy nods knowingly as he starts up the treadmill next to me. "Missing your girl?" he asks with a smirk.

I roll my eyes but can't hide my smile. "Maybe. Is it that obvious?"

"Bro, you've got it bad," Marchy laughs and then sobers. "But it's good to see. Sofia's great for you."

I slow the treadmill to a walk, cooling down. "Yeah, she really is. I never thought I'd feel this way about anyone." I've always figured I'd be the one single guy in the group.

Marchy gives me a knowing look. "That's how I felt when I met Haley. When you know, you know, right?"

I nod, thinking about how right it feels with Sofia. "Yeah, I think I do know."

We fall into companionable silence as we finish our workouts. As long as we don't get any calls, it won't be long before everyone else is up.

After finishing my workout, I head to the showers to clean up. As I'm drying off, the alarm sounds—we've got a call. I quickly throw on my uniform and rush to gear up.

We arrive at the scene of a house fire. Smoke is billowing from the windows of a two-story home. Captain barks out orders and we spring into action. Marchy and I are tasked with searching the second floor for any trapped occupants.

Inside, the smoke is thick and visibility is low. We methodically search room by room, calling out for anyone who might be inside. In the last bedroom, I hear a faint cry. Following the sound, I find a young boy huddled in the closet.

"I've got a child!" I call out to Marchy. Scooping the boy into my arms, I hurry back toward the stairs. The smoke is getting thicker and my feet carry us faster until I meet Marchy at the bottom and we move outside, taking him directly to his parents who are clearly panicking until they see their boy is safe.

I hand the boy off to the paramedics and turn back to the burning house. The fire is spreading rapidly now, and I can hear the creaking of weakening structural supports. Captain calls us all out—it's too dangerous to go back in. We focus our efforts on containing the blaze and preventing it from spreading to neighboring homes.

It takes hours, but we finally get the fire under control. By the time we finish, we're all exhausted and covered in soot. Back at the station, I hit the showers again, letting the hot water soothe my tired muscles.

Our shift was over two hours ago, but we were still out battling the fire. Now, I'm ready to head home and collapse into my bed for at least a few hours. As I'm getting dressed, I pull out my phone to check my messages. There's a text from Sofia.

Sofia: Hope your shift went okay. Miss you ??

A smile spreads across my face as I read her words. God, I miss her too. Without hesitation, I hit the call button.

She answers on the second ring. "Hey, you," Sofia says, her voice warm.

"Hey, baby," I reply, already feeling more relaxed just hearing her voice. "Sorry I'm just now getting back to you. We had a big house fire that took hours to put out."

"Oh no, is everyone okay?" she asks, concern evident in her tone.

I fill her in on the details of the fire, including rescuing the little boy. "Everyone made it out safely, thankfully. But I'm exhausted."

"You should get some rest," Sofia urges softly. "Call me later?"

Smiling, even though she can't see me, I answer, "I will. I love you."

"I love you too, Rhett." We disconnect and I gather up my stuff and head out. Once I'm home, I'm luckily exhausted and collapse onto my bed and in no time, I thankfully pass right out.

Sofia pushes the shopping cart down the aisle with me walking beside her, with my arm around her shoulders. Tonight, she's having her mom over for dinner and I finally get to meet her. After that I still have to meet Sofia's brother, Drew. I'm sure I won't be meeting her father since it seems like he doesn't have anything to really do with her.

Which is a damn shame, doesn't he know how amazing his one and only daughter is?

"Are you sure you don't mind helping me cook dinner for my mom?" Sofia asks, looking up at me as we peruse the produce section.

I smile down at her, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Of course not. I want to help. Plus, I'm excited to finally meet your mom."

Sofia beams up at me. "She's excited to meet you too. I just hope she doesn't embarrass me too much with childhood stories."

I chuckle. "Hey, turnabout is fair play after all the stories my parents told you about me."

We finish gathering ingredients for the meal Sofia has planned: a roasted chicken with vegetables and homemade rolls. As we're checking out, I notice Sofia eyeing a bouquet of fresh flowers near the register. Without hesitation, I grab them and add them to our order.

"Rhett, you don't have to—" Sofia begins to speak but I hold up a finger over her lips. "Hey," she says, but I hold up a hand.

I run my card through the machine and can feel her staring daggers at me. As we walk out of the store, Sofia gives me a playful glare. "You really didn't have to pay for everything."

I shrug, grinning at her. "I wanted to. Plus, those flowers will look nice on the table for dinner."

Sofia softens, leaning up to kiss my cheek. "Thank you. You're sweet."

We load the groceries into my Jeep and head back to Sofia's apartment. Once there, we get to work preparing dinner. I'm no master chef, but I follow Sofia's instructions as we work together in her small kitchen.

As Sofia seasons the chicken, I start chopping vegetables for roasting. "So tell me more about your mom," I urge. "What should I know before meeting her?"

Sofia smiles as she works. "Well, she's pretty easygoing. Very smart, funny, and beautiful. Like I've told you, she's a paralegal for a large law firm, well, she just got a promotion a couple of months ago. She is an amazing mom, but she's not been very lucky in love, obviously."

I listen intently as Sofia tells me more about her mom. It's clear she admires her a lot. "She sounds great," I say sincerely. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."

Sofia nods, her smile soft. "She is. She's been my rock through everything. I just..." she trails off, her expression turning pensive.

"What is it, baby?" I ask gently, setting down the knife and moving closer to her.

Sofia sighs. "I just worry about her sometimes. She's still hung up on my dad, even after all these years. I hate seeing her alone."

I wrap my arms around Sofia from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder. "That must be hard to see. But hey, maybe she'll meet someone great soon. It's never too late, right?"

Sofia leans back against me, nodding. "You're right. I just want her to be happy." She yawns widely.

I look at her and realize how exhausted she looks. "Why don't we take a little nap before we have to throw the food in the oven?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea. Someone didn't let me sleep much last night." Sofia pokes me in the ribs.

We stick everything in the refrigerator and then I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder, carrying her to the bed and tossing her on it. I follow her down and pull her into me so she's lying half on me and half off.

She must be exhausted because she's out immediately. I hold Sofia close as she sleeps peacefully against my chest. Her soft, even breaths and the warmth of her body are incredibly soothing. I find myself drifting off as well, lulled by her presence.

I wake up to the sound of Sofia's alarm going off. She stirs in my arms, reaching over to silence it.

"Mmm, that nap felt good," she murmurs sleepily, snuggling closer to me.

I kiss the top of her head. "It did. But we should probably get up and finish prepping dinner. What time is your mom coming?"

Sofia glances at her phone. "In about an hour and a half. We've got time."

We reluctantly get out of bed and head back to the kitchen. Working together, we get the chicken and vegetables in the oven and start on the rolls. As Sofia kneads the dough, I can't help but admire her. There's a streak of flour on her cheek and her hair is slightly mussed from our nap, but she looks beautiful.

"What?" Sofia asks, catching me staring at her.

I reach out and brush the flour off her face. "You are so beautiful," I whisper.

"You know how to make a girl feel good about herself," she replies as I brush the top of the rolls with an egg wash. Sofia blushes at my compliment, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You're pretty handsome yourself," she responds, leaning up to give me a quick kiss.

We finish preparing the rolls and get them in the oven. After we clean up the kitchen, we both get cleaned up and as we're finishing there's a knock at the door. Sofia's eyes widen.

"That must be Mom," she says, smoothing her hair. "How do I look?"

I smile, pulling her close for a quick kiss. "Beautiful, as always."

Sofia takes a deep breath and goes to answer the door. I hear her greet her mother warmly, and then they're walking into the kitchen.

"Mom, this is Rhett," Sofia introduces, gesturing to me. "Rhett, this is my mom, Eve."

I step forward, extending my hand. "It's great to finally meet you, Ms. Morgan."

"Please call me Eve, it's nice to finally meet you, Rhett. I'll never be able to thank you for saving my daughter during the fire." Instead of taking my hand, she grabs my face and kisses my cheek.

I smile warmly at Eve. "It's my pleasure to meet you too, Eve. And no thanks necessary—I'm just glad I was able to help Sofia that day."

Eve steps back and looks me over appraisingly. "Well, Sofia certainly wasn't exaggerating about how handsome you are," she says with a wink.

"Mom." Sofia exclaims, her cheeks flushing pink.

I chuckle, wrapping an arm around Sofia's waist. "I'm the lucky one here," I reply, pressing a kiss to Sofia's temple.

Eve smiles at us. "You two are adorable together. Now, what smells so delicious?"

"We made roast chicken with vegetables and homemade rolls," Sofia explains. "It should be ready in about fifteen minutes."

"Sounds wonderful," Eve says. "Can I help with anything?"

Sofia shakes her head. "No, Mom, you just relax. Rhett and I have everything under control."

Eve takes a seat at the kitchen table as Sofia and I put the finishing touches on dinner. I pour glasses of wine for everyone and we chat easily while waiting for the food to be ready.

When the timer goes off, Sofia and I work together to get everything plated and on the table. As we sit down to eat, Eve raises her glass in a toast.

"To new beginnings and new love," she toasts warmly, looking between Sofia and me.

We clink glasses and dig into the meal. The conversation flows easily as we eat. Eve asks me about my work as a firefighter and tells some funny stories from her job as a paralegal. I can see where Sofia gets her quick wit and sense of humor.

"So, Rhett," Eve starts as we're finishing up our meal. "Did you always want to be a firefighter?"

I nod, taking a sip of my wine. "For as long as I can remember. As soon as I finished my EMT training, I went through the fire recruit training program. Then I started at Station 47 and have been there ever since. I can't imagine doing anything else."

Sofia lays her head on my shoulder and squeezes my thigh. Fuck, that feels nice.

Eve smiles warmly at me. "That's wonderful that you found your calling. It takes a special kind of person to run into danger to help others."

I feel my cheeks warm slightly at her praise. "Thank you. I'm just grateful I get to do what I love every day."

"And we're grateful for people like you," Eve says sincerely. She turns to Sofia. "Honey, this meal was delicious. You two make quite the team in the kitchen."

Sofia beams. "Thanks, Mom. Rhett was a big help."

As we finish up dinner, I insist on clearing the table and doing the dishes while Sofia and Eve chat. I can hear their laughter from the kitchen as I clean up. It warms my heart to see Sofia so relaxed and happy with her mom. Although it had to be hard just being the two of them. It's obvious Sofia and Eve are close.

When I rejoin them in the living room, Eve is showing Sofia some photos on her phone. "Mom's new office." She shows me the picture of a decent-sized office with floor-to-ceiling windows and a beautiful view.

Sofia begins yawning again and Eve stands up. "Baby, you're sleepy. I'm going to take off." She comes to me and gives me a hug. "Thank you for a lovely dinner. It was so nice to meet you."

"You too, Eve."

I stay inside while Sofia walks her mom out and head into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Once I finish, I turn to find my girl leaning against the bathroom doorjamb.

"Well, you have Mom's seal of approval."

I walk toward her. "That's awesome, baby. She seems great." Now, I walk toward her and scoop her up in my arms, carrying her to bed.