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RUNNING DRILLS was fun. Well, the exercise and training were good for them, too, but watching Ollie be a sore loser was quite entertaining. The fact that everyone was cheering on Cora over him probably had something to do with it, too. Obviously, that only made them cheer harder for her.
To no one’s surprise, Cora reached the finish line first. She dropped her gear and jumped up and down with a well-deserved victory screech.
“You’re such a dick,” Ollie gasped out as he dropped to the ground next to her, rolling onto his back, and throwing his arms wide.
“Good,” Cora said, putting her foot on his chest. “A dick is all I was missing after just claiming your balls.”
Ollie cursed, then wheezed when Cora put weight on his chest.
Kody shook his head, a wry smile on his lips as he watched while Cora made Ollie beg before removing her foot.
“Alright. Who’s next?” Cora yelled, then threw a questioning look Kody’s way.
He put his hands up and took a step back. “Not a chance.”
Cora shrugged and headed toward the other guys.
Anyone who wanted to challenge Cora could go right ahead. He wasn’t dumb enough to try and not because he couldn’t beat her. He could. Which was why he wouldn’t try because Cora was a terrible loser. She would get back at you in some crazy way. Powder in your hairdryer. Nair in your shampoo. Ants in your underwear. She’d once told him she had wanted to use fire ants but had changed her mind because she knew Cap would’ve made her treat the bites and she didn’t want to get anywhere near Finn’s junk.
He’d only been on the receiving end of her pranks a time or two. Usually, he was aiding and abetting. Not that he would ever admit to that.
“Who’s that?” Ollie asked.
Kody glanced over his shoulder, his heart doing a little jump when he saw the man walking up the driveway to the firehouse.
“Ace,” Kody breathed.
“Ooh. Is that cake?”
Ace was wearing faded jeans and a white Nike T-shirt. The sleeves were just the right kind of too-tight, the man’s biceps bulging. He looked good. Way too fucking good. Who gave him the right to look that hot?
Kody shook his head and stepped toward the threshold, smiling at Ace as the man reached him.
“Hi.”
Ace gave him an almost bashful smile and held up the container that was indeed filled with cake.
“Kody. Hi. My mom made this for you guys. To say thank you for saving me, though I also want to apologize.”
“Apology accepted,” Cora said, appearing next to Kody.
Kody shook his head with a wry smile on his lips.
“Here,” he said, reaching for the cake. “Gimme a second.”
Ace
His heart was doing weird things in his chest again as he watched Kody. He walked to a table that was pushed up against the wall and put down the cake. The sheer number of firefighters that emerged from seemingly nowhere was crazy.
Kody walked back toward him with two pieces of cake in napkins. He handed one to Ace saying, “There you go. I had to get us a slice now because if we waited, there’d be nothing left.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
Kody led the way to a spot next to the open garage doors where a few lawn chairs were set up. They sat down and Ace suddenly felt awkward as all hell.
What was he even doing? Why was he still there?
“How did you know we were on shift?” Kody asked before taking a bite and groaning. That sound kept Ace distracted for a moment.
