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“Uh.” He cleared his throat. “I called and asked when you were on shift.”
Kody’s brows went up for a second, then he smiled at Ace.
“Just when I was?”
Ace swallowed hard and stuffed the cake into his mouth.
“You’re the one who saved me,” he mumbled.
“You wouldn’t have needed saving if you weren’t doing something stupid,” Kody said, a smile teasing at his lips.
He seemed more amused than condescending so Ace shrugged and said, “That’s me. I’m always doing something stupid.”
Kody looked like he was holding back a laugh.
“What do you do for work?”
“Construction. I’m a carpenter by trade,” he said with a shy smile.
“It takes a while to become a carpenter, doesn’t it? How old are you?”
He got why Kody asked. He knew he looked younger than he was. He was told often enough that he acted younger, too.
“I’m twenty-eight, and yeah, it took about four years.”
Kody nodded, looking like he was thinking about something. Ace ate the last bit of cake, sending his mom a silent thanks for baking it and sending him off to the firehouse because he wouldn’t have gotten up the nerve to go otherwise.
“You have a bit…” Kody brushed his thumb to the corner of Ace’s mouth and licked the cake off his finger.
The slight touch had been enough to send a shiver down his spine but watching Kody’s lips wrap around his thumb? Fuuuck.
“Oh, sorry,” Kody said with a laugh and a one-shouldered shrug. “Habit.”
“Uh.”
Words. Why were they gone?
“When you’ve got nephews and nieces, you kinda adopt that parenting thing without meaning to,” Kody said, smiling at Ace.
Kody
Ace was very clearly not stupid. He just did stupid things. He had a feeling Ace wasn’t the kind of person who cared too much about being the smartest guy in the room. He didn’t need to be. He was already good with his hands.
The thought had him biting his lip because damn. That was not something he should have been thinking about. He shouldn’t be thinking about Ace or his hands. His big hands. Rough because of his work, he was sure. Shit. There he went again.
“I should uh… get going,” Ace said and stood.
Kody got up as well.
“Thank you. For the cake,” he said, smiling at Ace. “And you’re welcome.”
“For what?”
Why did he have to look so adorable when he was confused?
“For saving your life?”
Ace’s face lit up, then turned crimson red.
