2
Remington
The feisty, beautiful woman with long chestnut-brown hair, a pink sweater, and denim shorts marched her perfectly toned, long legs out the door. Leaving that asshole, Brett, scrambling and the Sugar Cube buzzing.
“It’s not true!” he yells. “My dick is huge and I get tons of pussy. She is just being a petty bitch.”
Storming out the door after her is the only thing that saves him from me leaving my place at the counter and rearranging his too-straight teeth. I am not a violent person. I have the reputation of being “the nice guy,” albeit a little grumpy from time to time, but never out to start shit. However, something about that woman has me as fired up as the flames I saw in her eyes when she was laying into that moron. Hearing him say anything negative toward her is making every cell in my body sing.
Thank fuck I am going to work.I can hit the gym, work out my frustration there instead of on his face.
When I get to the fire station my best friend is waiting at the three open bay doors. The old brick building fits the charm of our small town, but the inside, equipment, and trucks are all modernized and top of the line. We are lucky to have a community that supports our efforts and department.
We do two fundraisers each year, a pancake breakfast in the fall and a car wash in the spring. Each one brings the people out in droves to support whatever extra things we need to fundraise for. Last year we were able to get funds and resources to help make some updates so we could install a Safe Haven Baby Box. We are one of the first fire departments in the state of Virginia to have one, and it has already been used once. A baby girl was placed safely in the box just three months after we put it in. People talk a lot of shit about small towns, but there is nowhere else I would want to live, to build a life. The people I care about most are all here in Fox Grove. We take care of our own, and now we can help even ones that are some of the most vulnerable in a new way.
Eli takes one look at the box in my hands and grins, knowing that I have a full order of sugar cookies from the cafe. It’s their signature dessert, and they sell out fast. That’s why I try to put in a weekly standing order before my final shift. I like to do something to give all the crew a little morale boost, plus I won’t get stuck having the temptation of eating too many cookies alone, gaining five pounds, and getting a stomachache.
“Were you there for the show?” Eli asks with an excited grin. Popping open the box and snagging two cookies, he takesa big bite of one, crumbs dusting down the front of his navy-blue FGFD T-shirt.
“What show?” I ask, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. The blowup I witnessed is sure to be spreading through town faster than a fire, sparking the interest from anyone willing to listen. Gossip like that will be catching a back draft with every retelling from now until dinnertime, making it the hottest town chatter for at least the next week.
“Some hottie tore her dipshit boyfriend a new one in front of the whole place? I was hoping you got a VIP ticket, could give me a play-by-play.” The smirk tells meexactlywhat he’s hoping for. He’s as bad as the old ladies at the Dip and Dye salon at the corner of Main and Booth.
Eli Hargrove is the biggest extrovert out of all my friends, and I swear he can make anyone melt in about three minutes of meeting him. He’s got zero issues with his game and runs around proudly waving his “bachelor forever” flag. Women know the deal, and they are happy to be in his company for whatever time he will give them. His dark hair, olive skin, deep-blue eyes, and signature dimple are weapons he is an expert at wielding to his advantage.
“Yeah, I was a VIP alright. At the counter. The asshole had the audacity to tell that beautiful woman that he cheated on her because they were apparently in a long-distance relationship, and ‘he had needs.’” I blow out a breath, feeling my blood starting to boil again thinking about the look on her face. “Oh!Andthen when she left, she said the new chick could enjoy his tiny dick and faking her orgasms.” I smile thinking about her sass.
Eli chokes on the last bite of his second cookie. “Hooollllly shit, Rem, I wish I was there. That’s small-town gossip gold!”
“I know. He’s lucky I wasn’t closer to him after she walked out. When he claimed to have a huge dick, gets tons of pussy, and said she was being a petty bitch.” Eli flinches at thoseharsh words, and his eyes turn dark. He might be a huge player and highly allergic to commitment in romantic relationships, but he loves and respects women. He has a single mom and three younger sisters that think he hung the moon.
“Maybe we should go teach him some manners, then go find that beautiful mystery girl so I can show her how areal mantreats a woman. I can promise she won’t have to fake anything with me.” He gives me a devilish wink, and I level him with a cold stare. “Ohhhmmyggoood,” he mumbles around a third cookie. “You like this girl?”
“I don’t even know her. Saw her all of three minutes. I was in the Cube to get my order,” I grumble.
“Yeah, but that look you just gave me tells a totally different story, brother. Don’t worry, ‘beautiful girl’ is all yours. I won’t steal your woman.” He laughs, carrying the box of cookies off into the fire station for the rest of the crew.
Rolling my eyes, I follow my best friend. Whatarethe chances of seeing the beautiful girl again? Yeah, this is a small town, but I don’t even know if she is from here. As far as size goes, I’d say we are more of an envelope than a postage stamp. Small, but not out of the question to meet a new face once in a while. I didn’t recognize her, and her name hasn’t been connected to the story floating around yet. All I can hope for is that she really did dump that tiny-dicked asshole and finds someone that shows her how worthy she is of a committed relationship.
The kind of relationship that always feels just out of reach for me. Once upon a time I thought I was so ready for forever, but I keep hope on that future door locked tight. I won’t let my heart be open to that kind of ambush ever again.
After my shift I was exhausted and ready to go home, turn off my brain, and decompress. We had a hard accident on the outskirts of town. It kept me there several hours after I was scheduled to leave. Fatals are always devastating, and compartmentalizing only works for so long. Sometimes we all need to be in the same room, together as a crew, a family, and process things. Shifts and schedules don’t matter when the mental health of the people you walk into the flames with are more important. The ties in the station are thicker than blood, we are a family.
As I drive through town toward my house, I see a stream of thick smoke coming from the back of the Fox Hollow apartment complex. Hitting the gas and turning the emergency lights on in my truck, I drive over in that direction as fast as I can. I call into the fire station on my truck radio.
LeBlanc:Dispatch this is Sergeant LeBlanc. Do you copy?
Dispatch:Copy.
LeBlanc:We have an unidentified, active fire situation at the Fox Hollow apartment complex. Heavy smoke present, situation unknown.
Dispatch:Copy that. Sending out trucksto the location.
LeBlanc:Tell them I am two minutes away.
Dispatch:Copy that, Sergeant LeBlanc.
Whipping around the back of the building, I slam on the brakes of my truck. When I see the cause of the smoke I have to blink and rub my eyes, thinking I must be having a hallucination. Sleep deprivation? What the hell is going on?
