All the guys laughed. “Especially not the eggplant emoji. You’re supposed to be interested but not desperate,” Captain Merrick said.
“Iaminterested but not desperate.” The guys gave him sidelong glances. “Okay, I’m a little desperate.”
The whole group burst out laughing. Noah didn’t mind having a good laugh at his own expense, but it was time to shut this down before it got out of hand.
“You schmucks don’t know what it’s like. You’ve never met a gorgeous doctor and felt like you’re reaching way above your station in life.”
“I asked out an actress once,” O’Rourke said. Everyone quieted down.
“What happened with that?” Noah asked.
“She said she was flattered, but Hollywood and Massachusetts were just too far apart. I said I’d move, but then she cc’d her agent on her next ‘thanks, but no thanks’ email. I guess she thought she was letting me down easy, in case I was a stalker.”
Everyone laughed again, and Noah cringed. That was why he almost hadn’t brought it up. He didn’t want to be the butt of their jokes. “Forget it, guys. I shouldn’t have asked.”
The captain stopped on his way to the sink with his empty plate and clamped a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Fierro. We’d help if we could, but who knows what women want? We certainly don’t.”
“You could ask a female friend—if you have any,” O’Rourke said.
Noah took a big bite of spaghetti and chewed on both the food and his predicament. That might not be a terrible idea. He’d be seeing most of his sisters-in-law on Sunday. His mother was too old to understand the social media stuff, but the next generation down should be able to help him figure out what dating etiquette was acceptable these days.Who can I ask?
Sandra and Miguel had been together since high school, so they’d never had to deal with it. Two of the others were freakin’ dragons. Who knew what dating had been like for them? He needed to ask a normal girl.
Maybe Misty would be able to help him out. She was only twenty-four. Even though she was with their older brother Gabe now, she was single and dating before that—he assumed. And she was a nice girl who would want to be treated with respect, like Kizzy.
“Yeah. I might do that,” he said after he finally swallowed.
Just then the tones rang out, and he didn’t have time to do much more than toss the leftovers in the trash. Noah was on tower ladder 3. The dispatcher announced the address of the fire in one of the taller but older buildings nearby—probably built in the seventies. Noah secretly hoped it was a false alarm.
A firefighter’s worst nightmare was a high-rise fire. His older brother Ryan had been in one before and lost his life. Well, temporarily. Anyone other than a phoenix or dragon caught in a backdraft explosion wouldn’t have seen their next birthday. And since it was such a public “death,” Ryan had to relocate to Ireland after he reincarnated. His picture had been in the papers and on the news for days afterward.
They all donned their turnout gear in seconds. As the trucks rolled out onto the street, he found himself thinking of Kizzy again.Get your head in the game, Fierro.Even a small distraction could put him or his fellow firefighters in peril.
The Federal Street location was mostly offices on the lower floors, then residential condos from there skyward. The fire was reported to have started on a low floor of a twenty-eight-story building. People were still spilling out onto the sidewalk as the trucks arrived. Noah hopped down from his seat behind Captain Merrick.
“I don’t know why you guys are here,” cried a portly man wearing a white apron. “It was just a small grease fire, and I put it out with a fire extinguisher. I don’t even know who called you.”
“And you are?” the captain asked.
“Head chef, Roberto Carelli. That’s my restaurant.” He pointed to the ground floor of the concrete-and-glass corner building.
A small kitchen fire was one thing, but if it spread upward, it could spell disaster. Even though the chef said he’d snuffed it out, Captain Merrick wouldn’t take any chances. Just because people couldn’t see the flame anymore didn’t mean it was out. Fire could hide in the walls only to erupt later.
A woman wearing a bathrobe approached. “Please check the whole building,” she said timidly. Her young husband or boyfriend kicked at the curb, hands in his jeans pockets.
The captain eyed her. “Which floor do you live on?”
“Six,” she said.
“Fierro and O’Rourke, check the floors above the restaurant. Pay close attention to six.”
“Yes, sir,” Noah said. He grabbed the irons in case they needed to pry open a locked door with the halligan bar or hack their way through a wall with the ax. The two of them passed the last of the descending residents on the stairwell as they ascended.
The hallway of the second floor seemed deserted, and all was quiet. There was no smoke. They walked along, placing their bare hands against the walls, looking for a change in temperature.
“Nothin’,” said O’Rourke as they reached the end.
“Same here. On to the next floor,” Noah said.
