Her brilliant smile flashes in my mind, those big, hazel eyes staring up at me. Earnest, open. Happy.
“I’m still confused about what video Liam was talking about,” Nate comments, looking between the man and me.
“Our new guy is a social media star,” Liam remarks with a smirk. “The kind Quinn loves.”
“I appreciate a male body, and there is nothing wrong with that,” the dark-haired one, Quinn, replies. It’s not defensive in the least. She simply owns it. “Tell me you don’t stop scrolling when there’s a sexy woman on your socials.”
“Have you met him since Jordan?” Luke laughs. “I swear to God he doesn’t look at anything besides her now. The dude did a one-eighty.”
“I still look at you, Pookie,” Liam says, blowing the man a kiss. Then his attention turns back to Nate and he gestures at me. “Cowboy Casanova here made a video about Bryn that’s gone epically viral. I saw it five minutes before you guys walked in the door.”
“Wait until she finds out you’re the new firefighter.” Hailey shakes her head with a laugh.
“Wait until she sees that video,” Quinn snorts, finally uncrossing her arms.
“Well, Iwillwait to see the video.” Nate clears his throat, and everyone sits up a little straighter.
Liam sits back down, and Quinn slides from where she was sitting on top of the table into a chair beside him. It’s clear the lieutenant version of Nate has entered the room and it’s time to get down to business.
“I’d like to formally welcome Wyatt Dalton to the crew,” Nate says, gesturing towards me.
My feet propel me forward, and it isn’t until then that I realize how far away I was from everyone. How displaced I was from the group. My stomach swan dives into my boots, and I take in a deep, steadying breath to try and reel in those first-day nerves swarming me.
Then it hits me. The gravity of the situation. This was my first impression on everyone besides Hailey, Quinn, and Nate. And my first impression to the ladies was of me picking up their friend. I don’t keep my social media life in the dark from those in my life—the whole crew at Station Six knew, Tyson and Ethan even helping me with it from time to time. But given that the people who are supposed to be my new fire family have all just seen me plead to find one of their friends, I’m wondering if they think I’m some sex crazed lunatic or desperate chump looking for a girlfriend.
It does nothing for the first-day jitters. Living up to any standards the house, and the people in this room, has for me might have just skyrocketed to levels I hope I’m capable of achieving.
I’ve got to do what I’ve always done. Make a fool of myself—in a way that doesn’t involve Bryn. And without making myself look incompetent.
It’s in the bag. I can rise to the challenge.
Chapter 5
Wyatt
“Burnpattern,”Brodygrunts,pointing at a line in the charred brush.
It’s easy to see the deep penetrating strip through the burned vegetation. It sinks lower into the ground with a darkness the rest of the foliage doesn’t have.
Nate, hand running through his dark hair, frowns at the scene before us. “Maybe.”
Brody’s head snaps in the other man’s direction, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead from the fire we just put out. Or the midday California sun that beats down on us, making it feel like the fire’s still raging. “Nate.”
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” he answers.
“You can see the sheen from an accelerant at the edge,” Brody counters, finger striking through the air towards the end of the burned line. If he points harder, maybe Nate will believe him.
Brody isn’t wrong. When we first put the fire out, he pointed it out to Luke. Considering I was ordered—by Brody—not to leave his side at calls today, I saw what he’s talking about up close.
Nate nods. “I know. I heard you the first time.”
Something tells me Brody isn’t the type to repeat himself. It could be the way his jaw clenches and flexes. Or how he exhales deliberately. He’s done a lot of that since Nate first assigned him to show me around the fire station, and since then I’ve learned he’s aman of few words, and grumpy to boot.
“It’s arson,” Brody declares.
“You’re not a fire investigator, Brody.”
“You know I’m not wrong.”
