“It’s not that hard—”
I’m cut off mid-sentence when a cascade of water drenches me from above, followed closely by a second one. Shouting as I put the ball over my head and hit my knees instinctively trying to duck, a round of laughter and shouts erupt.
Looking way up to the roof of the building, Luke stands grinning over the edge with a bucket balanced on the side. He waves, wiggling his fingers at me.
“Nice dance,” he calls down. “Thought you needed a celebratory shower.”
The words “you asshole” are about to leave my mouth good naturedly, but at the last second I remember we’re outside the station where the public can very clearly hear me. Swallowing downthe curse, I hold up my middle finger of the hand still holding the ball up. It’s positioned so no one but him and the rest of the crew can see it, which sends everyone into another fit.
“I’ll get you back for that,” I yell, getting to my feet.
“Get back at Brody, it was his idea!”
Brody looks up at Luke. “Nark!”
Luke shrugs. “Hailey made me promise not to get into another war.”
“You were all in on it!” I accuse, pointing a finger at each of them.
Their looks of guilt are blatant, but it’s only mock outrage on my part. Being pranked is a rite of passage, and I know what it means. I’m accepted. I’m one of them. These are my brothers and sisters, through and through.
It fills a void in my chest. When I left home and came to California, I had no idea what was going to come of it. Didn’t know if I’d have to turn around and go back home and admit defeat to my dad and brothers or if things would turn out. I knew getting through fire academy was the first step, and being accepted as a probie was the second, which filled the homesickness void that sometimes clawed at me. When I swapped stations, the void came back; it was another road of unknowns, but then there was Bryn.
As short lived as that was, it helped me through the awkward first month of getting to know a new group. The ache in my chest when I think about her is strong enough to knock me on my ass most days, but moments like this, with this group, with Brody, have dulled it enough that I can handle it. That I can keep the hope for us alive.
She’s meant for me. A week removed from her breaking things off, and I’m still sure of it.
“Be happy I knew,” Hailey said, coming to my side. “Why doyou think I asked to film everything from your phone?”
My jaw drops as she holds it out to me. “Did you film that too?”
“You bet your ass I did.”
Taking the phone, I engulf her in a bear hug. One that she very much protests but has no way of getting out of. By the time I’m done, she’s a quarter soaked as me, and I’m grinning as she smacks me in the chest.
“Jerk!” But she says it with a laugh.
“Giving head and making the ladies wet.” Quinn gets up from the bumper. “So much talent, cowboy.”
“What can I say?”
“You better go get changed…” Nate says, the last word trailing off as his attention diverts over my shoulder.
A car is pulling in behind me, and I turn to find the words “Fire Investigator” lettered across the panel beneath the SUV’s rear driver-side window. Behind the wheel, a blonde woman reaches for something in the back seat, revealing hair pinned back in a low bun. She climbs out a second later, pausing when she takes in the scene in front of her.
Me looking like a drowned rat, exercise ball tucked under my arm, water all over the pavement, and everyone standing around just outside the bay doors.
Slowly her eyes move skyward, but Luke’s not there anymore. He’s making his way to us from inside the bay, still smiling from ear to ear. Pleased as shit with himself and what they pulled off. It makes me wonder how much he knew ahead of time, if Brody put him up to it. I didn’t even notice him disappear. An oversight on my part.
“Nate,” the fire investigator says.
Nate nods, coming to meet her halfway, which is just a couplefeet from me. “Tina. How you doin’?”
“Better than this one, by the looks of it,” she says, waving in my direction. “Breaking him in gently, I see.”
Nate shrugs. “You know us. Nothing like a few harmless pranks.”
“The things I miss about being in a house,” she says, then glances at all of us. “I wish this was strictly a social call, but it isn’t.”
