Of him.
Of the way his fingers shift just slightly when I step off the curb, steadying me without thinking about it.
God.
The air is cooler now, and the remaining noise from the bay softens as we retreat further into the parking lot. Evan greets a few of the crew arriving for handover to do night shift, and I smile back when they nod at me too.
Elle climbs into the back seat without prompting this time, already halfway asleep with Pengie tucked under her chin. Evanopens my door before I can reach for it, and I pause for half a second, glancing at him.
“You don’t have to—”
“I know.”
His voice is quiet and easy and not making a thing of it, which just makes it harder to not feel several things at once. I slide into the seat, and he closes the door with a soft thud before rounding the front of the truck and climbing in beside me.
The engine turns over, and for a few minutes, it’s quiet. Elle’s soft breathing evens out in the back as we drive, and the hum of the road fills the space between us.
I rest my hand against the center console without thinking about it, but his eyes dart down. A moment later, his hand shifts from the gear stick to the console too—close enough that our fingers brush when the truck bumps slightly over the road.
Neither of us pulls away.
I stare out the window, but I feel his gaze flick toward me once, then back to the road.
“You enjoy it?” he asks after a beat.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “You?”
There’s another pause.
“Yeah.”
And the silence that follows after doesn’t feel cracked.
It feels full.
Chapter thirteen
There’s still space on the other side
Evan
The tones drop five minutes before handover.
We’re already half out of our gear, the kitchen half cleaned down, and Fletch is already bitching about whether night shift is going to eat all the “good snacks” we re-stocked the pantry with earlier today.
Beck doesn’t raise his voice, but it’s firm.
“Gear back on,” he says, already moving for his locker. “Let’s go.”
Dispatch crackles overhead. “Maplewood Fire, respond. Suspected overdose. Pediatric on scene. Police and ambulance responding.”
The room shifts, and we’re moving before dispatch finishes the address. None of us groans about clock-off time. We’re zoned in.
I tug my jacket back on and grab my helmet off the hook. My phone’s on the counter where I left it charging, and I scoop it up on the way past. Ghost and Colt look at each other quietly, then over at me, but I ignore them.
On the truck, Beck’s already acknowledging dispatch while Colt drives. Fletch and Ghost are in the back with me.
I type out a one-handed text to Penny while we roll out.
