Page 41 of Hearts Storm

“Well, hey there, Prett—” My world shrinks in around me, taking the breath from my lungs. Brex. “I mean... Uh, hi,” he stutters, masking his look of shock before releasing one of his signature lethal smirks.

Reaching for a dish towel, he dries his hands as he saunters over. Stopping half a foot away, give or take, he offers one to me.

His gaze flicks to Dave and then back to me. “Reyna, did you say?”

“Yeah, Brex. She just⁠—”

Is he seriously going to act like he doesn’t know who I am?

“Reyna Winters,” I blurt, cutting off poor Dave’s obvious surprise as I grasp Brex’s hand.

“Welcome to Lakeside Fire Search and Rescue, Reyna Winters. I’m Brexton Saint. But you...” He leans in just a touch and gives me a wink. “...can call me Brex.”

nineteen

“What the fuck, Logan?”

My best friend’s head snaps up when I storm into his office, closing the door firmly behind me.

“I take it you saw her,” he deadpans, flicking his gaze from me back to his computer. “Dave giving her the tour?”

Flopping into the chair sitting in front of his desk, I pin him with a lethal glare. “Seriously?”

“Don’t start.”

“Don’t start what?” I cross my arms defensively across my chest. “Giving you shit for not telling me that Reyna is our new EMT? You didn’t think to tell me this yesterday when I told you what happened in Portland?”

Logan sits back in his chair and shrugs. “I got distracted discussing expectations for her with Dave. She’s got orientation today and officially starts tomorrow. On your shift.”

My chest tightens as I sit up in surprise. “So you’re just handing her over? You don’t want to keep her all to yourself?”

“I’m not handing her over. I just can’t have any distractions,” he says, shaking his head with a frown. Picking up his pen, he starts tapping on the desk. “And she... is a distraction.”

The look of indifference, the way he’s acting like he doesn’t give a shit about what he knows he’s feeling for her, pisses me right the fuck off.

“So you think, by putting her on an opposite shift, you can avoid her,” I growl.

“Something like that, yeah.”

Pushing up from the chair, I shove my hands in my pockets. “You’re still mad about Vancouver.”

He tosses the pen on the desk. “We fucked. She left. End of story.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” I sigh.

Striding to the door, I go to yank it open in frustration, but stop short when he says, “I don’t know what else to do.”

Despite the dejected tone in his voice, I keep my back to him, shaking my head. “Well, hurry up and figure your shit out. ‘Cause I’m not gonna wait forever.”

All I can think about as I leave Logan pouting in his office is tracking Reyna down. I need to know where her head is at.

The amount of time since what went down between us weeks ago, is nothing compared to Logan’s year without her. And I don’t blame him for being upset. I know he likes her way more than he’s letting on.

But I’m not gonna let him keep avoiding her for long. Not when the chemistry between the three of us is so fucking off the charts not even a cosmic event could knock us out of each other’s orbit.

I head down the hall, checking the lounge first. It’s empty, except for Alan, who’s sprawled across the couch watching some reality dating show.

“Hey, you seen Reyna?”