Page 42 of Dandelions and Smoke

“Anyway.” He scrubs a hand over his face, not even trying to hide how I affect him now. “What do you say I take you out tomorrow?”

“Oh, you actually meant tomorrow.” I grimace because my schedule is so busy that if it weren’t for the Google Calendar app on my phone and the constant reminders popping up along with texts from all my friends, I’d be screwed.

“How exactly does your schedule work?” I ask because now that I think about it, ever since I’ve known the guys, I’ve never heard them mention it.

“You know how these guys operate.” He points to the living room, where we can hear Billy, Mark, and Blake arguing about a red flag on the play. “A couple of days on, then off. As for me? I haven’t taken a real day off in over a year,” he says, shifting from one foot to the other. “If Levi is on duty, I don’t usually go out on calls either. Crew B has engineer Angela, whom I trust to keep things operating in the field, but I still go out on a few calls with them each shift when I can. I mostly handle the boring paperwork.”

“So my sexy and brave firefighter fights pencil sharpeners and payroll?” I tease, placing my hands on his chest.

“It’s a very dangerous job, I assure you. Those pencils are sharp,” he quips. “Does tomorrow not work for you?”

“Well…” I pause, not wanting to disappoint him.

For some reason, I woke up this morning thinking this is all too good to be true. Like, there’s no way he meant everything he said, and now the idea of me bailing on his first attempt at a date is making me want to shoot myself in the foot as I accidentally sabotage everything.

Which, if I were to shoot myself in the foot, then I guess that foot wouldn’t need a shoe, and in that case, there would be no possible way for the other shoe to drop. Although I’d still have to remember there is a shoe, and that doesn’t seem likely. See now, why does this actually make sense to me?

Chief’s hand reaches for mine, stilling them. I wasn’t even aware I’d begun to fidget.

“I’m sorry, I was invited to go Black Friday shopping with Emma, Callie, and Della. Apparently, it’s a tradition.” My hands move around as I overexplain, and my eyes bounce around Billy’s house instead of meeting his. “After shopping, I have work at the cafe, and since we don’t know if Tris is feeling up to it, I can’t bail on Ainsley.”

My voice pitches at the end, and Chief must notice the slight panic behind my words because he places his hands on my shoulders before tipping my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze.

“I’m not going to change my mind, Little Lion,” he says tenderly, calming every frayed nerve that, at this point, I’m not convinced he can’t see.

“Pft. I know that,” I punctuate with a dramatic hand flourish.

“Do you?” he replies seriously, despite my joking.

“Yup,” I answer him after a second passes, popping the ‘p’ but softer than usual.

“Good,” he says, placing a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”

I wave as he drives off, standing in the doorway. That familiar feeling of being watched brushes the back of my neck. I close the door behind me and head back to the living room, catching Blake just as he settles back into his seat.

“That seems to be going well,” Emma grins, ignoring Blake’s grumbling.

“Yeah, thanks to me!” Billy sings from his seat.

Blake and I both shoot him a narrowing gaze.

“Whoa, it’s like seeing double,” Mark says, his eyes bouncing between the two of us.

We both roll our eyes, but only I respond.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook after your stunt the other day,” I say, referring to him sending Chief to unlock my car.

He blanches, knowing full well the wrath of my power.

For the last prank he pulled on me, I made him pay by tearing off all the labels from the cans in his food cabinet. That’s the last time he replaces my pink hair color with pink frosting. I don’t know how he thought I wouldn’t notice.

“That’s right. Sleep with one eye open, Playboy,” I tease, plotting while we all go back to hanging out.

I don’t intentionally mean to keep Chief waiting, but like I told him when he stopped by the cafe on Black Friday, Fridays are for the girls. I flip-flop each week between hanging out with Tris and Ainsley, and Callie, Emma, and Della. If this life has taught me anything, it’s to make time for the people who are important to me… although I’ve been struggling to do that for Chief. It’s not on purpose. It’s my nerves and overall jitteriness lately, probably caused by the excessive amount of Vanilla Chai I’ve been drinking. I called it Chai tea once, and I thought Callie was going to punch me. Apparently, Chai means tea, and saying it twice is redundant… noted.

I’m so far in my head, bopping around from table to table, that I don’t even notice Chief until he’s leaning against the counter with an amused grin on his face. I skip over to where he stands with Ainsley, the two of them watching me.

“Enjoying the view?” I flip my pink curls over my shoulder, taking a mental note that I need to add more pink soon.