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“That’s my call.”
I nodded.
He looked like he would say more. But he just smiled and went with, “Good to meet you.”
Good to meet you? The only surprise was that he didn’t high five me before running off, like he hadn’t just kissed me like crazy.
Standing in the middle of the field with sirens going off up and down the street, I watched Cal run away.
~
“What was that?” Harper asked, clasping my arm and walking across the street back to our little yellow house.
“I was just going to ask you the same thing. Why haven’t you told me about all the friends you made at the firehouse?” I glanced over my shoulder at the glowing station. The trucks were gone, and on them, Golden’s crew, including Cal.
Harper shrugged, and our heels clicked as we made it to the sidewalk and up the steps to our front porch.
“You had school, then worked in Denver for your dad.”
“Not anymore,” I said.
“Yeah, but you’ve been busy.”
“Not too busy for you.” I looked at my best friend. The normally brassy, ball busting redhead seemed to be carrying the weight of several things, and I’d had no idea. “I’m sorry if I’ve been wrapped up in my own crap and been a terrible friend.”
“You’re not,” she said, and fished her keys out, unlocking the door. “You’re a great friend, and I just want you to be happy. You’ve come a long way already. Last weekend, when I picked you up, you were practically buzzing with a permanent smile. Then, you confronted your dad for the first time, and quit the shitty situation and job he put you in. I want you to keep whatever this newfound awesomeness is.”
We walked through the door, the same feeling I’d felt thousands of times crashing down.
Weakness. I hadn’t told her that Jack not calling bummed me out more than I let on. Hadn’t told her that tonight I felt like an outsider that didn’t fit in. That was, until Cal started chatting me up, only
to kiss me, and then rush off. Yeah, he had a fire to get to. But it was the few seconds before that.
Too bad that passion, while it was a new feeling I was experiencing, tended to linger.
It was laughable how easily my mood could change, my heart could break, with a single conversation with my father or a glare from my step-mother. My confusion could skyrocket at a single encounter with a firefighter or my need to be touched, to be consumed, could ignite with one kiss from a dark-eyed man built of raw intensity and power.
“I’m working on it,” I said. “I quit my job, and I meant it when I said I was done shying away from life. You’re right, I need experiences. Good ones.” I just didn’t know exactly how to do that, or where to acquire the tools to tackle that kind of undertaking.
Harper nodded, tossed her keys on the side table, and kicked her heels off. “And I want to help with that. I just don’t think Cal is that guy.”
I frowned. “I’m not looking for that guy.” Though, after last week and up until this morning, I thought Jack was the only guy that made me feel those kind of emotions. Of course, Cal caught me off guard in a surprising way. Not bad. He wasn’t intense like Jack, definitely not bad. “I wasn’t aware you even knew Cal or his friends. Were you two together or something?”
“Cal and I? God, no. He gives me crap because…” Harper finished her sentence with a shaking of her head rather than words.
“What’s going on, Harper? You’re always talking about helping me. But I want to know what’s happening with you. I care, you know.”
She nodded. “I know. I’ve gotten myself into a small predicament that I don’t know how to solve.” She waved her hand, and the strain of conversation away. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle, and I don’t want to talk about that anyway. I want to talk about you.”
I tried to protest, but she just continued. “Look, the way I see it, whatever gave you that smile and strength last week is something worth hanging on to.”
“You said it yourself, I don’t have Jack’s number.” That didn’t meant I didn’t crave his heat. Stupid, considering I’d just met the man and was drawn to him.
“He brought out something in you.”
“I need to find myself, by myself.”
Harper huffed. “You’re right. You need to take back your life for you. And that’s what you are doing. You made that decision. But Jack helped those kickass emotions you needed rise to the surface to do that. I’m not saying he’s your hero, but he may be the catalyst for your shift in strength. No matter what, it still comes from you. Don’t forget that. In the meantime, there’s no sense in letting go of something good. You can always stop by his place.”
