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THEO
What the fuckdid I just do?
I kissed Sara. And she kissed me back. And holy shit, what a kiss it was. But how did it even happen? I jogged down her front steps and hopped in my truck, but didn’t start it, as I was too in my head.
I didn’t even know how I ended up at her place anyway. It’s not like checking in on her was something I normally did. She was a strong girl and could take care of herself. Did take care of herself, pretty well as far as I could see. She was one of those women who didn’t take shit from anyone but could still turn on the sweetness and charm when she wanted to.
It’s why her business had done so well and how she’d become a well-respected and adored part of this community. So other than driving her home after she’d had a few drinks every once in a while, I never had the urge to take care of her. Until today. When something nagged me about how nervous she looked this morning.
After a long ass day at the latest potential arson scene, and then dealing with a budget meeting, I was ready to decompress with a good meal and a couple beers. Instead I found myself parked in front of her little black house.
And that’s when I could no longer ignore the fact that I was drawn to her. I mean, sure I always acknowledged how hot she was. In that dumb, cocky way I had. She would just roll her eyes at me. That’s what all the girls did. Either that, or flirt back.
Sara and I had never seen eye to eye on any damn thing, but we always had a current of angry chemistry buzzing around us. I figured that’s all it was, and I knew that acting on it would screw up everything. I didn’t know if we were friends—she would probably say we weren’t—but we loved a lot of the same people. We were part of this pseudo-family together, whether we wanted to be or not. And giving into that chemistry would surely make things weird. Especially since I knew she didn’t even care for me. And yet there I was, kissing her like I’d never kissed a woman before. Like she was my last breath. Why the hell did she feel so damn good in my hands?
This is why I liked the randoms. No strings, no weirdness. Nothing to worry about or stress over. Fuck. My life had been simple that way. Keeping women at arm’s length so I didn’t have to settle down or get serious about anything. Now that I was more serious about my job than ever, that same old hook-up playbook had turned sour in my head. Was it possible I wanted more?
Noting the time on the dashboard clock, I tried to think of who I could grab some dinner with. Sam was probably at home with Alex. I didn’t want to bother the lovebirds tonight. I texted Rafael, who was surely back on shore now, and told him to meet me at the pub. He responded almost instantly, saying he was on his way. I started the truck and with one more glance at the little black house, I shook my head and pulled away.
The pub was our general meeting place. It had good food and drinks, lots of sports on TV, and enough locals to keep the tourists in check. Not that we had to worry about that for a few more weeks. I parked across the street at the police station in my usual spot and walked over. The rain had stopped but I could still see clouds in the darkening sky. It wasn’t finished with us yet. Raf appeared from around the corner, walking with his head down, staring at his phone with a scowl on his face.
“Yo man, what’s up?”
He looked up and found me.
“Ah, hey.” Pocketing the phone, he slapped me on the back as we walked to the door. His hair was wet but styled neatly, and I knew he had just gone home to shower, which my nose thanked him for. Raf was a fisherman, mostly lobster, but other varieties as well, and normally came off the boat smelling like fishy death. Sam and I liked to make fun of him for it, but Raf was probably the most well-groomed out of the three of us.
We went straight to the bar and ordered some pints. When I glugged half of mine down in five seconds flat, Raf looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I just shrugged and led us to a table in the back.
“So do we really have another arson?” He asked as we sat.
“Looks like it but I have to wait for the fire marshal to do his thing.” I took another sip of my beer, contemplating. My mind had been turning this thing over and over in my head. But then again, my head was filled with a lot of extra stuff lately and it all got jumbled together. Sara’s face came to the forefront. Her plump lips and the way they tasted like lemonade. The way she closed her eyes as I squeezed her perky ass. The sound she made—throaty and seductive—as I deepened our kiss. Fuck, I needed to stop. My pants tightened and a bead of sweat hit my temple.
Raf was on his phone again, so I forced my thoughts away and pretended to study the menu I’d seen hundreds of times. By the time the waitress came, I’d settled down. We ordered and talked about the usual shit until the food came.
“You coming to the town council meeting?” I asked Raf after a long sip of beer.
“Dude you couldn’t pay me to go to that thing. I don’t know how you deal with it.”
“Just part of the gig, I guess. I only asked because the Coastal League was a big feature at the last one and I know how you feel about them.”
Raf grunted. The Coastal League was an environmental group based all over New England. The cause was noble—they often protested companies and governments that were responsible for coastal erosion and water pollution—but some of the chapters were known to be a little more aggressive and radical than others.
Sara and Ellie were members of the Moon Harbor chapter, which was pretty tame. But it still caused plenty of friction in the community. Raf was always annoyed by them because as a fisherman, his industry was constantly in their crosshairs.
“Yeah, well keep an eye on that prick Ellie’s dating. I heard he was arrested for some protests down in Boston.”
My eyebrows shot up at that. Ellie was like a little sister to me. I didn’t want her involved with the wrong sort, even if she would tell me to fuck off if I tried to interfere. But I could at least keep my eyes open.
“Does Sam know?” Sam was always an over-protective big brother but he’d been trying to loosen up lately. Give Ellie some freedom to live her own life. No way would he be happy to hear this, though.
“Not yet.” Raf looked pissed as he finished his beer, maybe a little too pissed for the situation, but I wasn’t about to ask why. The man was stoic as shit and gave new meaning to the word enigma.
I’d known him for over a decade, been best friends ever since he moved up here to start working the boats. But in some ways, I barely knew the guy. He was always around if you needed him, but I didn’t even know where he lived until a couple years ago.
Sam and I always laughed at the mystery man, but I don’t know where we’d be without him. He balanced us out.
“I don’t think we’ll have to deal with too much bullshit this time,” I said, bringing the conversation back to the town council meeting. “Though you never know with the hippie. She might have something up her ass.” The minute I said that, my mind went elsewhere, but Raf wasn’t paying much attention.
“I’m gonna get another beer, you want one?”
“Sure, yeah.” He left to go to the bar, shaking out his shoulders in the process. I wondered what was up with him, but didn’t want to pry. So I sat back and observed the pub patrons instead. The people of my town. People caught my eye, gave me a hello or a nod. It was nice to serve the town I grew up in. I knew these people and I knew the land. Working for them gave me a real sense of purpose that I couldn’t imagine finding anywhere else.
But for the first time, I started to feel as if a piece was missing. A piece of what, I wasn’t sure. I just knew that my life was finally coming together, like a puzzle I’d been fretting over. And I needed to find the missing piece if I wanted to see the full picture.
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