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I loved that he thought the same way. “You can’t do that. I don’t know what his deal is, but he needs guys that are going to walk through this. You can’t do that if you make him the bad guy.”
“What if heisthe bad guy?”
I shrugged slowly. “I don’t know, Jake. I don’t want to say that it might be the case. It’s not our place to judge, right? All I know is they both need prayers right now. Lots of them.”
“Prayer always changes things for the better, right?”
I smiled weakly. It was becoming our own little catchphrase. A secret strength we could both lean on at the same time we leaned on each other.
“Always.”
ChapterEighteen
JAKE
Until our dinner was interrupted with an emergency call, having Monica at the station had been perfect. How many times this spring had I wished she could be here, even wishing for her brother making fun of us if it meant everything was out in the open?
Thankfully, the call had been an easy transport to the hospital for chest pain.
Matteo parked the rig after the call and started the post-use inspection, while Bryce and I went inside to clean up. Instead, we found a spotless kitchen with the leftovers neatly packed and labeled in the fridge.
“You don’t deserve her,” Bryce said with a smile.
I agreed with him one hundred percent. “Probably not. I’m sure not going to let her go,” I said firmly.
“Good,” he said, grabbing one of the leftover breadsticks from the foil container on the counter. He ate half of it in one bite, then pointed the remainder at me. “I wasn’t really on board at first, but I think you’re good for her.”
I didn’t know whether to be offended or pleased. “What makes you say that?”
Bryce shrugged. “You guys are different. Monica’s always been so… focused and responsible. You’re so funny and laid-back. It just doesn’t seem like it would work. But you make her smile. Lighten her up, you know?”
“You think I’m irresponsible?” I hadn’t heard anything beyond his assertion that we were different and Monica was responsible. Implying clearly that it meant I was not.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he tried to backtrack.
“It sounded like what you were saying,” I countered.
“Jake, I was trying to give you my blessing. Why are—”
I clenched my jaw. “Maybe I don’t need or want your blessing, Bryce. You might be my supervisor here at work, but you don’t control my relationship with Monica. She fell in love with me before and is doing so again. I don’t know why everyone seems to think I’m just wandering through life with no plan and without a care.”
“Jake, I didn’t—”
I ignored his arguments, focused on the realization that my closest friend in the world thought I wasn’t good enough for his sister. “Is that how you see me? Some irresponsible guy you have to keep in line so he doesn’t screw up?”
The alarm rang, notifying us of a fire call. I gave Bryce a pointed look. “Better come watch me put on my turnout gear so I don’t mess it up.”
He started to argue, but I didn’t listen before storming out of the kitchen and back into the garage to respond to the call.
Fighting with my supervisor probably wasn’t the best career move, but Bryce’s criticisms hit a little close to home. How many times had I been called irresponsible and disappointing? And now to realize that Bryce didn’t actually think I was good enough for his focused and responsible sister? That really sucked.
I barely spoke to Bryce during the fire call–a bonfire that got out of control and caught a nearby shed on fire at Cooper’s farm. Volunteers showed up within a few minutes of our arrival, which made it much easier to just follow orders and forget that I was angry with the person giving them.
In the middle of a firefight, there was no time for personal feelings to get in the way.
By the time we made it back to the station, we were all exhausted, and my anger had been mostly extinguished along with the flames. We sped through the checklists, and Bryce laid a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, man, can we talk?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I know you meant well. Let’s just forget it and crash before another call comes in.”
