AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No worries, Manning. Hey, we were just talking about how the chief’s daughter is in town.”
“Is that right?” I acknowledged him, half listening as I scrolled through my phone for an emoji. Was Julia an emoji kinda girl? What about a bear emoji with a heart? Cute or weird, I couldn’t decide.
“Damn right. It’s been years since we’ve seen our little peanut.” Miller shifted his gaze back to Russ, who was part of the rescue squad. “Russ, remember how she’d climb everything and anything around the firehouse? Geez, we always had to have our eye on that little one. Once, she found a step stool and climbed into the sink with dirty dishes. As if it wasn’t hard enough to save lives, we had to keep her in check. But it’s about time she visited home, Chief’s been overly excited since her return. New York better be treatin’ her right.”
The men all nodded and laughed in unison, not me though, my attention perked up when I heard New York. Was it possible? No fucking way.
“So what was her name again?” My totally innocent question felt like an admission of sorts. I felt like I was going to get caught. For what, I didn’t even know.
“Little peanut, but formally she’s Julia. I think she’ll be coming around soon to visit.”
Shit. This whole time, I’d been texting Chief’s ‘little peanut’? For a moment my mind went dark as I tried to figure out what the hell I had gotten myself into. The chief’s daughter! He didn’t even like it when I touched his mug in the break room, I couldn’t imagine how he would feel about me touching his daughter. Surely, he would kill me, or worse, fire me. This was the last station that would have me. Nobody else would want the drunk, fighting, daughter-fucker, would they? I felt lost, my head heavy with concern as the phone buzzed in my hand with another text.
Julia: you’re in charge baby, I’m all yours for the taking.
14
Julia
Iknew I had to see Nathan again, even if it meant getting caught. There certainly was a thrill of sneaking around, but most of all, I missed the normalcy of his company. I needed a distraction, a chance to get away. My mind was at constant war, fighting between Robbie’s affair and my own. Of course, I got scolded for staying out so late with Eve, but better Robbie thought that than knowing the truth. I didn’t know what to do, what to think. I felt caught, between my life in New York and whatever this was with Nathan. What was it? A one-night stand?
Sitting on a park bench next to the theatre, I could hear Nathan’s booming bike roll up to the curb. A dark James Dean, flicking his kickstand before removing his helmet. Instantly, my mind seemed clearer than before. He shook his hair into waves, squinting in the sun with his dark hazel eyes. So tall, so strong, standing in his gruff jacket. Those damn Levi’s hugged his waist and ass so perfectly, I was tempted to touch immediately. I wanted to steal the jacket from him. To wear it. To have the scent of his musky cologne on my body.
A fling? Maybe.
Something more? Possibly. Whatever it was, it felt amazing, and today was my last day to figure it out. My thoughts liked to pretend they had a choice. I didn’t really, not in this matter. Robbie controlled everything: my job, my home, my entire adult life. Which is why, I felt like I owed it to myself to explore this a bit more. To keep this secret. Not to hurt Nathan or myself, but the nagging ‘what if’ continuously picked at my brain. What if I had a life with Nathan?
I snuck from the bench, having the full intention of surprising him. But something looked weird. He stopped in his tracks, looking around. He scraped his hand through his thick brown hair, shifting his gaze from the floor back up to the marquee. He seemed flustered, almost turning back to his bike. What had I done? All I’d done was pull this man’s heart strings without giving him any type of answer about Robbie. I’d been avoiding the topic as much as possible, but what would happen when it came time to leave?
If I were to ask old Julia what I should do, she would probably throw a drink in my face and tell me to pull it together. But how I felt today was totally different. Seeing him standing there, lost in thought, it broke my heart. Could I just let him go? That’d be the sensible thing to do. How could I step away without leaving a mess? I didn’t know if that was possible.
He stood still now, with his back to me, and by the time I was close enough to him, he quickly turned around, and we smashed into each other.
“Shit,” we both yelled out, shocked by our collision, but quickly laughed as we locked eyes. I guess I did end up surprising him. Maybe not so much in the best way.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. My cheek? As if I was a friend. I wasn’t a fan of that. I wanted to devour this man and instead of waiting for his public manners, I jumped into his arms. My legs wrapped around his waist as he held me tight. He seemed hesitant at first. His eyes slightly dropped low, concern washed over them, but quickly pulled me in tighter, giving into my kiss with his soft lips. His thumb smeared my red lipstick as he dove into the kiss, parting my mouth to suck on my tongue.
Then he stopped abruptly, “Baby,” he breathed out lowering my feet back to the ground. “Let’s wait.”
My heart fell flat at the mention of waiting. I eyeballed him with my judgmental eyebrow, which he chuckled at.
“Wait for what? This might be the last time we see each other. Scratch that, this is the last day. I leave tomorrow night, Nathan.” I couldn’t recognize my tone, riddled with despair and uncertainty. I was the planner, the one who knew it all. Not this. This was territory I wasn’t familiar with. This was spontaneous.
Somberly, he looked down at me. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. “Trust me. I have something I want to talk to you about.”
Oh god, the dreaded words that no one wanted to hear. I couldn’t hear it, not today, I had to stall. I mean, was it really necessary to have any type of breakup conversation? We were technically not together even. Or maybe I was in denial.
“Can it wait? The movie doesn’t start for another forty minutes, and the attendants refuse to let us in until then. I have something I want to show you, anyway.” He cocked his head but nodded as I took him around the corner. “I used to come here as a kid, even as a high schooler. This plaza, in some ways, I’d consider my old stomping grounds.” Nathan chuckled as if he was laughing at me.
“This old plaza was your stomping grounds? Prettier than mine. Back in Chicago we used to eat at a place called The Tavern. Still haven’t found a better burger since. Me and all my football buddies used to go raise hell there, but as long as we were winning games, the owners loved us. I’m pretty sure everyone else hated us. Who wouldn’t with a large group of obnoxious teens?”
“You were on the football team?” My surprised tone took us back as Nathan raised a brow.
“I’m hard to catch. Does that surprise you?”
I pondered his question, chewing the inside of my cheek. “Not really, I mean you have an amazing physique. Besides, I wouldn’t mind taking it through another test drive.” I winked at him.
We walked by Freddie’s Pop Parlor, and my mouth practically drooled, so I yanked Nathan’s arm to head inside.
