Lark (First & Forever 5)

“Oh, that’s right. I noticed them. They were glittery.” That made me grin, because it meant he really had noticed.

He let go of me and stepped back with a shy smile, and I wandered into the garage and looked around with wonder. I’d never been in a firehouse before, and everything was interesting.

I circled around the side of the big truck, and then I squealed when I saw a brass pole. “I always thought those were only in the movies,” I said, as I rushed over to it and looked through the hole in the ceiling.

“It’s vintage, like the firehouse.”

“Do you really slide down it?”

“Sometimes.”

I turned to him and asked, with a teasing smile, “Do you ever do anything else with it?”

He looked confused. “Like what?”

“Like this.” I backed up a few feet and stepped out of my Crocs before running and taking a flying leap at the pole. I grasped it with the crook of my arm so the sleeve of my rainbow tie-dye sweatshirt would help me glide. Then I spun around several times before dismounting with a backwards flip.

Dylan looked surprised. Then a huge smile appeared, and he exclaimed, “That was incredible!”

“Thanks. I used to work as a stripper. Only one of the clubs I worked at actually had poles, but I haven’t forgotten how to do it. Obviously, you need to picture me in a sexy little jockstrap, not this.” I stretched out the front of my enormous sweatshirt to show him the silkscreened “realistic” unicorn, which clashed with the much more cartoony unicorns on my flannel pajama pants.

“It was still sexy,” he said, which made me grin.

After I slid my feet back into my Crocs, I wandered deeper into the garage and asked, “Is it really okay for me to be in here?”

“Of course. We always welcome the public during our down-time. In fact, we do several tours a month for schools and other groups.”

“The kids must love it.”

“They do, especially this part.” He went over to a shelving unit and took something out of a box. When he handed me a gold badge and plastic fire helmet, my eyes went wide.

“Can I keep these?”

“Of course.”

I squealed and put on the helmet, and as I pinned the badge to my sweatshirt I said, “Thank you! I actually already have a plastic fireman’s hat, but this one is way better because it says ‘San Francisco Fire Department’ on it.”

“I know you do. It was what you were wearing when I saw you for the first time on that cam site.”

Dylan actually seemed embarrassed to admit that, but it made me smile. “Well, good thing you caught me on firefighter day. That must have been what drew your attention.”

“Actually, your cuteness drew my attention, coupled with the fact that you were the only person on that site who seemed to be having fun.”

“It’s kind of boring to just sit in front of the camera and jerk off,” I said. “I mean, I do that sometimes, but my goal is to give people a taste of what they’ll get if they join my fan site. I’m definitely not everyone’s idea of a good time, but fortunately there are guys out there who like a dash of quirky with their sexy.” I winked at Dylan as I said that, and he seemed a little embarrassed again.

“It’s all brand new to me,” he admitted. “I’d never visited a live cam site before that day, or gone to Only Fans or Gayze or anything like that. It’s all been…surprising.”

“In a good way?” He nodded shyly, which I thought was adorable. Somehow, this great big firefighter was turning out to be one of the most innocent guys I’d ever met.

There was a brief lull in the conversation, and because I didn’t want to wear out my welcome, I said, “I should go. Thank you again for my accessories.” I tipped the helmet at a jaunty angle as I said that.

“Already? I was going to show you the rest of the fire station.”

“Next time. I meant it when I said I just wanted to drop by for five minutes.” I was fine with giving Dylan a crash course in the real me, but I didn’t want to embarrass him by meeting his coworkers while dressed in pajamas. “Do you want to meet for coffee tomorrow, after you get off work?”

“Oh. Um, I can’t.”

I spoke quickly to cover my disappointment. “That’s fine. It was short notice, and you probably already have plans.”