Play With Fire (The Men of Fire 1)

“I think you have some things you need to fill me in on when it comes to that,” I say, jokingly pointing my finger in the direction of the man who hasn’t taken his eyes off her. “I’m not sure if he’s pissed that we’re here or at you for not falling at his feet.”

“Probably both,” she mutters.

“Why would he be pissed that we’re here?”

“I’ve been avoiding his calls. I can’t fucking believe you didn’t tell me he would be here. Why would you do that to me?”

“Why would I do that? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the same reason you pushed Bull onto me when I was telling you I wasn’t ready.” Zoey scoffs, but I continue. “What makes what I did any different from what you did?”

“Because I could tell for the first time in for-fucking-ever you were into the guy just as much as he was into you, and look how that turned out,” she says, throwing her hand out in the direction of Bull and Ryan.

“I thought it would be fun. And besides, it’s perfect payback for meddling in my love life. I mean, if you had spoken to me at all about Jet ...” I leave it hanging, waiting to see if she says anything and when she doesn’t, I go on. “I would have known if it was a bad thing or not.”

“IT IS A BAD THING!” she seethes, keeping her voice low.

“Why though?” From what I remember of Jet, he was a funny guy. I thought they would really hit it off, and apparently, they did, but I’m not so sure now seeing her reaction.

“I don’t know what it is about him, but he gets under my skin, and it scares me,” she tells me so quietly I almost miss it. I don’t say anything as I let her get everything off her chest. This is a Zoey that I’m not used to seeing, so I feel like I need to tread carefully here. I don’t need to wait long for her to continue, though. “I’ve never been with anyone that made me feel the way he did. It wasn’t just fucking with him. There were feelings there, raw feelings. He’s funny, like … he’s really fucking funny. He made me laugh, and I ran before he woke up. I’ve been avoiding him ever since, but he’s so damn persistent,” she laughs. “It wasn’t going to be long before he caught up with me again, and I feel like I’ve just fallen into his trap. But the thing is, he doesn’t deserve the way I’ve treated him.”

I reach out and squeeze her hand, gently trying to draw her attention back to me. When she looks up, I give her an encouraging smile “It’ll be okay, Zo. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe it’s time you let your guard down and let someone in.”

Zoey raises a brow, and her usual cocky attitude comes shining out. “You realize who you’re talking to, right?” she questions. “I have absolutely no plans on letting anyone in.”

“Right. Then what’s your problem? If anything, Jet’s most likely going to spend the next few days hitting on you. You’re either going to screw him, or you’re not, but either way, you’re leaving here with me. Why not just enjoy the extra attention? You know, as long as he knows that it’s just sex, then there’s no harm.”

Zoey’s eyes flick back out the window just in time to see a wickedly sexy smile lighting up Jet’s face, and just like that, my Zoey is back. “Yeah, you’re right. I could tell he had some more moves that we didn’t get around to. Why not test them out?”

With that, she jumps down from Bull’s truck and hauls her bag out of the back. I do the same, and by the time we have both Ryan and Coby’s bags added to the pile, Bull is standing before us with a sleeping Ryan in his arms. “I tried to keep her up for some dinner, but she crashed.”

“That’s cool,” I tell him. “We can put her straight to bed. It just means she’ll be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

“I was planning on getting up early anyway,” Bull says.

“Trust me,” Zoey laughs. “If you intend on teaching Amelia how to ride, you’re going to need all the time you can get.”

I roll my eyes as Zoey stalks towards Bull’s cabin, and we follow behind. As if sensing that she’s missing out on something, Coby looks up from where she stands with the guys and instantly starts bolting towards us. She clings onto my leg as I attempt to make my way up the few stairs that lead to the door.

Bull pulls a set of keys from his pocket and effortlessly opens the door with one hand. We get inside, and he gives us a brief tour of his cabin before we tuck Ryan into bed. Seeing that her sister is going to bed, Coby climbs up onto the bed and scoots in beside her. She lays her head down on the pillow, and her eyes instantly grow heavy.