Firefighter's Virgin

“Dude, what’s happening?” Josh asked.

“It’s a long story, and I need to be drunk to go over it again. Let’s get some food and then head out.”

“Absolutely, man, I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to pay the check,” Josh laughed.

We both knew he didn’t have billions of dollars, but considering I had absolutely zero dollars to my name, Josh was officially richer than I was that night.

I expected to feel better when we got to the club. The lights, alcohol, and music were going to drown out my sorrows – but I didn’t feel better at all. All I could think about was Delilah and how nothing seemed to be matching up. I still held out hope that she had nothing to do with what was going on, but the longer she avoided my calls and refused to talk to me, the more it was looking like she was guilty.

We drank bottle after bottle of beer as Josh tried to keep up with me. I didn’t give a crap anymore. Nothing mattered, and I was going to get so drunk that I’d have to be put in a cab and delivered to my front door.

The funny thing about my mindset was I didn’t want to find another woman to bring home. That was the strangest thing to me by far. Normally, I’d have chalked Del’s behavior up to her being a horrible person and the best way for me to get over that was to find another woman.

I just couldn’t do it, though. I couldn’t see Del as a bad person, no matter how much evidence was piling up against her. There had to be an explanation. I was waiting for a damn explanation.

By midnight, I was calling Del and trying to get her to answer. I called once and it went straight to voicemail, as if she had seen my call and purposely sent me away. I sent her a text and asked for just one minute of her time. That was it: I needed to hear it in her voice and that was going to be the only way I’d know if she had been involved or not.

Brandon: I’m going to call you in five minutes. Please answer; just give me one minute and you can be rid of me forever.

Delilah: I’m out with Mattie. I need to go outside or I won’t be able to hear you. Call in 10 minutes.

She’d responded! At least she responded to my message. I raced outside and to the alley so I could talk to her in private. I wanted to clearly hear her voice when I confronted her about what was going on. It had to be quiet so I could assess the situation properly.

“Hello,” she said after answering the call on the first ring.

“Hi,” I said as I lost the words for what I wanted to say to her.

There was so much going on. So much unsaid between the two of us, but with her on the phone, I didn’t want to let her go. My body longed to just have her close, and I didn’t even know if she was involved in everything that was happening. My body obviously had its own needs and didn’t care about anything else.

“I’m sorry I’ve been taking some space lately. It doesn’t mean that I never want to talk to you, though. What was up with that message?”

“Are you at Club Night?” I asked as I looked toward the front of the club and thought I saw her standing there.

“Yes, I’m standing out front.”

“Turn around,” I laughed as I walked toward her.

The smile that crossed her face wasn’t something that could have been faked. I knew people. I’d been reading them in the business world for years: that smile of Delilah’s wasn’t fake. She was genuinely happy to see me.

“Fancy seeing you here,” she laughed and gave me a hug. “I really am sorry for keeping you in the dark. That message the other day freaked me out and then there was a guy that visited my office.”

“What guy?”

“Um, well, I don’t know if I should tell you. He said he was an investigator with the SEC.”

“I’m not under investigation; there’s someone out to get me.”

Even as the words left my mouth, I could tell how fake they sounded. I sounded exactly like a guy who was under investigation and didn’t want to admit it. One thing I was certain of: Delilah wasn’t behind what was going on with me. I needed to see her to know for sure, but as I looked her in the eyes, I knew it for a fact.

“Well, that’s why I think I need some space. You should take care of whatever is going on and then we can look at getting together when it’s all figured out.”

“It won’t take long.”

“Okay,” she said and turned toward the building. “I better get back to Mattie.

I gently grabbed her arm so she wouldn’t go back inside. I had to say something, but the right words just weren’t coming to me. This was the moment I needed to say something profound to keep her there with me. The old me would have had plenty of lines I could have pulled out in that very moment, but I couldn

’t think of a single thing.