Smoke and Fire (Surrender to Them 1)

“I talked to the investigator on my way to the hospital.” Trent cranked up his truck and put it in drive.

“Investigator?” I raised my eyebrows with a bit of surprise.

“Yeah, it’s routine for a fire. He won’t be able to do much until Monday since he doesn’t normally work the weekends unless there’s an emergency, but most of the residents on the other floors will be able to return to their apartments tonight.” He nodded and looked over at me. “Do you have any idea how the fire started?”

Uh, yeah. I’m an idiot.

“No.” I shrugged as the lie crossed my lips. “I just woke up in the middle of it.”

“It wasn’t electrical.” He turned his attention back towards the road. “That’s always the first thing they check, but the electricians said there was no real damage to the wiring, so that is ruled out.”

“Weird…” I tried to maintain a straight face, but I felt a lump rising up in my throat.

I really didn’t know what would happen to me if they found out the fire was my fault. I obviously caused a lot of damage, but I would never be able to pay for it. I was barely scraping by as it was with what I earned from my call center job. Trent was being extremely nice to me, but I was pretty sure that if I confessed to the real reason the fire started he would have to report it. It might save the investigator some time, but it wouldn’t do me any favors. I just needed to get to Anna’s apartment, say goodbye to the deliciously sexy firefighter, and hope the evidence was destroyed in the fire itself. In the end, that was the best outcome. I felt a bit of relief when his truck pulled up outside Anna’s apartment building without any additional questions being asked about the fire.

“Do you want me to wait and make sure your friend is home?” He looked over at me once he put the truck in park.

“No, she’ll definitely be home. She’s sleeping off a hangover. I’ve been here enough to know that the guy at the front desk knows me, so he’ll give me her phone number.” I reached for the door handle. “Thank you so much for everything—I know there’s no way for me to repay you.”

“You could always go on a date with me.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled.

“Wait, what?” I blinked in surprise.

I look like a fucking disaster. He really wants to take me out?

“I’m serious.” He nodded. “I know you’ll be busy dealing with things for a little bit, but give me a call when things settle down.”

“Let me think about it?” I smiled as I pushed the door open. “My life is a complicated mess right now, obviously.”

“You have my number.” He gave me a wink and chuckled.

I stared at Trent’s truck until it disappeared and then walked into Anna’s apartment building. I couldn’t believe Trent had asked me out. Once my brain had a moment to get over the shock, I started to realize that a date with him was probably a bad idea. I had already lied to him once about the reason for the fire, and that wasn’t exactly the foundation of a trustworthy relationship. If the investigator did figure out how it started, Trent would know I wasn’t honest with him. I put the thought out of my mind after the guy at the front desk managed to get Anna to answer the phone and walked to the elevator.

Okay, Anna. I’ve done you enough favors since we became friends. Now I need a really big one from you.

“Oh my god!” Anna hugged

me as soon as I told her about the fire. “Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“Yeah, the investigator doesn’t know what caused it yet. It might have just been some kind of freak accident.” I shrugged and sighed. “So, can I stay with you for a few days until I figure this out?”

“Um.” Anna pulled back from the embrace. “That might be a problem.”

“Why?” I blinked in surprise.

“Because I’m being evicted tomorrow.” She bit down on her lip and grimaced.

“Anna, what the hell?” My jaw fell open in shock. “Why are they evicting you?”

“Well…” She walked over to her desk, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a stack of papers. “I’m a little behind on my rent.”

“Seriously?” I took the stack from her and stared at months of notices. “Why haven’t you been paying it?”

“It’s a long story.” Anna sighed and shook her head.

Over the course of the next thirty minutes, I learned that Anna was more irresponsible than I realized. She managed to accumulate a ridiculous number of unpaid parking tickets, and when they told her she had to pay them or go to jail, she wiped out her bank account to avoid time behind bars. She was already dipping into her savings because she was blowing too much money when we went out. That meant she barely covered her rent and utilities. She spent months juggling the important stuff until it all culminated in a chain of eviction notices. I wanted to strangle Anna once she was finished telling me her story. She had been going out with me every weekend and blowing money like she didn’t have a care in the world. She had spent enough on drinks alone to pay her parking tickets, which would have avoided the whole thing to begin with.

“So what are you going to do?” I managed to control the urge to lash out and spoke in a calm voice.