Blaze & Bind (Surrender to Them 10)

2

Liam

Yesterday morning

“Fuck, that was a brutal shift.” I walked towards my truck with my roommate and one of my best friends, Gerard, following behind me.

“Yeah.” He nodded and sighed as he got to the passenger side of the truck. “I am so tired of people being careless in the winter.”

“No shit.” I climbed behind the steering wheel and cranked up my truck. “I’m looking forward to twenty-four hours of peace and quiet.”

“Hopefully that doesn’t involve Billy banging the headboard against the wall the entire time.” Gerard chuckled under his breath.

“His new girlfriend is—insatiable?” I exhaled sharply and laughed.

“She’s a fucking nymphomaniac, that’s what she is.” Gerard rolled his eyes. “I’m starting to regret moving in with Billy in the first place.”

“Especially since it’s been such a damn dry spell for us.” I nodded in agreement. “What happened to us, man? We used to be drowning in pussy.”

“Life—responsibility.” Gerard shrugged. “Getting too old for all that shit.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I sighed and pushed the accelerator as we approached a green light that flipped to yellow.

The truth was, I didn’t chase after girls the way I used to because I had felt true passion once, and one-night stands were a pale comparison. Some days I regretted finding out that there was more to a relationship than banging the headboard against the wall. Other days I cherished the memories, even if they hurt. It was indeed easier when my longest relationships lasted a couple of weeks, and my bed never got cold. I didn’t overanalyze things or try to figure out if the woman I was talking to at the bar had more to offer than a pair of tits and a tight pussy. That just wasn’t good enough anymore. I needed to feel some sort of connection, and my job made that difficult because I was always working. Twenty-four hours on, forty-eight hours off. The life of a man who rushed into burning buildings to save lives—yet I had no idea how to put out the fire in my heart—the one that left me broken when I found ashes where love used to live.

“Don’t forget, the rent is due in a couple of days. If we don’t stop by the bank on the way home, we’ll have to make another trip out.” Gerard looked over at me.

“Oh yeah.” I nodded and took a left instead of a right when we got to the intersection. “We’ve still got a little bit before it opens though. Breakfast?”

“Sounds good.” Gerard pointed to a cafe ahead of us. “That place is usually pretty good.”

I parked my truck, and we headed inside. Gerard flirted with our waitress while I looked over the menu for something to eat. I wasn’t sure why Gerard only seemed to flirt with the girls he met. He used to seal the deal faster than I did, but he had been pretty hesitant as well recently, even when the women he met were willing. Our waitress certainly was, and it wasn’t because she wanted a big tip—well, not the monetary kind at least. She even slipped him her phone number when she brought coffee to our table. When we were younger, we might have even taken her back to our place and shared her. She was certainly pretty enough—but there was no spark. I saw the desperation in her eyes. That might as well have been repellent for me. A woman like that wasn’t interested in anything that lasted longer than a quick fuck. If she was handing out her phone number to one of her customers after a little light flirting, it probably wasn’t the first time she served something besides bacon and eggs to a random guy.

“Are you going to call her?” I grinned and chuckled as Ger

ard pushed the napkin with her phone number into his pocket.

“Nah, I was just being nice.” He shrugged and reached for his coffee. “I’m sure I won’t be the only guy who gets her phone number today.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I nodded in agreement and sipped my coffee.

We ate our breakfast and headed to the bank to make a withdrawal. It was nice to see some money in my account instead of teetering on the brink of insufficient funds. After I graduated high school, I wasted money faster than I made it, and had the debt to prove that I had no idea how to manage my life back then. That was before Gerard kicked my ass into gear and convinced me to join him at the Fire Academy. It was better than starving, and my parents were tired of bailing me out when the credit card bills came, so I decided to become a productive member of society.

Gerard and I lived together to save money for a couple of years, and then after I moved out to live with my girlfriend, he moved in with Billy. When my relationship hit the skids, they were kind enough to let me crash on the couch—which is where I had been for the last four months. I was saving up to get my own place, but that was proving to be rather complicated because Billy barely came up with his third of the rent as it was. It also didn’t help that my ex-girlfriend had expensive tastes, and I let myself get further in debt rather than making progress towards paying off what I had already accumulated.

“Do you think Billy will have his share?” I looked over at Gerard once we got back to the truck.

“Fuck no.” Gerard shook his head back and forth. “Luckily he can change all of that with one call to his Dad.”

“That money train is going to run out eventually.” I sighed and cranked up the truck. “He isn’t doing a damn thing to make it any better either.”

“Nope. He was talking about buying his girlfriend a ring the other day…” Gerard’s words trailed off.

“You gotta be shitting me.” My eyes opened wide. “They’ve been together like two months!”

“Yep…” Gerard chuckled under his breath. “I guess it’s true love.”

I remember when I thought I knew what that looked like, so I guess I can’t judge, but fuck—he’s going to regret it.