Play With Fire (The Men of Fire 1)

I slowly lower Ryan down to the ground, but with her head stuck between the rails, it takes longer than expected.

As she lay on the ground at our feet, her little eyes flick from side to side, searching for her mom. I glance up at Amelia and see the same terror in her eyes and I don’t give a second thought to what I do next.

“Wait up,” I tell the boys, holding up a finger and indicating to give me a few moments.

I take my phone out of my pocket and pull up my niece’s favorite YouTube channel before jogging across the yard and diving into the fire truck. I fumble around until my fingers curl around the headphones I’d seen in here last week.

I hurry back to Ryan and instantly hand her my phone before helping her get the headphones over her little ears. She’s instantly distracted. I put up the volume on the phone so that she can’t hear a thing before pulling off my jacket and protectively laying it over her. “There,” I say, proud of my handiwork. “It’s like a little movie cinema under there.”

We get started when Amelia’s angelic voice calls out. “Wait, wait, wait,” she says, hurrying forward with her phone in hand. “I know this is shitty timing, and I might look like a bad mom for prolonging this, but if I don’t get a photo, my friend, Zoey, is going to rip me to shreds.”

I can’t help but grin. You’d be surprised. We get asked to do this shit all the time, and the boys are always more than willing to smile for a photo, especially where a pretty lady is concerned.

“Did you say, Zoey?” Jet pipes up, drawing her attention away as the rest of us focus on Ryan.

“Yeah,” she says slowly. “My best friend.”

“You don’t mean Zoey Reed, do you?”

“Yeah, that’s her. Why? How do you know her?”

“No shit,” Jet laughs before turning back to Ax. “That’s the chick I was just telling you about.”

Oh no. The girl he was talking about in the truck is Amelia’s best friend. This dickhead better not fuck things up for me with Amelia. He has a habit of random hook-ups and one night stands because he’s a little … adventurous in the bedroom. He’s got a bit of kink, and because of that, girls tend to shy away from him.

Jet focuses back on Amelia. “I went out on a date with her last night,” he explains. “She mentioned a friend, Amelia. Guess I just put two and two together. But damn, that girl … she’s a fucking firecracker.”

Fuck me. That’s Jet talk for he wants to see her again, which no doubt means he’ll end up breaking that girl’s heart. I can only imagine what that means for me.

“Really?” Amelia asks curiously, her eyes sparkling once again. “She never mentioned a date last night. You must not have been worth mentioning.” I hold back a grin, listening to how she plays with Jet. She’s only just met him but already she can tell how easy he is to tease.

“Believe me, it was,” Jet says, a cocky grin pulling at his lips.

“Ahhhh,” Amelia says with a knowing grin as the sound of Ryan’s chuckles come from beneath my jacket, making us all wonder what the hell could be so funny on YouTube.

“Can we get the show on the road?” Chief says, impatiently getting us back on track, always the first to keep things serious.

Jet turns back to Ryan and gets into position, and a second later, Chief fires up the grinder. Ryan flinches, and I place my hand down on her back, holding her still to avoid any more fucked-up situations.

The grinder cuts through the metal, and the sound is enough to terrify nearly anyone. I glance up at Amelia who’s watching in fear, but there’s a strong determination in her eyes. I guess that’s a mom thing, allowing herself to step back and focus on what’s best for her children despite her overwhelming feelings of needing to be right by her side.

The metal breaks free a second later before Chief gets to work on the other side.

As the second metal rail is cut, Chief steps out of the way to give Jet and Ax space to get in and pull the rails away from Ryan.

I use that as my chance to scoop Ryan up and remove her from the confines of the metal railing. The jacket comes off, and she instantly looks up, pulling the headphones from her ears.

I place her down on her feet while taking my phone from her hands before the excitement of her freedom gives me a cracked screen. I only got that shit fixed last week. I expect Ryan to run for her mom, but when she turns around and wraps her little arms around me, my heart explodes. “Thank you,” she whispers, holding me so tight her little face goes red.