Firefighter's Virgin

“She had Jason followed,” Natalie explained. “Turns out, he had moved on from me, and he was now stalking a new girl. Lindsey’s friends informed the girl of this, and she went to the police and filed a restraining order against Jason.

“The officer who was put in charge of the case went to check out Jason’s dorm, and apparently, he had a huge number of pictures of all the women he’s stalked over the years.”

I felt a little bubble of panic. “He had pictures of the two of us.”

“Don’t worry, Lindsey’s friends took every picture Jason had of the two of us,” Natalie informed me. “They had enough evidence of stalking to take Jason into custody. He spent a couple of nights in jail.”

“The black eye,” I said, mostly to myself. “That’s where he got it.”

“Apparently,” she nodded.

“How was he able to attend graduation?” I demanded.

“His father has connections,” she explained. “He was able to get the charges dropped. But I think his jail experience was enough to convince Jason to behave himself.”

“He’s leaving the state.”

“I heard,” Natalie nodded.

“And, Lindsey told you all of this?”

“Lindsey did all this,” Natalie smiled. “You two must be really good friends.”

“Better friends that I imagined we were, actually,” I said, in amazement. “She didn’t say a word to me.”

“Who is she?” Natalie asked curiously.

“She’s a professor at the university.”

“Professor Lindsey Hayes?” I asked, in shock.

“The very same.”

“I didn’t even realize you guys were friends.”

“I can’t believe she did all this.”

“She told me she did it because she told me that she’d never really believed in true love…until you convinced her otherwise.”

I turned to Natalie, and I saw the smile in her eyes. I realized suddenly that Lindsey had saved me. She had made sure that I would have a future with Natalie.

“Natalie,” I whispered her name, with all the love and warmth I felt inside.

“Yes?” She smiled.

“I love you,” I said. It felt so amazing to say the words out loud.

She laughed, and the sound was filled with hope and promise and happiness. “I know.” She nodded. “I mean, for a while there, I didn’t know it. I believed you when you said you didn’t want me anymore.”

“You believed me so easily,” I said accusingly. “That hurt.”

“It never made sense for someone like you to love me.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “That was the same way I felt about you.”

Her eyes went wide. “You’re joking.”

“No, serious,” I said. “You’re so open and pure and honest, whereas I am…scared and cowardly and broken. At least I was, but I think you’ve managed to fix me.”