Firefighter's Virgin

She went back into my bedroom to put on her clothes from the night before. Then we headed out together, and I couldn’t help enjoying the small bit of domesticity I had tasted. I had always assumed that kind of life would feel strange to me, but on the contrary, it felt very natural.

“Are those the same clothes you wore to the office yesterday?” I asked.

Megan laughed. “Thankfully, no. After you called, I went home and changed before I headed to your place.”

“You might want to bring some clothes over to my place tonight.”

“I will.” She nodded.

I stopped outside the building she worked at, and she turned to me and gave me a kiss before stepping out of the car. I waited till she had disappeared from sight before driving over to the station. I was in a pretty great mood as I headed into the day room where the rest of the boys were hanging out.

“Hi, man.” Kendrick nodded to me.

He and the rest of the boys looked a little dour, and I realized they were still trying to process what had happened the day before. I might have been in the same mindset had Megan not been with me the whole of last night. I felt instantly grateful to have had something pure and perfect to go home to.

We had a pretty relaxed day at the station. There were a few minor calls, but nothing life-threatening. We made two runs before settling into the maintenance apparatus bay to sort through our supplies, equipment, and do some organizing for later. The whole time, however, I kept thinking of Megan and in the end, I couldn’t help but text her.

“Marta brought the most amazing chocolate chip cookies into work today,” she wrote back. “I’m thinking I could live off these for the rest of my life.”

“If I’m being honest, I’m not really a chocolate person,” I wrote back.

She replied with three shocked face emojis. “You are joking.”

“I am not.”

“Okay, I don’t think we can see each other anymore,” Megan wrote. “Our faiths are just too different.”

I laughed at that. “I’m open to being converted,” I told her.

“Excellent. I know this great little pastry shop we can visit…maybe tomorrow?”

“Sounds perfect,” I replied.

I realized I used that word a lot around her.

“Hey, Phil?” Ryan called to me.

“Yeah?” I said, without even looking up at him.

“You’ve been texting all morning.”

“Yeah?” I said, slightly distracted.

“Anyone special?”

“No one you know,” I said.

“Wait!” Kendrick said, joining us. “Is this the girl you’ve been interested in?”

“Uh…”

“It is!” he said, clapping his hands together. “It is, isn’t it?”

I smiled as the guys crowded around me. “Well…tell us about her?” Mel insisted.

“Her name is Megan,” I said with a smile. “And, we just started dating.”

“But Romeo’s had the hots for her for a while, am I right?” Kendrick said, as though he had all the inside details. “She’s his friend’s sister.”