Chapter Ten
Easton
When I had heard the call over the speakers in the station about a fire alarm going off at the address Luna was at, I had already climbed into Ethan’s truck to go home and like hell I wasn’t going to hop on that truck to get to her to make sure she was okay.
My heart hammered. I was scared. What
if I had just gotten her back into my life and something horrible had happened? I had to see for myself that she was alright. The ride there was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I kept thinking the worst. Flames, burnt to death, injured, held hostage, a bunch of different scenarios ran through my head, but when I saw her sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, safe and unharmed.
My world righted itself.
And the way she looked at me, it gave me hope that she wanted us, that she felt something for me, but she fought it. And she was fighting it hard.
And then my damn brothers acted as if they were good friends with Luna, touching her, hugging her, joking with her, making her smile.
Those smiles were mine. I was supposed to be the man that made her smile.
My brothers had a lot of explaining to do. I was furious. Just watching the interactions with Ethan and Zeke, I knew they had become more familiar with Luna. I didn’t want to talk to them right now, not while I was so angry. We needed a family meeting, but I wanted to go home, shower, and relax first.
Only now, I was stuck in the fire truck with Ethan until we got to the fire station.
“Easton—”
“Don’t.” I held up my hand to stop him from speaking. I wasn’t ready to talk about the relationship he had with Luna. It would take longer than two minutes, which was how long we had until we got to the station. “I don’t want to talk about it. Whenever you get off work, I want all of us to meet up. I think everyone has some explaining to do.”
Ethan let out a big breath, cheeks puffing as he did, and gave me a small chin tilt. He was dreading having to talk to me.
I hoped my paranoia was wrong. I hoped that my brothers didn’t lie to me for years about Luna. I had begged them to help me make things right with her, asked for updates, anything that would get me closer to her, and they all always said that Luna wouldn’t talk to them. It was deceitful.
It was on the same scale as my deceit to Luna, but now I had an inkling of what she felt like. It was a horrible feeling; only I wasn’t having anyone whisper horrible things in my ear about it.
I stared out the window, watching the trees pass by, the small creek flowed next to us until it disappeared in the foliage of the forest. I couldn’t stop thinking about how complicated I made things. I deserved my brother’s betrayal. I hadn’t done anything to prove I deserved their honesty about Luna, not after how I treated her.
We drove by the local mechanic shop that Hank and his three sons managed. It was rundown, car parts everywhere, and the shop didn’t even have a name, but no one took their cars anywhere else. Hank was the man to go to for everything. He even worked on the firetrucks and the police cars when they needed maintenance.
His sons used to be my friends in high school, but when I disrespected Luna, their family friend, they cut ties with me. It was only hitting me now how many true friends rightfully turned their backs on me after that.
Ethan backed the truck up in its usual spot, and I climbed out, slamming the door with all my might. A few other guys lingered, Thomas, Nickson, Keaton, and the battalion chief Locke. Locke stood with his arms crossed, towering over everyone with his giant height, which said something because most of us were over six-foot. Locke had to be reaching seven.
“Easton, let's talk about this, please?” Ethan said as he jumped down from the driver’s side.
“I just need to be left alone, okay? Give me time to think.” Not that time mattered. I’d need a miracle to get Luna in my arms again. At this point, it wasn’t even worth being mad at my brothers over. They did what they thought they had to. They protected her from me and damn it if that didn’t hurt.
“East—”
“Let him go, Ethan. His shift is over. You can talk about your feelings later,” Locke grunted, then with a slide of his eyes, he told me to get going.
I didn’t give my brother one last look. I climbed into his truck, brought the engine to life, and did the one thing he hated. I revved the engine, letting the loud rumble vibrate the metal frame of the truck, and pumped the gas pedal, letting the black smoke billow into the air. I rolled down the window, laid my arm on the door, and watched as Ethan’s face went from patient to pissed.
It was amusing.
I was being an asshole.
And I didn’t care.
The realization made me stop doing what I was doing. I needed to change that habit if I ever wanted to get into Luna’s good graces again. I couldn’t be doing something that someone else didn’t like. I thrust the truck in reverse, put my arm around the passenger seat of the truck, and turned to look out the back window as I back out of the station.
Right as I got onto the road, the bell rang in the fire station, and I almost stopped to jump in and help. Three calls in one day, that wasn’t normal, but right now, I was off the clock. They had it under control.