High Heat (Hotshots 2)

“Sounds great.” Rain bounced on the balls of his feet before fetching the leash from the key rack where he’d hung it the night before. His hair was still up, but messier than the day before, and he was wearing silver shorts and a close-fitting pink T-shirt with several members of that pony show Garrick’s sister’s kids liked, and Squad Goals written under the ponies in swirly script.

“No job interview today?”

“Nope. Didn’t want Miss Cookie feeling bad about being the only one in pink. I figured we could match. And I told you. I like it.” Rain’s eyes were defiant, daring Garrick to object.

“Hey, you wear what you want to wear.” Without coffee on board, he was struggling to sound supportive and not lecherous, because damn. Rain looked good in pink, all warm and glowing. It made his eyes more golden, and somehow the contrast with his sharp jaw did all sorts of interesting things to Garrick’s insides. While his taste in partners could be eclectic, the one unifying feature was usually confidence, because there were few things sexier than a fearless person who knew themselves and what they wanted. He’d already noted Rain’s innate confidence the day before, and today’s outfit choice only made him that much more appealing.

“Good.” Rain clipped the leash to Cookie’s collar. “We’ll be back.”

While they were gone, Garrick found a T-shirt of his own, black and plain because he didn’t have the same need for sparkle as Rain, but man, did he appreciate glam in people who enjoyed it. As he made the coffee, he watched Rain and Cookie coming up the sidewalk at a decent trot, Rain’s mouth moving like he was talking to the dog. Cute. So damn cute. And so very off-limits.

“We made a loop,” Rain reported as they came back in. “No lost dog signs. Tonight we’ll go the other direction, but I’m not holding out a ton of hope.”

“What about your princess picture idea? We can send it to the shelter, maybe put it up in a few other places.” Garrick retrieved two clean mugs out of the top rack of the dishwasher.

“I’ll do that next.” Rain unclipped Cookie before picking up her water bowl and taking it to the sink. He made fast work of rinsing and filling it with fresh water.

“But first coffee. Want a cup? Warning that I make it strong, but it’s a local roaster. Very good.”

“Dude, I grew up in Portland in a hippie community with a coffeehouse on-site. There’s no such thing as too dark, especially if you have some sort of milk on hand.”

“Of course. Milk, cream, and flavored creamer in the fridge too because my dad visits, and he’s into this new toasted coconut one lately.”

“I think I like your dad.” Rain opened the fridge and retrieved the bottle of creamer. “Somewhere my mom is having palpitations and doesn’t know why because I’m about to ingest all the tasty chemicals.”

Garrick had to smile at that. “Guess I should have figured that the cohousing place would be full of health nuts. Are you vegan? It’s not chilled, but I’ve probably got coconut milk somewhere in the pantry too. I went on a curry kick last year and went through a lot of cans.”

“I float between vegetarian and vegan. Grandma’s vegetarian. My parents raised us as vegans, but the siren song of dairy occasionally pulls me in, and I’m not as close a label reader as my mom is.”

“I love that you rebelled with dairy.” Garrick had to laugh as he poured them both cups. “When I was your age—”

“Back in the horse and buggy days.” Rain rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.” Garrick wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or not that Rain wanted to minimize their age difference. “I was just going to say that Lisa—the ex-fiancée—was a vegetarian, as have been some friends, and that I tried it out in my twenties. My dad acted like I’d gotten prison tats on my face.”

“Why’d you go back to eating meat?” Rain sipped his coffee, lounging against Garrick’s cabinets. It was nice, having him here. Easy.

“Job. Harder to be vegetarian when you’re limited to food at fire camps or on base. And we burn through a ton of fuel between our exercise regimen and the work itself—the way I like to stay in shape, it’s just easier for me to be able to eat a variety of protein sources. But, you know, there are vegan weightlifters and stuff, so I’m sure it can be done.”

“Good. I was looking over the apps for seasonal employment again last night. You were right about some of my classwork maybe coming in handy. I filled out a bunch of stuff, both here and the positions where you have to mark that you’re open to go anywhere.”

“And you are?”

Rain shrugged. “Pretty much. I mean, I’ll stay if Grandma actually needs help or if I get a job, but otherwise I’m pretty wide open. All about finding that next adventure. I might try again for Portland Fire Academy, but that’s not until next spring.”