Feel the Fire (Hotshots 3)

“Yup.” Eyes clouding, Luis nodded. “Mike wasn’t out for a long time, and his family never quite knew what to make of me even after he came out. We fell out of touch pretty quickly, but my mom still brings flowers to his grave. He was a good guy.”

“Anyone lucky enough to land you better be.” Tucker meant the words to come out as a tease, but his firm belief in the sentiment took on a more emphatic tone.

“Ha. More like anyone crazy enough to put up with me.”

“I’m glad you had him.” Still resolute, his voice shifted to something quieter. “You...deserve to be happy. And for what it’s worth, I truly am sorry that you lost him.”

“Thanks.” Luis swallowed audibly, looking away at the valley below them. The air itself seemed to shift in that moment, warm breeze coming through. “Guess we should head back?”

“Yeah.” Strangely reluctant to leave this spot, Tucker turned back to the Jeep. This time their silence felt more comfortable as they made their way back to the main road. Predictably his personal cell beeped with Walker’s ring tone as soon as they were back with a decent signal. “Can you do me a favor and glance down at my phone? I just want to make sure it’s not an emergency with the boys and don’t want to pull over if I don’t have to.”

“Sure.” Luis grabbed Tucker’s phone from the console. “Nice case.”

“Wade gave it to me last birthday.” It was a metallic case with subtle imagery from the reboot of the space franchise he and Luis had been obsessed with back in the day.

“Message says, ‘FYI that we’re having dinner at Mary Anne’s tonight. Her cousin is in town and wants to meet Wade.’” Luis laughed as he set the phone back down. “Setup much? I’d say poor kid, but maybe he likes that sort of thing. So maybe lucky kid?”

“It’s Wade. As long as the cousin likes football and hearing about workout plans, he’s good. And darn, you and I skipped lunch. I’m absolutely starving. Was counting on cooking with the boys.” A rogue thought wiggled into his brain and refused to leave. “How about you? Hungry? Want to get something after we return the Jeep?”

If Luis truly were another coworker from out of town, he wouldn’t hesitate to make the invitation. He didn’t like eating alone, and he’d eaten countless meals with contacts in the firefighting community. It didn’t have to mean anything. But still his pulse sped up as he stopped at a four-way intersection and waited for Luis’s answer.

Releasing a whistling breath, Luis shook his head. “That’s probably a bad idea.”

“Come on. You need to eat. I need to eat.” Strangely, the more Luis shook his head, the more invested Tucker was in his suggestion. “This doesn’t have to be complicated. Surely we can share a simple meal together?”

“Simple?” Luis raised an eyebrow. “When have things ever been simple between us?”

“They could be.” Shrugging, Tucker looked away to make his turn. “They were. Once upon a time. We were friends. Nothing says we can’t be friendly again. The way I see it, we’re stuck working together. Figuring out how do that is a smart idea.”

“There’s a lot left unsaid.” Luis’s voice was quieter now, more considering.

“Yeah.” Tucker couldn’t dispute that. And yet he still wanted this, bad idea or not. Maybe Heidi was wrong—maybe they did need to clear the air, at least a little, if they were to find a more amicable way forward. “And maybe that’s more reason to spend a little time away from work. Eat. Talk.”

“Talking is possibly an even worse idea than dinner.”

“Possibly.”

“Well, at least you’re honest.” Luis’s laugh was part snort, but not as dismissive as before. “And I am hungry. Blaze can wait, I guess, for us to grab a quick dinner.”

“Blaze?”

“My cat.”

“Ah.” Another part of Luis’s life he had no clue about. Tucker had always been the animal lover, not Luis. People change, he reminded himself yet again. “Well, we won’t keep Blaze waiting too long. I know a brew pub with good wait times even at the height of the summer season.”

“I still say this is a bad idea.”

“You’re probably right.” Tucker laughed, but he wasn’t entirely kidding and doubted Luis was either despite his lighter tone. But perhaps more troubling than dread over the coming talk was the satisfaction at having won Luis’s agreement and the anticipation for more of his company. Yeah, Luis was right—this was a terrible, risky idea, and he was still counting down the minutes.

Chapter Five

This wasn’t a date, not by any stretch of the imagination. Luis had been on plenty of dates. He would know. But somehow knowing something logically did nothing for the churning in his stomach as he pulled into the restaurant Tucker had chosen. The place wasn’t far from his Bend hotel and the department headquarters, and Luis was unreasonably glad that Tucker wasn’t making him drive to Painter’s Ridge. Less chance this way of running into people one or both of them might know.