817 Fireman Ln. (Cherry Falls)

Ava takes the plate and holds it. Her eyes are a shade darker, and she doesn’t try to hide the fact that she’s checking me out. “I don’t need a restaurant. I’d be happy at home eating dinner with you.” She takes a bite of her sandwich and smiles cheekily at me. “I’d probably even let you get to second base.”

I swallow the food in my mouth and almost choke on it. I reach for her and pull her against me, knocking my plate of food off to the side. She’s against me, her eyes big and surprised. “You can’t say something like that to me and expect me not to react. I want you, Ava.”

She scoots closer until she’s practically in my lap. She pulls me down for a kiss. “I want you too.”

I press my lips to hers, and the kiss goes from simple to molten in a second. I’m burning up for her, and if I’m not careful, all of Cherry Falls is going to know it too. I pull away but hold her tightly against me. The fountain is busy at this time of day, and it doesn’t help that it’s on the corner of Hope Avenue and Love Lane. We’re almost right downtown.

She cups my jaw. “What is it? You don’t want people to see you making out with me?”

Possessiveness like I’ve never known goes through me. “I want any and everyone to know you’re mine.”

She licks her lips, and the playfulness is gone now. She looks at me seriously. “You want me to be yours?”

I lean forward and whisper into her ear, “Oh, you’re mine, baby.”

Her whole body shudders against mine, and I’m about to kiss her again when the alarm from the station goes off. My shift is officially over, and Ava’s is just starting. She’s instantly all business and jumps up. “I have to go.”

I barely get to kiss her before she’s running across the street. “Be safe!” I holler to her.

She turns. “Thank you for the date!” And then she’s off, and I’m a mess, already worried about her night ahead.

Ava

I hate that I didn’t get to properly thank Kent. Everything was so rushed, I barely had time to put my gear on. As I ride in the truck across town, all I can think about is Kent. The closer we get to the fire, the more I force him out of my thoughts. With this kind of job, you have to be aware and can’t have anything else on your mind. If you’re not focused, you’ll get yourself or someone else hurt.

The fire is an apartment building in Kissme Bay. When we arrive, it seems everyone is already standing outside. At least we think so, until a woman runs to us. “Please help. There’s kids on the second floor. Their mom is at work. Please help them.”

Me and a few of the guys are instantly in action. The chief starts giving out orders, and when the lady points at the apartment window, another firefighter named Alex and I set the ladder and start to climb. Everyone else starts to fight the blaze.

As I climb, I holler to the woman, “What are their names?”

“Michael and Angie.”

I’m to the window first, and luckily it’s unlocked. I don’t see any flames, only smoke, so I lift the window and climb in. As soon as I’m in, I’m looking under beds and in closets. “Angie, Michael. Come out, kids. I’m here with the fire department.”

It seems like hours as Alex and I search the whole apartment but in fact, it’s only minutes. When we get to one of the small bedrooms, I bend down and look, and sure enough, both of the kids are hiding under the bed because they’re too young to know better. I hold my hand out to them. “Hey, Angie, hi, Michael. Are you guys okay?”

They just stare wide-eyed at me.

I take off my mask. “It’s okay. We’re going to get you out of here, but you have to trust me. We’ll get you outside and take you to your mother.”

Michael’s the first to respond. “C’mon, let’s go.” He nudges his sister, and they both crawl out from under the bed. “I got them,” I call to Alex.

He’s in the room in a second. “We gotta go. Fire’s spreading fast.”

I give them both oxygen, but they seem to be okay.

I put back on my mask and we make our way back the way we came, Alex leading the way and me in the back. Alex climbs out first with Michael belted on to him. I belt Angie on to me and maneuver the two of us out the window.

It’s hot. There’s chaos all around us, but all I focus on is Angie and each step to the ground.

When we’re finally safe, I unlatch Angie, and she and Michael hold on to one another. I won’t get on to them now, they’ve been through enough, but I’ll definitely make sure they know fire safety before all is said and done.