Lark (First & Forever 5)

Malone asked, “Dude, what are you doing? I know you like him, so why are you purposely trying to wreck this?”

“I’m not! Do you think I dreamt about Travis on purpose, then made the choice to freak out on Lark?”

“No, but you did make the choice to let days go by without seeing him,” Malone said. “I don’t buy the idea that you’ve needed this long to get yourself together, either. So, what’s the real motivation behind not seeing him for almost a week?”

Heath answered before I could. “I think he’s self-sabotaging. He’s probably afraid to open up and really care about someone, after the type of loss he experienced. But instead of just breaking things off, he’s slowly eroding their relationship. Then, when New Guy finally decides he’s had enough of being put on the back burner and walks away, Dylan won’t blame himself.”

I sighed and told him, “That’s not what I’m doing.”

Heath raised a brow. “You sure about that?”

“I don’t want to drive Lark away. He’s the best thing that’s happened to me in years,” I said. “All I’m doing is taking a little time to regroup, after an awkward and embarrassing incident that really rattled me.”

“But now you’ve done that, for days.” Malone leaned forward and said, as gently as he could, “It makes me sad to see you blowing this, D. We all just really want you to be happy.”

I told him, “That’s what I want, too.”

“Honestly? I think you’d rather keep yourself safe than be happy,” Malone said. “It must be scary as hell, opening yourself up and caring about someone again after such a devasting loss. As long as you keep this new guy at arm’s length, you don’t run the risk of getting hurt. Isn’t that what’s really going on here?”

“Everyone’s an amateur psychologist,” I muttered.

Malone was perfectly sincere when he said, “The fact that I’m trying to help should show you how much your happiness matters to me, Dylan. It matters to all of us.”

This was pretty out of character for my friend, and he’d probably had to dig deep for that. I didn’t really know what to say in return, but fortunately, my phone beeped. After I took it from my pocket and read the text, I got up and said, “You’ll probably be thrilled to hear this message is from Lark. He’s downstairs.”

Heath and Malone both leapt to their feet, and Heath exclaimed, “Invite him up!”

While I headed for the stairs, Malone hurried into the kitchen and said, “I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee for our guest.” I didn’t tell him not to bother, because Lark wouldn’t want any. Malone would end up drinking it all himself anyway.

As soon as I stepped out the front door of the fire station and spotted Lark, my heart leapt. He looked absolutely adorable, as usual. This time, he was wearing a rainbow tie-dyed thermal shirt beneath a pair of pale blue overalls that had been cropped into shorts, along with a backwards baseball cap and glittery red sneakers.

He was carrying a white bakery-style box, and he smiled at me and held it out as he said, “Hi, Dylan. I just stopped by to drop off some cupcakes for you and your coworkers. I was baking today and ended up making way more stuff than my housemates and I could actually eat.”

“Thank you.” I took the box and grinned when I raised the lid and saw what he’d made. They were basically Lark in cupcake form, with rainbow swirls of frosting and tons of colorful sprinkles. Some random holidays were represented, including red and green sprinkles with tiny candy Christmas trees, and orange and purple ones with bats and pumpkins. The rest were just sparkly and bright. “These are amazing. Why don’t you come upstairs and have one with me?”

He took a step back and shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I just wanted to drop those off, not bother you while you’re working.”

“You could never bother me, and I’m not busy. It’s been a slow day, so we finished our to-do list and already ate dinner. Now most of the crew is watching a movie.”

“You probably want to get back to the movie, then…”

“I wasn’t watching it. Please come inside, before I drop these,” I said as I shifted the box, which wasn’t the sturdiest thing in the world. “I’d feel awful if I ruined all your hard work.”

“Okay, but just for a minute, and maybe just in there.” He gestured at the small lobby through the open door.

I led the way inside and put the box down. The room was pretty basic—just a few benches lining the walls and some framed pictures. He went over to a large portrait of all the current crews in our firehouse, posing in front of the ladder truck. I was in the back row, standing beside Malone and Heath.

While he studied the photo, I said, “I’ve missed you.”

He turned to me and asked, “Really?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry about staying away the last few days. I’ve just been trying to come to terms with some things, and—”

“You don’t have to explain.” Lark moved closer and smiled at me. “Just do whatever it takes to make yourself feel okay. I’ll be right here when you’re ready.”

“You’re amazing.” I reached out and brushed a strand of hair off his cheek. When my gaze dropped to his luscious mouth, he licked his lips.

Anticipation crackled between us. I became very aware of the way his breathing sped up as he met my gaze.