Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“That makes two of us,” I groaned.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Captain Murphy.”
“Oh yeah. Right. Captain. Damn, I hate being in charge sometimes.”
“You’re a good captain.” I patted his meaty shoulder as I stood. “And a good friend. For what it’s worth, I hope you take the captain job permanently because we need bosses who care as much as you do.”
“Thanks. That means a lot.” Sean looked down at the tiled locker room floor. “And…uh…good luck.”
“I’ll take it.”
Already composing and rejecting various texts to Tony in my head, I made it home, only for Scotty to meet me at the door.
“I waited to walk with you, but we’re gonna be late for the football team parent-guardian meeting.”
“Fuck a duck.” I leaned my head against the doorframe. “I forgot.”
“Language.” Scotty laughed as he dragged me out of the house by the arm.
“You’re in a good mood.”
“I’m working on it.” He paused partway down the sidewalk. “You okay, bro? You look like shit.”
I gave a tired chuckle with every intention of lying to him as much as I had Sean. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” Rather than press me, though, Scotty marched determinedly forward. “I’ll hear about it later when they give you a medal for whatever shit went down on call, and you’ll say it was nothing and add it to your collection.”
“Whoa.” Catching up to him, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Is that really what I do?”
Perhaps minimizing stuff had become so natural that I couldn’t see past the smiling front I presented on and off shift. Crap.
“Yep.” Scotty shrugged.
“I almost died,” I blurted. “There was a falling beam. It was a close call, too close. I’m…processing. Not fine. Working on getting there.”
“No shit?” Scotty sounded more interested than horrified. “Adrenaline can be a bitch, but you’re a badass. I always forget you do more than rescue cats and give school presentations. Way to go on living.”
I supposed that might be as close as Scotty would get to expressing relief I didn’t die. At least he didn’t freak out like our mom might have.
“Thanks.” I resumed walking at a slow pace. “The job is kind of cool that way. You never know what you’re going to save. Today, it was a cherry farm. They lost several buildings, but we saved most of the orchard.”
“Way to go.” He slapped me on the back before his tone turned more serious. “You think I’d be good at a job like that?”
Absolutely not. I bit back my first impulse at a response. “You do like danger. And adrenaline.”
“Like you.” Scotty narrowed his eyes, daring me to object.
“Like me.” I let myself think for a moment. Really think beyond my initial Mom-will-hate-this response. I stopped walking to turn toward Scotty, looking at the kid beside me with fresh eyes. And really, he wasn’t much of a kid anymore. Almost a man. Taller than me. More facial hair. Deeper voice. “We both like being active. I don’t see either of us at a desk.”
“Nope.” Scotty laughed along with me.
“And you have a good heart. You’ve come a long way this summer. Responsibility suits you.” I took a deep breath. I’d spent all summer feeling guilty, thinking about what I owed Scotty. But maybe what I owed him most was my honesty. “Yeah. Yeah, you’d be damn good as a first responder.”
“Or a soldier.”
I gulped. “Or a soldier. But talk to Tony about the realities of serving in the military.”
“Already on it.” Scotty waved a hand airily. “Hopefully, I can catch him after the meeting and tell him I took his advice.”
Fuck. I should have known Tony would be at the meeting. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see him with so much unresolved between us. Dread made it so I almost missed the other part of what Scotty had said.
“Tony gave you advice?” I asked as we reached the school.
“He said to talk to you without assuming you wouldn’t understand.”
“Good advice.” I wished someone could give me advice on what to do.
Oh.
Wait. I supposed I could try taking that advice. Talk to the guy. Don’t make assumptions. I’d made assumptions all summer. About Scotty and who he was and what I thought he needed, but also about Tony. And maybe I needed to do a better job of letting those go.
Perhaps it wasn’t talking that was needed as much as listening. I took a deep breath because either way, I still had to make it through this damn meeting.
Chapter Thirty
Tony
I knew Caleb would be at the football kickoff meeting. It didn’t matter how weird things were between us. He’d be there for Scotty. Consequently, I wasn’t surprised when he strolled in with a few minutes to spare. I was, however, surprised by Scotty’s smile and by both of them taking seats close to Angel, Cosmo, and me. John and Eric, who had walked over with me, were behind us. Eric was how I knew the crew had had a bad call today, a farm fire where it was a legit miracle no one was injured or worse.