Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I had to be stronger than I was last time I was in town.
“I wanted to write for a big newspaper company, and The Blue Ridge Times was the first one to pick me up,” I explained. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed what I did. This case inspired me more than any other one I had worked on, though. “How long have you guys been firefighters?”
“Matty is the newest at about six months. Jae has been with us for more than a year. Tobin and I have been on this crew for a few years,” Angus explained.
Tobin nodded, his blue eyes flickering from Angus to me.
“Being a firefighter runs in my family,” he said, finally breaking his silence. He seemed pretty reserved, but he wasn’t detached from the conversation.
“Who was a firefighter in your family?” I asked him as I tilted my head in interest.
Tobin paused at first before looking down at his beer.
“My dad,” he said.
I expected him to say more, but silence followed his words until Matty started speaking.
“How are you enjoying being back in town? It’s been a minute,” Matty asked me as he nudged me from my right. There was that charming smile again that drove girls mad.
“It doesn’t seem like that much has changed,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was like my last day in this town was preserved. Untouched. Maybe it would’ve been easier being back if I hardly recognized the place.
“Everyone is afraid to buy buildings for sale or make new ones because of the fires,” Jae explained from my left. He shrugged his broad shoulders with a sigh. “I don’t blame them.”
No wonder everything felt stagnant around here. This was a town frozen in fear, afraid to move forward only to have their progress destroyed. It was a shame. Even if I had issues being back here, that didn’t mean that I didn’t want the best for this place.
“We’ll put an end to this,” I assured them before sipping on my beer, hoping the alcohol helped loosen everyone up. There was still so much tension radiating around the table. “If I don’t keep passing out when I see fires.”
Tobin smirked a little as he rested his hand on the table.
“Afraid of fire?” he asked in that smooth, deep voice of his that seeped into my soul.
“Not any more than the average person. You guys are the brave weirdos who aren’t afraid of it,” I told them, coaxing amused grins around the table.
“In our defense, none of us are pyromaniacs,” Matty said as he lifted a finger.
The others fixed him with a pointed look.
“Don’t lie,” Angus replied as he tilted his head down in a stern manner, a straight strand of light brown hair falling against his forehead.
“He’s just trying to come off as innocent in front of the pretty girl,” Jae added.
“Classic Matty,” Tobin said with a light laugh.
Jae’s comment made my cheeks warm up, and I hoped that my blush wasn’t visible. He was probably just messing around to tease Matty, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he truly felt that way about me or not. Because every guy around this table was alarmingly attractive in their own way.
“Alright, alright. That was one time,” Matty argued, his voice bouncing a little from laughter. “I was curious to see just how flammable oxygen was in front of my own eyes. No one got hurt! There’s just a burn mark on the back wall of the station.”
“Arsonist,” I said as I flashed him a teasing smile.
“Are you going to write a story about me, Collins?” Matty laughed as he leaned closer to me.
“The headline would be Matty Grady: firefighting heartbreaker and heartthrob,” I told him with an amused glint in my eyes.
“Oh, heartbreaker? What’s that about?” Jae asked as he propped his head on his hand, peering at me curiously.
“Jerk,” Matty chuckled as he nudged my knee with his. “I dated her best friend in high school. You know how young love goes.”
“You actually dated someone? That’s a shock,” Angus replied as he leaned his forearms on the table. When there was a loud gasp and a shatter from around the bar, his body stiffened as he looked that way. His brown eyes swept over the scene, and he relaxed when it was clear that a woman just let her drink slip out of her hand.
Fast reflexes. I wondered what he did before becoming a firefighter that made him so alert. The others were far more relaxed than him.
“Matty is going to be this town’s prized bachelor,” Jae told me as he leaned toward me like he was sharing a secret.
“Oh, come on,” Matty replied as he rolled his eyes in a playful manner.
“He certainly had girls tripping over their own feet to talk to him, even when he was dating Rachel,” I said.