We headed in her direction, and I was fucking hard already. It wasn’t all the excitement from the fire, it was her. I hoped my uniform hid the rigidly hard erection I sported. Caleb and I threw our most charming smiles on our faces, focused on her only. She was still engaged in the conversation with the volunteer, not noticing us approaching her.
I heard the volunteer mentioning something about a rehab center when we reached them, and the woman raised her head to meet our stares, finally aware of us. Her lips parted when she took us in, her eyes flicking over our bodies in quick inspection, and my breath hitched. She was checking us out, and if the brief look of lust was anything to go by, she liked what she saw.
“Hi,” I greeted her first, taking a step closer to her.
Even with all that smoke and foul smells around us, I could still sense the sweet fragrance of her perfume. My insides stirred, and I shifted on my feet. My cock was twisted uncomfortably in my pants.
“I’m Trent Dane, and this is my brother, Caleb Lewis.”
Caleb nodded and offered her a smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
She didn’t say anything, still eyeing us with surprise, and her eyebrows furrowed as if there was something that was bothering her.
Finally, she asked, “Brothers?”
I laughed, “Firehouse brothers, not blood related.”
“Oh.”
Caleb added, “We just wanted to introduce ourselves to you and check if you need any help or something.”
Without even saying a word, she waved us off and moved to the side with the volunteer, continuing her conversation with her. I looked at Caleb, completely confused with her reaction.
“She ignored us,” I muttered, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“She’s probably still in shock. After all, she’s left without a home now and has a lot of things to deal with. This is a lot to take in, you know. We’ve become kind of immune to it all. Which is also sad.”
He was right. Maybe we rushed with this. She needed time to cope with tonight’s situation. I just hoped we would get to see her soon, because she was definitely worth seeing again.
4
Bree
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the two firefighters walk away. I sighed, regretting that I’d just dismissed them without even talking to them. They had come out of nowhere and before I knew it, they made my heart act crazy, which was something I hadn’t experienced a lot with men before.
One thing was certain—their muscular bodies were too good to look at, even under their uniforms I knew they were built. I couldn’t believe how hot they were, and I was still slightly flustered that they had spoken to me. Caleb and Trent, if I heard their names right. Even their names were sexy.
Caleb had beautiful blonde hair that was in a sweaty mess at the moment, but it only made him look more attractive. His piercing green eyes created flutters in my stomach, deeply affecting me just like Trent’s light blue ones. Trent had dark hair, but his build was similar to Caleb’s. Both of them looked irresistible and gorgeous, and I wished I’d met them under different circumstances.
I’d wanted to talk more with them, but I hadn’t been able to since the volunteer from the Red Cross had been explaining to me that due to smoke inhalation Granny had to go to a rehab center. This meant we would be separated! I didn’t want to be away from my grandmother, especially not now.
I glanced at her and felt a pang in my chest. She was laying on a stretcher nearby and looking at me with a slight, reassuring smile on her face. It was funny that she was trying to calm me down when she was the one who suffered the consequences of the fire. I didn’t even want to think what would have happened if we hadn’t rushed out of the place immediately, before the fire spread more.
“I understand how difficult this might be for you and your grandmother, Ms. Taft, but it’s for the best. We can’t take any chances with her.”
“I understand. Still, it’s difficult. We’ve never been separated before, you know?”
Her smile was sympathetic. “I get what you mean, since I feel the same about my grandmother. Your grandmother is a nice lady, and I’m sure she’ll be fine. Anyway, I hope you agree to this and to be put up in hotel with the other younger people and families. You’ll have your own room of course, and we’ll make sure you have access to your grandmother in the morning.”
A hotel. If I’d thought Granny and I had been struggling before, I’d been wrong. Tonight we hit rock bottom. We had lost everything. I fisted my hands and refused to let my emotions get the best of me. I couldn’t fall apart here—in front of everyone. There were enough tears. Little kids clutching their parents. An older man who lived downstairs was mumbling incoherently. Granny and I would survive this. We had to.
I should at least be thankful that I would be provided with a roof over my head, no matter how inconvenient it was.
“I agree,” I finally accepted and signed the form she’d handed to me.
“Thank you. Don’t worry, this is just a temporary solution.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. Our insurance wasn’t much, and I was still unemployed, so I couldn’t even imagine what the way out of this was.