Just sounded like the right thing to call you because of the picture you sent me and the fact I don't know you're name. She and I didn't work out so don't worry about getting me in any trouble besides I have her to thank for sending me a new friend. Besides, something tells me you would be worth getting into trouble for.
My cheeks start turning red again but this time it's not from of embarrassment. I bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling any bigger than I already am. He gave me a nickname. In just a few messages this guy took my day from train wreck awful to something entirely the opposite.
It wasn't long afterward that he started sending me pictures almost daily and I returned the favor. Over the past week he's been sending me a lot of pictures of things around him, silly stuff, sometimes like a dog being chased by a cat or two birds fighting over the same piece of bread. I've tried to return images but it occurred to me that I don't go out a lot so most of my pictures are of things in my room or in front of my building. He never really judges me for them not being as exciting as his and he always seems to be interested in what I am sending.
I crawl in bed and close my eyes. More and more I end up thinking about him. I don't even know his name. Well, not his whole name. We told each other our first names a week ago. He's Rayne and he's thirty-four which seems old but really isn't. Other than that, and the fact he has a younger sister he cares about, I don't know a thing about the man.
He asked if we should start talking - like calling one another - and I told him no. I don't want him to build up some wonderful idea of me in his head and then talk to me and never want to text me again. I really look forward to these back and forth's. I can't take the chance that something will ruin it even if I do wonder what his voice sounds like and where he is in the world.
I fall asleep thinking of him but I get woke up by the sound of an alarm blaring in my ears. I sit up in bed and turn to look for Katy but she's not in the room with me. It takes me a minute to realize that what I'm hearing is the fire alarm. I don't think to grab a coat or a pair of shorts; I just shoot out of bed and make my way to the door leading out of the apartment. Smoke is already starting to fill the room making it hard to breathe.
It is so hard to see in the living room that in all the confusion I trip over something and land hard on my hands and knees. The air is thin and everything is black and gray above me. I cough as the smell of smoke clogs my nose. Oh my God, I have to pull myself up and get out. I try to stand up but whatever is under my feet trips me up again. I kick out and send it is sliding backwards. I think it might have been Stacie's weights. I'm always tripping over the damned things because she never puts them up during normal nights. Now they're going to kill me during a fire. Something about that doesn't seem fair considering I never bothered the things because I don't exercise all that much.
Then hands are on me lifting me up and carrying me from the smoke and ash. A fireman has me in his arms. I cling to the person's jacket as we get to the hallway and start going down the stairs. At one point the lights in the stairwell go out and I'm left in darkness with my savior with just his headlamp to see by. Emergency lights click on and I realize we've made it to the bottom floor.
I open my mouth to tell him the door sticks sometimes but he's kicking it open before I can say anything. I only realize what is happening when I'm already outside in the fresh air. I take in burning gulps or air to fill my lungs with something other than smoke. My firefighter carries me towards a group of ambulances before I can stop him.
I realize it's a 'him' that saved me when he uses one hand to take off his helmet and I find myself staring into a pair of dark blue eyes the color of a storm. A woman could get lost in eyes like those. He places me on a gurney that's been set up outside the ambulance.
"I need a medic over here now!" His voice is so deep and confident that it doesn't take long before someone steps over to look at me. Something about the man is familiar and causes me to want to keep clinging to him. I look back into his storm-cloud eyes and he gives me a heart-stopping smile before turning my whole world upside down.
"Hello Bunny."
My mouth drops open just as the woman tries to put an oxygen mask over my face. My heart has stopped so she might as well stop looking for a pulse because she isn't going to find one. Then it starts beating way too fast and I wonder if this woman who is checking me over is going to think I'm having a breakdown. Maybe I am going crazy and the stress of the situation has caused me to imagine something that really didn’t happen. There has to be an explanation because the only person in my life who has ever called me Bunny is the sexy guy I've been texting for the last two weeks. Not the sexy guy who just saved my life.
The EMT checking me out finally diverts my attention from the firefighter in front of me by tugging at something in my hand. I didn't realize but I still have my phone clutched there. It is in fact the only thing that isn't still in the apartment besides the clothes I'm wearing right now which isn't much. Tiny, tight pink sleep shorts that might as well be underwear and a tank top that’s seen better days, and that's it. I only have my phone because I fall asleep with it every night now waiting for him to text me.
"Is she with you, Dresden?"
"Yep, she sure is."
The woman winks at me and starts looking me over and asking me questions that I struggle to answer. Not because of the smoke I inhaled but because of the man standing beside me. One of my roommates who looks like she just stepped off the runway instead of out of a burning building comes up and grabs his attention by reaching out and wrapping her hands around his arm.
"Thank you so much for saving us. I love a hero."
How does she make her voice sound like that? It sounds sexy and...I don't know fuckable. I'd want to fuck her if I was a man. I turn my attention back to the medic who’s trying to help me. The last thing I want to see right now is him chasing after my roommate and leaving me sitting like some overcooked duck.
"They all want to fuck the firefighters but don't worry; Cap never does go for that shit."
I open my mouth to tell her I'm not really in a position to care when I hear his deep voice talking to Marissa. "I have a girlfriend."
He has a girlfriend! I try not to be hurt as I watch him turn Marissa around and gently shove her at another fireman who is just taking his helmet off as well. At least I won't have to see him going for one of my roommates I guess. Still...ugh. We're just friends and I was the one who didn't want to talk to him on the phone like an idiot. And that was before I knew how stupid hot he is. No man that hot is going to stay single for long - not being so sweet too. Of course he's moved on with someone else. Someone who isn't afraid to talk to him on the fucking phone.
Maybe we shouldn't be texting like we do though if he has a girlfriend. Maybe this is what needs to happen so I don't get even more attached to him than I already am. Clearly, I have boundary issues if I'm already so involved. Damn losing him is going to hurt, even just as a friend.
He turns back to me and I squirm on the gurney. Talk about meeting someone on your worst day ever. I look for the medic but she's in the ambulance writing something down. Even with all the chaos around us it feels like we've got a little bit of privacy so this is a good time to try to end things.
"You have a girlfriend?" Way to work up to that conversation gently, Cami. Next, we'll try to actually make it to more than two sentences before we just dive right in and ask the hot hero any more personal questions. This. This is why I don't talk on the phone. A smile breaks across his face and he steps closer to me.
"Yeah, I do."
My heart sinks. I'm going to lose my friendship with this man who clearly looks happy about this girlfriend if the smile is any indication. Lucky girl.
"And I'm looking at her."