“How amazingly high school of the two of you.”
I flip her the bird. “It wasn’t his damn letterman’s jacket. It was his Bradford Station Firehouse Number One jacket.”
“Ohhhh shit,” Hailey nervously laughs.
“Yeah. It’s the rookie, from what I’ve been able to gather.”
“Damn, dad likes him a lot.”
“He does, and you know how dad is but,” I shrug. “He’s fuckin’ hot. He came into the bank today. I waited on him and, when I gave him his receipt, I put my phone number on it.”
“Brazen.”
“Even put a little note on it saying if he isn’t scared of dad to give me a call or text,” I giggle.
“What do you think he’s going to do?” She asks as we walk in front of our house, making our first lap.
“I hope he calls me, but it’ll depend on how scared of dad he is. Eventually, there’ll be one who decides to forego his rules. That’ll be the one who’ll be mine.”
I haven’t been interested in someone like this since high school. I’d met a guy at a football game, assuming he was in another district since I’d never seen him before. Bradford has two high schools, but the surrounding counties obviously have their own. He was intriguing and won me over with the way he treated me. Although I was a senior, it was hard to be seen as an adult. As one of the youngest seniors in our class, I still wasn’t driving yet, and Hailey was in her second year of college. If I wanted to go anywhere, a friend would take me or I’d have to ask dad. It wasn’t until our third date, when dad dropped me off, that I’d known why I’d never seen him around.
I remember it like it was yesterday, the embarrassment and wanting to crawl in a hole to die.
“What are you doing with my rookie firefighter, Hayden?”
“Your firefighter? I thought he went to another school.”
“Yeah, three years ago!”
“I had no idea,” I defended myself. “You.” I point to the guy, no, man standing outside the car. “You knew I thought you were a lot younger than you are. I talked to you about high school.”
“I thought you were just trying to make conversation,” he shrugs.
“Are you really that dumb?”
“He is,” dad interjects. “He won’t be at the firehouse for long, especially if he keeps pulling shit like this.”
While I’m sure dad cusses a blue streak at work, I don’t remember a time when I’ve ever heard him use foul language in front of me or Hailey. “I don’t know what to say…”
All I want to do is stick my head between my knees and pretend like none of this is happening.
“I know what I’m going to say,” dad growls. “Number one, you’re fuckin’ fired and, number two, you’re grounded.”
“Are you replaying that time you got grounded in your head?” Hailey asks, breaking me out of my memory.
“God, it was the most embarrassing thing,” I groan, burying my face in the palm of my hand. “I didn’t live it down at school until we graduated, and no one wanted to take me to the prom.”
“I mean, could you blame them?” She laughs.
* * *
Dinner’s been eatenand I’m drying my hair from the shower I took when I hear my phone buzz on the nightstand. Since my phone is primarily how most of my friends catch me up on their lives now that I’m on the East Coast, I quickly pick it up.
Not recognizing the number, I click into the message.
D: Do you give your number to every guy who comes through your line at the bank?
Danny.
He actually texted me. A smirk on my face, I sit down on the bed, cross my legs and try to figure out if what we say in the next messages will change my life.