She shrugs.
I guess it’s not the kind of thing she can plan for, with so many variables involved.
“I’m hoping we can figure it out as we go,” she says. “All I know is that I want to be with all of you in any way that I can have you.”
Now, I squeezeherhand. She’s very brave. I worked with her for two years and couldn’t summon the courage to ask her out, and here she is, asking for exactly what she wants.
“I’ve been staying at Duke’s. I’m still on the lease with Kelly, so I don’t plan to officially move out anytime soon, but I haven’t slept there much,” she says.
“Do you want to sleep at Duke’s tonight?” I ask.
“Only if you come with me.”
45
Autumn
The night that follows is still only half of what I want, but twice as good as the night before.
There’s a new ease between Duke and Garrett. It’s apparent they’ve spent time together, but they don’t mention fishing. Their focus is entirely on me.
They put me through my paces, and I think I hold up nicely and give as good as I get. When we’re ready to rest, the three of us crawl under the covers in Duke’s big bed, me in the middle, of course. I have the best night of rest I can remember in quite a while.
* * *
Garrett sleepsover several nights during the next two weeks. I spend a couple of nights at his place when Duke is working and Garrett has early morning meetings. My job ends with a nice little party with a cake, and then I’m free to focus on our plans.
When the right day arrives, the three of us climb into Duke’s big truck, and we hit the road.
46
Trevor
Two more hours until two very well-earned days off. It’s the part of the day for practical training, which is my favorite. The day started, as they all do, with all of us in formation for roll call and flag raising. There are hours in the classroom, and hours of rigorous workouts that are well beyond anything I had to do to keep my body in shape for stripping.
The practical training isn’t too demanding yet, but we’ll start to cover more challenging situations soon, and start to actually fight fires under controlled conditions.
Adrian catches my eye and lifts his chin as we pass each other while carrying equipment. He’s counting down the time, too. Duke is coming up for a visit today, and I can already taste the beer we’ll soon be drinking at the local bar.
It’s good to see Adrian with a brighter expression. He’s even more motivated to be a firefighter than I am, but he’s not quite been himself since we’ve been here. During the short breaks we’ve spent away from the training center, I’ve seen his head turn when petite women with long blond hair pass by, and I know what he’s thinking.
I’ve been imagining that I see Autumn, too. That’s what happens when someone is on your mind way too much.
I still can’t figure out how she got under our skin so thoroughly. Some things can’t be explained, but they also can’t be denied.
Maybe we can somehow get together with her in the future and make something work, but for now we need to focus on the fire academy or all of our time and effort will be wasted.
Duke is supposed to meet us at the host hotel, and when the bus pulls into the parking lot, his truck is already there.
“He’s not waiting out here,” Adrian says, seeing that his vehicle is empty.
Where are you?I text.
Hotel coffee shop,comes Duke’s reply.
On our way through the lobby’s automatic doors, I spot another one of those Autumn lookalikes, one so convincing that I do a double take. Her shy smile is unmistakable. Her beautiful hair and ridiculously sexy figure turn her from a memory into a reality.
“Autumn? What are you doing here?”