Page 5 of Burning Up

The bed was against the wall so Bryce stretched out his hands and felt the top of the bed. He found a lump, but when he pressed down it gave, just a pillow. He stretched out as far as he could, trying not to miss anything.

“Find anything?” he asked Toby.

“No,” Toby responded. “You?”

“No, keep moving quickly.” They finished their circuit of the room. When they reached the door, Bryce determined they could still use the hall to return to the front of the house.

Within a few minutes, the crisis had passed, and the attack team had gotten the fire under control. Bryce and Toby went back in for a secondary search. Bryce could feel how much cooler the air was. The team must have ventilated the room, because the smoke was thinning.

Once again he and Toby made a right-hand search. They could see a bit now and were able to reach the bed quickly. “You take underneath again,” he said. He felt the top of the bed. This time when he pressed down on the pillow, something moved. He reached underneath in and felt a small foot.

“Chief, there’s a child hiding under a pillow in the left front bedroom.”

“What is her condition, Ladder Six?”

Bryce scooped up the child and she began to sob, but that was good, crying meant the little girl was alive. “She’s conscious and appears to be uninjured.”

What if they’d missed her? What if… But things had gone right. They’d found her. This wasn’t Atlanta. He carried her out with Toby following them and passed her to the paramedics. She was coughing and crying, but she didn’t look like she’d sustained any burns or other serious injuries.

Bryce dripped with sweat. Nothing like full gear on a hot summer day. He’d been able to turn off his fears when he needed to, yet he’d missed the girl on the primary search.

You had to move fast. You went back in and you found her. You got her out. You did your job.

Yeah, he had, but he couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in his chest.

No one else was found in the structure or anywhere nearby. The little girl said her parents were at work, but she was too shaken up to give any more information. Bryce wished he could have a few minutes alone with the parents who’d left her home all by herself. No kid deserved to be abandoned like that, but at least she was alive and so was he. The job had never been easy, but it was worth it. This story had a happy ending. That used to be enough for him.

4

Bryce startled when a hand landed on his shoulder as he exited the station. “We’re taking you out to breakfast.”

It was Matt.

“You look like you could use company,” Toby said, appearing at his other side.

How did they manage to make him feel surrounded when he had several inches on both of them? “Umm… I should go home and try to get some sleep. I’m working at Nathan’s tonight.”

Matt tilted his head and studied Bryce. “Are you really going to be able to sleep?”

Fuck, how badly had he given himself away? He thought he’d gotten better at hiding how damn hard this was for him. “No.” He considered using his beagle, Rollo, as an excuse, but the dog was with a neighbor he adored, and an extra hour or so wouldn’t matter.

“Then come with us,” Toby said in that cheerful way that usually got him exactly what he wanted, though it never seemed contrived. He just seemed to be that happy and comfortable. “We’ve… uh… been wanting to get to know you better.”

Or maybe not so comfortable. Why did Toby sound nervous?

He likes you.

No way. Bryce wasn’t going to listen to that troublemaking voice in his head. They were watching him because they appreciated his body. That was as far as it needed to go. As sexy as they were, they could get laid as often as they wanted. Sexy and smart and caring. Bryce realized he hated the idea of them fucking just anyone. They deserved someone who would take his time with them, who would treat them right. Someone like you.

Once again, he was assuming they were a couple. They might truly just be friends, right? Suddenly Matt’s ancient sedan was right in front of them. They’d guided Bryce there while he was lost in thought.

“Hop in,” Matt said.

Wait a minute. How the hell had he let himself get railroaded by a couple of kids? Because you know you’re not going to sleep. You like them, and it’s just breakfast.

But somehow Bryce knew if he got into that car, he was in for a mess of trouble.

Toby patted his shoulder. “You take shotgun, I’ll get in the back. Don’t want your legs all crunched up.”

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