Page 33 of Bronx

"Were you and Layla seeing each other while he was still alive?”

"Hell no." This time I had the urge to sock him but I held back. "Can't believe you'd ask that. You, of all people."

"Yeah but you thought about it," King said, lamely.

"I've also thought about having a threesome with Margot Robbie and the hot lady who sells ice cream sandwiches down at the park, but I haven't done it. Just because you act on every goddamn impulse."

"No, no, no, Bronxy Boy, don't turn this around on me." King had finally settled down. He relaxed back against the seat. "So what happened? Why is it over? Couldn't you guys just sneak around."

"Tried that. Apparently, we aren't great sneakers. Helix saw us at Moonpie's having breakfast."

His arm swung out to knuckle me again, but he stopped it before making contact.

"Good decision," I told him wryly.

"Why would you go to Moonpie's? Everyone eats breakfast there."

"I don't know. It's on the way to the ranch. It's an hour out of town, so I thought we'd be safe. Anyhow, none of that matters now. He sent that video to Layla. She decided it was just too hard for us to be together." It was impossible to miss Helix's massive lifted truck. It sounded like thunder as it pulled into the lot. Every muscle in my body tensed just seeing him sitting behind the wheel with his dark sunglasses. "I can tell you this, King. I won't find anyone like her. Might as well just give up and join a fucking monastery. She was the one. It would just fucking figure that I found the one person who happened to be Bulldozer'sonetoo."

King slapped me on the shoulder, a friendly pat this time. "Sorry about that, buddy. But there'll be more. Ole Bronx Devlin has never been short on the ladies, and he's not likely to start now."

Helix climbed out of his truck and made a point of staring in the direction of my jeep. He lifted his sunglasses and skewered me with a scowl.

"I can't get into it with him. I've already got a mark on my record. Another one could get me expelled."

"I'll do my best to stay between you guys," King said. "But I've got to warn you, you might get some frostiness from the other guys too. That video, with Bulldozer, that really cut deep."

"Yeah, it was meant just for Layla, so fuck Helix for sending it to everyone. I'll bet even Bulldozer would be pissed. Well, no sense in putting this off. Besides, at the moment, I just don't give a fuck what any of them say or think. They don't know shit, only what's being filtered through Helix."

Kingston and I stepped out of the jeep and headed into the building. Chuck Coltrane, Mystic's father and operations manager, was in his office gathering the new safety information pamphlets. We headed straight into the meeting room, which during fire season also served as our dining area and occasional sleep area depending on how many crew members were on call. Today, the crummy plastic eating tables had been cleared for the meeting. Coffee and donuts were set up on one of the tables. Most of the crew was hovering over the box of donuts, snatching up their favorites.

"Shit, I'll bet the maple bars are all gone. Shouldn't have taken so long in the jeep," King lamented. Making donuts his new priority, he elbowed his way up to the box. I wasn't in the mood for anything, so I crossed to a table where Topper and Lawson Winslow, the guy we called Sunshine because he was always a fucking grump, were already sitting devouring a plate of donuts.

I reached for an empty chair. Topper stretched his leg across and kicked it aside out of my hand. "Sorry, that seat is taken." They both stared up at me coldly.

As badly as I wanted to let them know what I thought about their taken chair, I held my tongue and walked to another table. Suddenly, it was like high school, and I was the outcast being shunned at all the tables. Alex and Jane stared up at me as I reached for a chair.

"Really?" I asked. "Even you, Jane?"

She shrugged. "Actually, I think you're all a bunch of assholes who can't think past their dicks, but sit if you want." She pushed the chair out with her foot. Helix's big hand grabbed it out of my reach.

"Sorry, traitor, I'm sitting here. Why don't you take the loser's table over there." He pointed to a small wobbly table with a broken leg that had been pushed back to the corner.

Helix sneered at me, then shoved a jelly donut in his mouth. I briefly imagined that donut being my fist.

"Bronx, over here." King had finally finished piling his plate with donuts. He sat down at the table with Kaos and Angus, two guys who were normally my friends, even past the walls of the base camp. This morning, they both had jaws set like steel and glares that could make a glacier shiver.

This time I didn't politely pull out a chair. I yanked it and sat down. I slumped back and gave them both an equal glare. "Seriously? Thought you guys were friends."

Angus shrugged. "What the fuck, Devlin? What were you thinking? Or maybe only your cock was doing the driving."

I sat forward. "Save your fucking sainthood routine. You use that cock of yours so indiscriminately, you don't know where the hell it's been. And it's not like that with Layla." I was talking low, but there was no way to keep a conversation from carrying to the next table.

"Oh yeah, Devlin," Helix said snidely. "Why don't you tell us how it was. Tell us how you put away your conscience to betray one of your fellow smokejumpers."

My chair scraped the floor as I turned it to face him. Everyone was looking at me with unfamiliar faces, anger, disappointment. "Me? Betrayal? Do you think Bulldozer wanted you to send that video to everyone? It was a message to Layla, a stupid drunken message, but you sent it to everyone."

"Just keeping a promise I made to Bulldozer to protect Layla."

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