Page 28 of Branded

She waves me off then keeps talking, “I was just coming back from the career fair.”

She stops talking and smiles at me like I’m supposed to be able to read her mind.

“Is that it?”

“He’s here.”

“Who’s here?”

“Don’t play dumb. Isaac. He’s here. He’s with some broody, very large, alpha male looking god. There are two of them. Two hot firefighters in our gymnasium, right now, one of whom wants to douse your vagina fire.”

“Liv!” I cover her mouth with my hand, “You can’t say that here, and eww, that sounds like I have something gross going on. Rephrase that. Less grossness, less crudeness.” I drop my hand. “Try again.”

She takes a breath then explodes into a whisper-shout yet again, “The hot as sin firefighter, who clearly wants to spend time with you, and possibly let you handle his water hose ishere.”

“Jesus Christ.”

The instant typical female feelings fire through my brain.

Do I look okay?

Is there lipstick on my teeth?

What do I say to him?

Do I even talk to him?

Is this outfit okay? What about my boobs, do they look good?

As if she can read my mind, my best friend places her hands on my shoulders and settles my mind. “You look great. Your hair is perfect and the high-waisted jeans were a good call. You’ve got this Van Halen thing going on.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re making all of us ‘Hot for Teacher.’” She fans herself.

I shake my head and laugh. “Are you sure?”

My hair is twisted up into a bun with a pencil through the middle, holding it in place. I had arrived to school this morning with it down, but quickly regretted that choice, piling it high less than an hour into my day.

“He makes you nervous, doesn’t he?” She nudges my shoulder.

“God, Liv, for so many reasons.” I lean back against a locker and sigh. “I’m not used to being affected this way by anyone. He throws me off my axis.”

“This is a bad thing?” She holds out her hand in confusion.

“No, but it’s a scary thing.”

“Don’t fight it. Enjoy it. You deserve it.” She gives my thigh a swat. “Now, go finish up and get your flirt on. I expect full details later.”

“We are at work. There will be no details to share.”

“Oh, give me a break. Go-go-go.”

I try, I really do, to not look like I’m blatantly searching for the first responders table when we make our way into the open gymnasium.

Tables are lined all around the outer edge with two rows back-to-back in the center, creating a round area for the students to learn and explore about all kinds of careers they could pursue after college.

Doctors from Sunset Valley Methodist Hospital are lined up on the right with nurses, LPNs, CNAs, and every position in the medical field you can think of. Cooks with a fancy culinary school logo embroidered on their white coats are to the left, cooking up something delicious on a hot plate, no doubt trying to sway a few hungry folks their way.

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