Page 64 of The Fireman and the Flirt

“What do you think?”

“Hey! Traitor.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Derek, you work at a place that has a pole and you don’t dance?” Cary shook his head. “Criminal.”

Jolene took her Twix bar and sang into it like a microphone. Cary bent down and joined her at the mic.

I had secondhand embarrassment for both of them, but damn if it wasn’t sweet watching Jolene cut loose.

“What’s this?” Cary pointed at my shoe, which had begun to tap.

“It’s not tapping,” I said.

“It’s tapping to the beat.”

The song faded out, cutting me a break.

“Let’s go. In the car.” I pointed to the door, giving Jolene no option. I couldn’t be caught dancing to a Taylor Swift song. The security camera footage would probably go viral.

“It was great meeting you, Jolene! Never forget that your dad kinda sorta danced to a Taylor Swift song.”

“Hey.” I brushed against Cary’s arm as he turned to go. “Did you want to join us at Renegade Park?”

Cary looked to Jolene who nodded her eager approval.

“It’ll be fun!” she said. I feared for my hearing if they were going to sing more Taylor Swift songs, but I was willing to take that chance.

Cary shrugged his shoulders. “Sure.”

Jolene clapped her hands excitedly, but I might’ve been the more excited one.

20

CARY

Back when I was in high school, Renegade Park was a patch of riverfront dirt with a janky, rusty playground where kids used to get high or experiment with setting plastic lighters on fire. But as Sourwood had gotten more upscale, some might say bougie, Renegade Park also got a makeover, too. The janky tetanus magnet was replaced with a colorful, state-of-the-art playground area with multiple sections for different ages. Instead of kids falling onto jagged wood chips, the ground was a bouncy material. Trails were updated through the woods, and a walking path with benches was put in place along the river.

I was surprised that Renegade Park wasn’t deserted when we arrived. Who was coming out here at night? It was so cold. I was only here because a lovely preteen and her hot stack of a dad, who I wasn’t crushing on because we were just having sex and that was it, invited me.

A group of teens hung by the water, but instead of getting high or causing mischief, they were on their phones. Though to be honest, I wasn’t one to judge.

“We’re going to see Mars tonight,” Jolene told me, a glow on her face, as if Mars was a Taylor Swift concert. (Taylor in space? Here for it.)

“Like the planet?” I asked.

“Yep,” Derek said. He set up her telescope. Watching him put stuff together was a weird kind of turn-on. He had major dad energy, and like Taylor in space, I was here for it.

I offered to help, mostly by sticking out my hand and pulling it back a few times. The only stargazing I did was inUS Weekly. I still couldn’t get over that Jennifer Garner and I ate the same brand of yogurt. We were so in sync.

“Isn’t it like far away?” I asked of the red planet.

“Usually yes. Mars has a wider orbit than Earth. It spends years behind the sun, but it should be visible tonight.” Jolene got to work positioning her telescope. A big, goofy smile took over her face when she found a constellation. I wished I’d had academic interests like her when I was young, or that celebrity gossip could be considered academic interest. In a way, celebrity worship was the modern version of Greek mythology.

“Is this your first time looking at the stars?” Jolene tucked her red hair behind her ears.

“I’ve never astronomied before,” I said.

“Have you ever seen the Big Dipper?” she asked.

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