Page 96 of The Fireman and the Flirt

“I’m sorry I was an asshole. I trust you, Derek. I know you didn’t draw that napkin. I’m so fucking done with gearhead. I’m done with it being this dark cloud over my life. I’m done with it making me keep people at arms length. If people want to talk, let them talk. I have a fucking life to live with this sexy fireman. I love you.”

Our foreheads rested atop one another. I’d hoped to hear these words, and they sounded sweeter than my dreams.

“I shouldn’t have walked out that easily,” I said. “I’d been burned in the past, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get burned now.”

“I’ll never burn you. And if I did, you’re a fireman so you can extinguish yourself.”

There was that Cary humor I’d missed. I was a serious guy. I needed someone who could bring levity to my life.

“I’ve been telling myself that Paula’s affair came out of nowhere, that she changed overnight. But I’m tired of telling myself that story. There were signs. I didn’t want to see them.”

“Let’s put our sob stories behind us, shall we?” Cary smiled on my lips. I savored the cherry flavor of his lip balm.

Pat, the real estate agent with a plethora of keys, cleared her throat behind us. The closing agent stood beside her. Unlike her, he seemed won over by our show of affection.

“Am I still wrapped around your waist?” Cary asked me in a stage whisper.

“Uh huh.”

“I know this looks unprofessional…” Cary hopped off me. Fortunately, my flannel-lined jeans were thick enough to hide my erection, or so I hoped. “We were discussing whether Derek should get a home warranty plan.”

“Right. Shall we?” Pat rolled her eyes and went back into the conference room. A part of me was pissed that she’d be earning a commission check today. Then again, I got to leave this building with a new house and a hot boyfriend, and she had to go to gymnastics practice.

“Let’s get back in there.” I patted Cary’s ass as I ushered us inside.

It was a professional ass pat.

30

CARY

Iused to roll my eyes at all the people who were obsessed with finding someone to kiss on New Year’s Eve. In the words of my Jewish brethren, why was this night different from all other nights?

New Years was just another night. Our society made this huge deal out of it.Live it up! Send the old year out with a bang! Go to a bar and pay marked up prices for watered-down drinks!

But now that I was going to have my first New Years kiss, and that kiss was from Derek, I got the appeal. A kiss on New Years was pretty wonderful. Although, a kiss from Derek any day of the year was a magical experience.

It finally happened. I became one of those mushy people.

It had only been a few days since I’d climbed Derek like a tree at the closing, and yet I was already in heaven. There was nothing quite like being with a guy who cared about you, who you could trust completely, who could make you hard with the tiniest curl of his upper lip. The small voice in my head warning me that he could deceive me and humiliate me at any moment began to subside, and I found that I could justbewith Derek. No performance. No anxiety. And definitely no performance anxiety. By golly, we were single-handedly keeping Astroglide in business.

For New Years, I went over to Cal and Russ’s house. The kids were staying up late to watch the ball drop, and Russ had made artisan popcorn and from-scratch chocolate molds of the ball drop. Cal bragged that he picked out the napkins.

I’d had much more exciting New Years spent at Manhattan nightclubs and exclusive parties thrown in abandoned warehouses. But spending the evening watching TV on the couch tonight was easily my favorite.

Derek and I kept our PDA to a minimum. I kept looking over at Jolene trying to read her expression, but she was nothing but smiles. We watched Taylor Swift perform in Times Square and dissected her performance, all the while Derek had his arm around me. Jolene didn’t flinch or have any negative reaction. I wanted to ask if she was cool with this, but I decided to ride the wave and not rock the boat.

With thirty minutes to go until the year ended, I went to the kitchen for a refill on popcorn. Russ insisted we use the New Years-branded cups to hold our popcorn lest kernels tumble to the floor. Cal wasn’t following that rule. He ate directly from the large bowl.

“Is your kink disobeying your husband?” I asked him.

“I think it might be.” Cal scooped a handful of popcorn from the bowl and cupped it against his chest. I couldn’t see behind me, but I assumed Russ was peeved. “Listen, you are my dear friend, but Derek is my brother, so it goes without saying that if you break his heart, I will hunt you down and sell your organs on the black market. And I won’t tell you which order I sell them in.”

“Um…understood? And you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh, I know. But I wanted to say it anyway.” Cal shrugged, always finding ways to amuse himself.

“Well, if you break Russ’s heart, I will hunt you down.”

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