Page 103 of Burn

“I can’t,” I lie. I don’t have a reason. I have no life outside of fucking a firefighter when he comes to find me or I stalk him. I still don’t have his phone number. What does that tell you?

Scarlet takes my jacket off my coat rack and tosses it at me. “Yep. You’re going. Caleb’s there. I’m meeting his brother tonight.” Then she shakes her hips, and I notice she’s in the tightest pair of jeans I’ve ever seen in my life.

“Can you even breathe?”

“Nope. Not really. Now hurry.” She waves to my door. “We’re late.”

I’m disappointed she knows Caleb’s going to be there and I didn’t. I really need to get his phone number.

“I have so many plans for tonight, but sobriety is just not one of them,” Scarlet says once we’re at the bar.

“What’s your plan for tonight?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

She whispers to me as we walk toward a table in the back, “Him taking off these tight-ass jeans with his teeth.”

“That’s not possible.”

She winks at me. “A girl can dream, can’t she?”

Yeah, she could. And if a girl was dreaming, that girl being me, I’d be having Caleb’s babies by now. Dreaming. Certainly dreaming here.

Scarlet’s pledge begins with an endless flow of drinks to the table in the back of Trinity nightclub where guess what, Caleb is with who I’m assuming are his brothers and maybe fellow firefighters? I’m never introduced. It’s like Caleb’s keeping me as his precious toy.

“Hey, chick?” Jacey says, coming to the table. “You’re here!”

“I’m here.”

She pushes a Bay Breeze toward me. “Caleb said you drink these. It’s on me.”

He told her what I liked to drink? Why do I have this sudden urge to lick the side of his beautiful face and thank him?

Beside me, Caleb lets out a deep throaty laugh at something Kellan said to Scarlet and stretched his arms over his head and one around my shoulder, drawing me closer to his side.

This I could get used to.

That is until Owen shows up and sits next to me, kicking Jacey out of her spot. “Listen,” he whispers in my ear. “Two things. Your friend ditched me for a Ryan brother. I’m upset about that, and I blame Caleb for it.” I listen to him, staring blankly at him as he speaks. “So you’re going to help me out with something.”

I don’t like where this is going. Not one bit. I point to my chest with my finger. “Why me?”

“Because I said so. And you’re taking one for your friend.” Now that I think about it, Scarlet never once mentioned Owen after their night together, and I want to point this out to Owen. There’s no sense in kicking a man when he’s down though so I let it slide.

I whisper to Owen, “What am I supposed to do?”

He grins and slowly lifts a beer to his lips, side-eyeing me before taking a drink. “Dance for Caleb.”

Say what?

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see.”

That’s what I’m scared of.

When Caleb gets up to go to the bathroom, Owen pounces like a jungle cat on the prowl. “You’re going to go in that back room and I’ll get Caleb to go in there somehow . . . I don’t know, anyways then you’re going to dance for him.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, we’re quickly standing outside a very dark back room to the club, and I don’t like where it’s going. How do I get myself into situations like this? I came out for a drink and peer pressure, and now I’m what, about to give a lap dance? “What’s the point of this?”

Owen shrugs. “He took the airbags out of my truck the other day. It’s time for a payback.”

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