Page 8 of Smokin' Situation

Baker: Where are you?

Tripp: Distillery booth.

Baker: Still playing hero for our sexy town bartender?

Tripp: ETA

Baker: Someone over-served?

Tripp: More like the person doing the serving didn’t serve herself any water.

Baker: Need me to send over someone from the ambulance crew? Rhodes isn’t busy.

Tripp: I can handle her, just bring me that water.

Baker: I’m sure you can, cowboy ;) I know how much you like the “hands on” part of the job.

Tripp: Quit fucking around and get over here.

Baker: OMW

When I returned my gaze to Rhey, my eyes widened as I watched her sway to the side. If someone could look flushed, eerily pale, and beautiful as fuck all at one time, that was how I would have described her right at this moment.

“Fuck,” I grunted, lunging to her side just as her grip on the pole loosened, her body swaying into my arms.

Annie

“Issheokay?”afamiliar high-pitched, feminine voice was way too close to my head, but I couldn’t muster the energy to open my eyes to look at Hazel. My head throbbed as colors danced across my closed eyelids.

“She will be,” a deep voice responded, fingers tracing across my temple, a cool palm covering my forehead in a way that felt oddly comforting. “We just need to get her to drink a little more.”

“Wha…?” my voice cracked as I tried to speak, my tongue feeling dry and heavy in my mouth.

“Open up, pretty girl, we need to get you rehydrated,” he whispered, and I would have swooned if I hadn’t already.

“Did you just call her pretty girl?” Baker asked, letting out a borderline obnoxious laugh that made my headache worse.

“Shut the fuck up, man. I’m trying to comfort her,” Tripp hissed.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say, cowboy.”

The fingers from my forehead disappeared, and I fought to open my eyes, the canopy of a tent above my head blurring as my eyelids lifted slowly.

“There we go,” Tripp whispered, and I blinked, trying to focus. “Just open your lips so I can get more fluids in you.”

A choking sound from my right drew my attention, and I struggled to focus on Baker standing a few feet away, trying to hold back laughter. Hazel was standing beside him, wringing her hands, and I tried to catalog where I even was.

“If you’re not going to help, go do your job,” Tripp growled. He dragged a wet cloth across my forehead and a cooling sensation followed in its wake.

“I’ll let the Chief know you’re off duty,” he replied, nodding at me before he turned and left what appeared to be a white tent.

“Where am I?” I whispered, wincing as I swallowed.

“We’re in one of the medical tents next to the visitor’s center. You passed out, and we needed to get you out of the sun.”

“How did I even get here?”

A smile pulled across Hazel’s face as she nodded toward the man whose lap my head was currently resting on. “Someonecaught you before you passed out and carried you through the festival. It was quite the sight.”

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