Page 22 of Let it Sizzle
"Yeah," Byron grunts. "Asshole wouldn’t leave her alone. Had to step in before it got ugly."
I clench my teeth so hard my jaw aches. The idea of any man looking at her the way only I’m allowed to look at her makes a dangerous kind of fury rise up in my chest.
Byron doesn’t notice. He’s too busy pacing, too busy ranting like the overprotective big brother he’s always been.
"I just..." He scrubs a hand over his face. "I don’t want her to fall into another mess again, you know? She’s been through enough. That prick in the city did a number on her, and it took her a while to find her footing again. She’s not ready for more shit."
"I know," I say, and my voice is rougher than I mean for it to be.
Byron glances at me, eyes narrowing. "You get it, right? I just want her to have a real chance. A fresh start. No distractions. No drama."
I swallow hard. The guilt tastes sharp and bitter on my tongue.
"Of course," I lie.
Because if Byron ever finds out that I am the biggest goddamn distraction she’s ever had, he’s going to knock my teeth out.
Byron claps me on the back, rough and brotherly. "Knew I could talk to you and you would understand, man. Samira thinks I’m crazy. I just think they don’t understand it’s my job to protect them."
I nod, but it feels like glass grinding in my chest. Because the truth is, I already crossed a line.
I didn’t just touch his sister. I made her mine.
And no matter how many promises I make to myself about waiting, about doing this the right way, there’s a bone-deep, primal part of me that already knows:
I’ll never let her go.
Chapter 7
Serena
I know exactly what I’m doing when I slip into the firehouse tonight.
It’s late enough that the main bay is mostly dark, just a few overhead lights buzzing low, casting long shadows over the trucks polished to a shine. The smell of soap, smoke, and fresh wax clings to the air, and my heart starts hammering like it knows exactly what’s about to happen. The nightshift crew will be upstairs playing cards, and Byron—thank God—has the night off. Levi mentioned he’d be working late tonight, buried under paperwork.
And me?
I couldn’t wait another second.
I clutch the poster tube tighter to my chest as I move down the hallway, nerves and excitement tangling in my stomach. It’s just Levi, I remind myself. Just the man who’s been wrecking me from the inside out ever since he kissed me outside that restaurant and made me realize what it feels like to be wanted by someone who actuallyseesyou. The man who makes me feel safe and wild all at once. The man who makes me want to dream again.
I catch a glimpse of him through the crack of his office door, and my breath stutters out of me in one helpless rush.
He’s hunched over his desk, thick forearms braced against the wood, muscles bunched under his worn Silvertown Hollow Fire Department T-shirt. His head is bowed, dark hair messy likehe’s been dragging his fingers through it all night. His jaw flexes as he flips through a thick stack of reports, frustration radiating off him in waves. He once told me paperwork is the worst part of being Chief. That if he had it his way, he’d rather be running into burning buildings than sitting behind a desk.
And somehow, that only makes me love him more.
Because Levi Mercer isn’t built for sitting still. He’s built for saving. Protecting. Fighting for people when no one else would. And somehow, impossibly, he fights for me too.
I knock softly against the doorframe, voice catching a little in my throat. "Hey," I say, stepping inside the warm glow of his desk lamp. "I’ve got a surprise for you."
Levi looks up, and it’s like flipping a switch.
Every hard line in his body softens, but the heat in his eyes?
That only sharpens.
"Serena Summers," he drawls, leaning back in his chair like he’s settling in to enjoy the view. "Coming into my office late at night with surprises? Sounds a lot like you’re trying to get me fired, sweetheart."
