Page 9 of Fire Me Up
His eyes darkened slightly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
I nearly walked into the doorframe.
I found Liv in the FRMC’s front office, sorting through a stack of invoices with the intense focus she brought to everything. She didn’t look up when I entered, just held up one finger in the universal sign for “wait a minute.” Bacon shifted restlessly in his carrier, probably plotting his next shop demolition. My thoughtsdrifted back to Dylan and how close I’d come to straight-up propositioning him with that “magic hands” comment. Jesus, what was wrong with me? I’d never been this awkward around anyone before—not even Cassie Martin in sixth grade, when I’d tried to impress her by eating six hot peppers and ended up with a nosebleed.
“What’s up?” Liv finally looked up, her expression shifting from concentration to concern. “You look weird. Did something happen in class?”
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “I mean, Bacon knocked over some stuff again, but that’s normal.”
She narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it. “Uh-huh.”
“Want to grab lunch?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. “I thought we could try the food trucks. Lena’s is out there, right? It’s All Greek to Me?”
“I could eat.”
“Lena is in my group in class, and we’ve been talking. She’s cool.”
“Cool. Isn’t she like eighty?”
“That’s agism, Liv.”
Liv grinned, grabbing her jacket. “Fine, let’s go. I’m craving me some Egg Me On.”
We headed outside, the October air crisp and refreshing after hours in the shop. I let Bacon out of his carrier, and he trotted beside us on his leash, investigating every patch of grass with intense feline scrutiny.
“I really like Lena,” I said as we walked toward the loading dock area where the food trucks were parked. “She reminds me of Abuela, you know? There’s something about having that... I don’t know, grandmotherly energy around.”
Liv nodded, her expression softening. “Yeah, I get that. She’s adopted half the people at the Collective already. Always bringing in cookies and telling everyone they’re too skinny.”
“It just made me realize...” I hesitated, not sure how to articulate the feeling that had been growing since I’d met Lena. “We don’t have that anymore, do we? That older generation looking out for us. Since Mom and Dad died, and then Abuela last year... It’s just the three of us now.”
Liv linked her arm through mine, careful of my injured shoulder. “I think about that too, sometimes. But I’m glad we have each other. That’s part of the reason Marisol and I are tolerating the mess you make of our couch.”
“I’m the oldest now, in the family.”
“Okay, oh great and wise elder, lead us to lunch!”
I laughed. “Shut up. It’s just that I feel like I should be the one taking care of you and Marisol, but you guys are doing more to help me. I’m barely keeping my own shit together most days.”
“You don’t have to be the parent, Gael. We’re all adults.” Liv squeezed my arm gently. “But I get it. It’s nice having someone like Lena around who makes you feel... taken care of, I guess. Maybe the three of us should do more to be that for each other.”
We reached the loading dock, where three food trucks were parked in a semicircle around a seating area. Egg Me On’s bright yellow-orange sign was tempting, but I headed for Lena’s grandson’s blue and white truck.
“I’m gonna grab a breakfast sandwich,” Liv said, pointing to Egg Me On. “Meet you at that table?”
I nodded, heading toward Lena’s truck with Bacon in tow. The line wasn’t long—just a couple of people ahead of me. I checked my phone while waiting, trying not to think about how spectacularly I’d embarrassed myself in class today. Between my obvious crush on Dylan and my inability to focus on anything he was teaching, I was probably his worst student ever.
“Gael! You come to try my food?” Lena’s face appeared in the service window, her gray hair escaping from its bun as usual.
I grinned up at her. “Couldn’t resist after hearing you talk about those gyros all class.”
“Good boy. You wait, I make a special for you.” She disappeared back into the truck, leaving me standing in line with Bacon, who’d found a particularly interesting patch of grass to sniff.
“Special treatment already? I’ve been coming here for months and she still charges me full price.”
I turned at the familiar voice, my heart rate immediately doubling. Dylan stood behind me, hands in his pockets, that same crooked smile on his face that made my stomach flip.
“Firefighter privilege,” I managed, hoping I sounded normal and not like I’d been fantasizing about him for the past two days straight. “We’re very persuasive.”
