Page 16 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
Andrew snorted.
“You asked Morgan out?” Cole asked, coming near where Andrew pretended great interest in the video game. “How did I miss that?”
“It was when you took Greyson out in the fire truck,” Ben supplied.
“And when you were eavesdropping but seem to have missed the part where I asked her just as friends,” Andrew added.
Ben gave him a knowing look. “Man carries on a conversation in my house, that’s not me eavesdropping.”
“Since when is the fire hall your house?”
“Isn’t it yours?” Ben questioned.
“You have a point,” Andrew conceded. “I’m here almost as much as I am my place, and you guys and Jules are family.”
“Don’t let him send you off on a wild rabbit chase while he completely avoids fessing up to having asked Morgan out,” Cole warned, kicking the leg rest out on the chair he’d settled into to work on a crossword puzzle.
“Is that all you want? A confession I asked her out?” Andrew shrugged. “I asked her out as friends.”
“And she said no,” Ben finished. “Our boy was cracking me up with all his lines. Never known him to get shot down before a woman even got to know him. Usually, they’re asking him out rather than the other way around.”
“Even if I had been asking her out on a date, which I wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve been told no.” Although it had been a few years since the previous time that had happened. “It’s unlikely to be the last.”
It was the one that bothered him, though. For so many reasons. Greyson’s clear loneliness and desire to be a firefighter called to him, made him want to reach out to the kid. And, Morgan, well, he’d like to be her friend, too.
“Can’t blame her for saying no to the likes of you,” Cole teased, grinning, then his expression turning more serious, he added, “But to be fair, from what Sophie has told me, Morgan isn’t interested in dating anyone.”
Andrew was having more and more difficulty focusing on the video game. He wanted to pick Cole’s brain and learn everything he could about Morgan and Greyson.
“Why’s that?” Ben replied, saving Andrew from having to be the one to ask.
“She’s had a rough time the past couple of years. First, she lost her husband. Then the hospital where she’d been working downsized this past summer and she lost her job. Sophie says Morgan felt overwhelmed, and that’s why she moved to Pine Hill—she thought being close to family would help.”
“That is rough,” Ben admitted, then cut his gaze to Andrew. “Sounds as if you’re wasting your time with that one.”
Had she said yes, spending the day with Morgan and Greyson wouldn’t have been wasted time. Of that, he was certain.
“She’s not really your type, anyway,” Cole pointed out.
“I have a type of friend?” He wasn’t ready to give up yet on their being friends. Especially not now that he knew she needed his help to move past her grief and start living life fully again. Couldn’t she see that he was someone safe? Neither of them were looking for a relationship, so he could help her and Greyson heal and have fun until she was ready to find the right person to settle down with. Although, the thought of her with someone else didn’t sit well and he took out a line of aliens to appease his frustration with the entire situation.
Cole eyed him over his folded back crossword puzzle book. “Give her time. Maybe she’ll see things differently after she gets settled into Pine Hill life.”
“Like you did with Sophie?” he asked, hoping to put his friend on the defense rather than the offense. Andrew much preferred to deliver the punches than to take them.
“That was a completely different situation. Sophie deserved better than me. Still does. But I’m a lucky man because she loves me, anyway.”
Andrew disagreed. Sophie was lucky to have his pal’s heart. Still, he made a gagging noise, then elbowed Ben. “Reach over and divest that syrupy sap of his man card, please.”
Cole harrumphed. “Man card or no, I can take your sorry self.”
“In your dreams,” Andrew countered, although he wouldn’t want to put it to the test. Cole had been a highly trained member of a special forces unit during his Marine days. Andrew had taken years of Ishin Ryu Ju-Jitsu, but he’d never used his skills in real life or death combat, not the way Cole had. Based upon the nightmares his buddy used to have when he would sleep at the station, Andrew knew Cole had seen and done things he’d rather forget.
“By the way, you have two weeks to work on your next comedy routine,” Cole added, causing Andrew to look his way again.
“Watch it!” Ben warned as an alien sideswiped him on the video screen.
“Comedy routine?” Andrew asked, his gaze back on the monitor but his attention divided. At the rate he was paying attention to the game, earth was doomed.
