Tell Me You Love Me Page 2

  “Hey, Jesse.” Rose hands him the water, her cheeks flushing all shades of red. She may not think she’s over that dick of an ex-fiancé of hers, but by the way she looks at the young firemen, I’d say she is definitely over him and dying to get under Jesse. She pushes her red-rimmed glasses up on her nose as she gazes at him, and I have to swallow the “awws” that form in my thoughts.

  “Hey, Rose.” He smiles at her with his trademark lopsided grin and I almost swoon for her. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, with a boyish smile that could make your heart stop and your panties wet. I wonder when these two are going to quit beating around the bush and get a room already.

  “What’s up, Boss?” I ask Owen, the biggest one of all of them. He’s this huge beefy guy, one you’d expect to see on the cover of a fitness magazine. Makes sense considering he is also a part-time personal trainer at a health center. He is a total dork too, but I love him. I just want to hug him like you would a teddy bear. I toss a water his way and he drops it. “You know you have the coordination of a teeballer. What’s up with that?” Owen is built like The Rock and clumsy as hell. “I can’t believe they trust you with a hose.”

  “I can handle my hose just fine, Liz.” He winks at me and I can’t help but laugh.

  “If you weren’t such a meathead, you might find someone to handle it for you,” I tease. I can think of someone who would like that job. Rachel has been crushing on him for months. Not only is he the biggest, but he’s also the oldest and, for some lame reason, he looks at Rachel like she’s a little sister. Once, I heard him whisper to Justin that she’s too young for him. Between him and Molly, I could go crazy with their outdated thoughts on relationships.

  “Damn, Liz. I’m starting to get uncomfortable here. You seem to have a fascination with my dick. First you were talking about my hose and now my meat. What’s next?”

  A snicker catches my attention, and that’s when I notice him. A new guy. And a hot one at that. Maybe the hottest of all four of them. A few inches shorter than Justin, maybe just a bit over six feet. His light brown hair looks finger combed back and his hazel eyes could melt my boy shorts off in a split second. There’s a gentle seriousness about him. He doesn’t smile with that gorgeous mouth of his. His full lips sit in a pout and I take it as a dare to get him to break.

  “Would you prefer I talk about your cock?” I ask the newbie. It usually takes me a while to adjust to the surroundings of this crew of stunning firemen, but when I do, all bets are off. Call me Tootsie; I’m on a roll now.

  He clears his throat and shakes his head. “Excuse me?” His eyes go wide. “No. No thank you. I’d prefer to get to know you better before we talk about my...cock.” His pause makes me smile inside.

  Justin lets out a whooping holler of laughter, slapping his leg and everything. Seriously, it wasn’t that funny but he has all of us laughing now.

  “Ladies, let me introduce you to the newest member of the book club.” Justin is crazy. Ever since he found out what we were doing, he has proclaimed himself and the other guys part of our group. “This is Ryan. He just transferred in and we wanted him to meet our favorite women on the hill. I’ve known him since we were kids, so be nice to him, ladies.”

  Justin goes on to introduce Ryan to each of us. Ryan starts with Molly, taking her hand for a quick neighborly shake. Then, he moves on to Rachel and Rose before stopping in front of me. His gaze traces up and down my body, but he doesn’t look at me with disgust like Jace. It’s a completely different stare, making me feel hot and vulnerable at the same time.

  I notice my heart beat faster at his appraisal of me...of my body. He doesn’t seem repulsed. If anything, he seems attracted. I actually experienced a moment of feeling attractive. Desired. I am sure that look of his is nothing, but this feeling of tingling skin and a warmed heart...I like it.

  And I shouldn’t.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Ryan

  “Nice to meet you, Lizzy.” I know the other guys called her Liz, but with her sweet face, smile, and that sassy mouth, Liz doesn’t do her justice. Yeah, that mouth has me thinking all sorts of other things about her. I take her soft hand in mine and hold onto it a little bit longer than I should.

  “Hey, Ryan. Welcome to the club.” Her eyes linger on mine for a few seconds. She’s the first to look away and I’m happy for it because I don’t know that I could have. I sure didn’t want to let go of her hand. I haven’t felt the stare of a woman in a long time, but I know when one is checking me out, and she definitely was. Not only that, but she likes that I’m looking at her, too. I can tell. I can sense it with her uneven breaths and the flush of her cheeks. That sort of thing does a lot for a man’s ego and I welcome it.

  She’s had me on edge since we first reached the midway point to the top of the hill. I observed each of the women as soon as we walked up and she’s the one who completely held my attention. Her long, deep auburn hair, pulled high in a loose ponytail. Her green eyes, bright and playful. The other women looked too made up and appeared to have spent time at the salon before coming out today. But not Lizzy; she’s so relaxed like she’s ready to head out for a day at the ball field.

  I like that about her.

  And I also liked her talking about my cock, if we’re being honest. Fuck if that doesn’t have me thinking about her mouth again.

  Most women would prefer to use a different word, but cock slides off her tongue like a pro. I glance at her pink lips and instantly my pants tighten, wondering if she can handle more than just the word.

  I grasp the cold water in my hand hoping it will act like an ice-cold shower for my overactive hormones. It’s been longer than I can remember since a woman has had this effect on me.

  “Okay, enough dick talk.” Justin tosses a few strawberries into his mouth. “Drink up, fellas. We gotta hump it.”

  “I thought we were done with the dick talk,” the older one says. I think her name is Molly. “Men, I tell you. It always comes back to your peckers.”

  I shake my head at that one as the rest of the group chuckles. Ain’t that the truth. For most men, it’s been about our junk since the first time we jacked off. Shit, maybe longer. My mom says she’d always catch me sleeping with my hand in my pants from the moment I graduated to big boy pajamas. Her choice of words, not mine. She still loves to tease me about it.

  We toss our bottles into the recycling bin and pull our air packs onto our backs before heading out.

  “’Bye-bye, boys,” Lizzy says. I turn back to steal a look at her again. The other women are chatting with each other, but not her. She’s looking at me, too.

  * * *

  “So what’s up with that?” I ask the guys. They said they had a surprise for me when we left the station and I’m assuming that was it.

  “Just some harmless fun,” Justin answers. “Those girls are like our fan club.” He smiles with a shake of his head. “More than that probably.”

  “What do you mean?” I have a feeling as to exactly what he means and I’m wondering if it involves a certain redhead that caught my attention. “Are you guys sleeping with them?”

  Owen starts laughing. “No way. You’ve got to be kidding.”

  The sun is really pounding down on us now and I can feel the sweat drip down my back the higher we climb up the steep hill. It’s a decent enough workout. It would be better in full gear. With just the air packs, it’s not that hard. I’ll keep doing these hikes on our PT days, but if I’m going to stay in shape according to my standards, I’ll need to run this shit at least twice a day and, maybe, throw in an extra walk for a warm up and cool down.

  “How so, Boss?” I ask before I keep planning my workouts in my head. Owen chuckles at the sound of his nickname. I thought it was funny Lizzy liked to joke with these guys. She could totally hold her own, too.

  This time, Jesse speaks up. “The chicks are fun to hang with. Kinda like the girl friends you had in high school, but would never hook up with because it might get weird. They’re hot,
but we’re not chancing it.” He shakes his head as if the whole idea is taboo and he needs to brush it away as if he never mentioned it.

  “My mom always tells me that the best relationships come from those that start as strong friendships.” It doesn’t mean it’s true, but it’s just what she’s engrained in my head my whole life. It’s not like I’ve tried out the theory. Maybe I should have taken her advice. Lord knows I don’t have a great track record with picking the right women.

  “What the fuck, Ry? Are you some kind of Dr. Phil or something?” Justin laughs off my claim.

  We continue to the top in silence.

  Jesse is the first to take out some more water before we head back down the hill. The others follow so I take that as my cue to start drinking. This is my first time doing PT since I joined the crew so I’m just going with the flow.

  “Are we making another stop on the way back down?” I’m curious if I’ll get to see that spunky chick again.

  “No, man. They are probably getting their feet massaged by now.” Jesse waves me off.

  “What?” I wouldn’t mind giving Lizzy a foot massage. Those cute little toes painted bright pink caught my attention almost immediately and then had me raking my eyes from her ankles, up her calves to... I need to slap myself out of it. Where the hell did that come from?

  “Yeah, they usually go for that mani pedi shit. And then for some cocktails. Those girls crack me up.” Justin smiles before taking a drink. “Gotta love ’em.”

  “I think Rach already had a few,” Owen says. “Molly always spikes their drinks. Rose and Liz might have a sip, but Rachel. She’s something else. She can drink more than most men I know. Could probably out-drink most of the guys down at the house.”

  Rachel did appear to be a little red in the eyes now that I think of it.

  “They all seem pretty cool.” I put the cap back on my water and twist it closed.

  “Not too bad on the eyes either,” Justin adds.

  Yeah, I noticed that. Not that I’m going to say anything.

  “Fuck that, they’re all beautiful,” Owen says, “but Liz would be a total head turner if she dropped some pounds.”

  She had my head turned so I don’t know about that. The pounds didn’t bother me one bit. She had curves in all the right places. Soft curves I could dig into with my big hands. But...I don’t mention that, either.

  “Agh,” Jesse grunts. “Leave Liz alone. She’s perfect the way she is.” This kid must be the softy of the group.

  We all nod and head back down the hill.

  When we pass the resting area, I’m almost disappointed they aren’t there so I can get another eyeful of the redhead.

  * * *

  When we get back to the house, I take my time putting my gear away. By the time I’m done, the guys have settled in for a game of cards. Besides our usual inspections and chores, the morning has been slow, not that we get a lot of calls anyway. This area is pretty quiet compared to my last gig. We mostly get calls from the elderly, not that I’m complaining. It’s a nice break from the long days and nights out in the middle of nowhere fighting wildfires. I can’t say I’ll miss that at all. Oh fuck, who am I kidding? I know I’ll miss it, but home is where I need to be right now.

  “You want to play, newbie?”

  I look up to see a cocky smile on the face of a grunt. Newbie? Who’s he calling newbie? He looks about seventeen—still wet behind the ears like he just finished a fire explorer class at his high school—and he’s calling me out as the new guy?

  A sneer spreads across my face as I take the only empty seat at the table. Across from the arrogant young bastard. Getting a clear view of his face while I take his money will only sweeten the deal.

  “How much is the buy-in?” I reach in my pocket to take out my cash.

  “How much can you afford, newbie?”

  Fuck if I don’t want to reach across the table and show this guy who he’s talking to. I had a good morning. Great even considering I met a gorgeous redhead who I can still picture as if she were standing right in front of me. And now this prick is ruining my mood. He’s a total fucking buzz kill.

  “Watch it, Thompson,” Justin tells him. “Ry isn’t a newbie. He’s been fighting fires since you got your first pubic hair, so shut the fuck up.”

  The rest of the guys hoot and holler. I laugh along with them. Thompson sinks in his chair and doesn’t say shit.

  “You gonna deal, or what?” I ask him, tossing a fifty on the table. That’s how much we played with at my last job so I’m assuming it’s good here. No one questions it. Justin just slides some chips my way.

  “Yeah, let’s get this going here so I can start taking all your money,” Thompson says.

  A quick glance at Justin and the expression on his face tells me this young guy is seriously full of shit. It doesn’t surprise me though. Every house has one. Just like every family has an obnoxious aunt or every street has a nosy neighbor. But this dude...I don’t have time for his games. He better not try my patience.

  We must play for about two hours before our first call comes in. Thompson was out after the first three hands, which made me laugh inside. The dumbass went all-in on a full house with queens. I had aces. Sucks to be him.

  An alarm is going off at the high school so we’ve been called in to clear the area. It’s the weekend so unless I see smoke from the firehouse, I’m assuming some idiot kid pulled the alarm. With all the advances in technology, I can’t believe there is no way to determine if it’s a false alarm or a real one. Hell, I was kicking everyone’s ass at poker and here we are checking out a non-existent fire.

  Just like I suspected, there are no flames to be seen. We run a complete canvas of the building, checking out both the first and second floors. Yet, nothing.

  The trip isn’t a complete loss though. We make a pit stop at the grocery store to pick up some fixings for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch. If I get my way, Thompson will be cooking. And if he can’t cook, he’ll be doing the dishes. On his own. Little shit. I’ve never been a fan of hazing the new guys, no matter how old or young. I might get in on a little harmless joke here and there, but the jackasses who like to talk down to the newbies have always bugged the shit out of me. There’s no reason to be a dick to the new guy. What the hell is the point? To make yourself feel like a badass? I don’t get it. So, when Thompson started acting like a little prick with me, I didn’t say much. But if he keeps pushing my buttons, he’s going to be doing a lot more than cooking dinner. He’s getting on my last nerve.

  * * *

  “I made you breakfast. Come over.” My mom doesn’t even say hello when I answer the phone. She just gives orders.

  “On my way,” I tell her, knowing full well I can’t decline her offer. Not that I would anyway. IHOP doesn’t have shit on her pancakes.

  “See you in a few. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Mom.”

  She lives on the other side of town, but it takes less than twenty minutes to get to her because the morning traffic came and went before my shift was over.

  “That was fast,” Mom calls when I open the front door to her house.

  I make my way into the kitchen, following the scent of melted butter and cinnamon. “I’m hungry.”

  She swats my hand away as I reach past her to steal a pancake off her serving platter. Who needs a plate? I just want to roll up the flapjack and eat it like a sweet tortilla.

  “What are you, a toddler? Get a plate and sit your ass down at the table.”

  Shaking my head at her, I chuckle aloud. “And you? Are you a truck driver? Watch your mouth, young lady.”

  My mom smiles widely, her eyes wrinkled in the corners. “You got me, Ryan. You got me.”

  We both serve ourselves breakfast. I pile five large pancakes high on my plate, smother them in more butter, and even add some fresh strawberries. I set my food on the table before I serve each of us a glass of orange juice.

  “They don’t feed yo
u at the station?” Mom asks, teasing me about my rather large appetite.

  “We eat plenty,” I tell her. “I just went for a run this morning after shift. I was going to go home and make a shake, but this is much better. Thank you.”

  With each taste, I close my eyes savoring every bite. I love my mother’s cooking. It’s one of the things I missed most about being away. Well, besides my mom and little sister.

  “Tell me about your first shift back. How did it go?” she asks.

  I finish chewing before I respond. “It was cool. Good to work with Justin again.”

  “So it’s boring?” Apparently, my mom can still read my expressions.

  “Not entirely. Just slow. The most action we got was hiking up a hill. Otherwise, I would have gone the full shift without working up a sweat.” It’s the truth. Without PT, I’d be climbing the walls, completely bored out of my mind.

  “Maybe you should start a profile on one of those dating sites. You’re a computer geek. I’m sure you can figure it out. You think your life is boring. I need some grandchildren.”

  Oh shit. Here she goes. I love my mom, but get her going on my dating life and the need for me to plant my seed, and we’ll be here all fucking day. I don’t know what her obsession with little chubby babies rolling around on the floor is about.

  “I’m not interested in online dating, Mom.” A smile creeps across my face as I think of the woman I met yesterday. She was real. Not some cyber chick. I wipe the smile away before my mother notices. “Sorry, no cyber babies for you.”

  “Oh really?” She gives me one of those knowing, “Mmm hmms.”

  Shit. She saw my smile.

  “Did you meet someone already, Ryan?” Now, she’s the one to shake her head at me. “You just got home, son. Damn, you work fast.”

  “No, I didn’t meet anyone.” I don’t know why I’m lying. She’ll get it out of me before I finish my last pancake. I take a sip of my orange juice, stalling, hoping she’ll move on. Fat fucking chance.

  “Did you forget I’m your mother? I’ve studied your ass for the last twenty-six years. You can’t hide anything from me,” she says, regurgitating the same lines I’ve heard since I can remember. “You may as well spill it or you’re not getting any apple pie.”