I woke up that next morning feeling like a new woman. I wasn’t quite sure why—after all, I’d had a near-death experience the evening before. Maybe it was the sex—who knows. But I knew one thing for sure—I didn’t want to spend the day lounging around Ethan’s apartment when I could be back at work.

I glanced over to the other side of Ethan’s bed and noticed right away that he wasn’t there. The fabric was cool, meaning he’d been gone for some time. A small note on the nightstand caught my attention.

Had to leave for work. Make yourself at home. —E

And that was that. I wasn’t exactly expecting a lovey-dovey note written in elegant calligraphy, but something about what he’d written struck me as terse and a little cold. Still, the memories of last night were still fresh in my mind, and I had a damn class to teach.

I took a quick shower and went through Ethan’s clothes, trying to find something I could steal for work. I ended up with a fitted T-shirt that didn’t look too bad on me, along with some skinny jeans that probably actually worked for me better than they did for him. Ethan didn’t really strike me as the skinny-jeans type, anyway. I made a mental note to stop by one of the thrift stores near the school today to grab a few necessities for my stay at Ethan’s. I didn’t exactly have money for a shopping spree, but I knew I couldn’t very well be wearing his stuff every day – especially his underwear. I strolled into school with a big smile on my face. The students were between classes, so the halls were abuzz with activity. Bethany stood by her classroom door, a shocked expression on her face when as she realized it was me.

“Whoa,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I teach here, remember?” I said.

“Yeah, but we all heard about what happened. Aren’t you…I don’t know, shaken up about everything?”

“I mean, yeah,” I said. “But I’m fine, you know, physically, and what good am I going to be sitting around Ethan’s apartment doing nothing? I’d feel lazy as hell.”

My eyes went wide as I realized the little bit of info that I’d let slip. And Bethany seemed just a shocked.

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Did you just say you’re staying at Ethan’s place? That fireman?”

I’d just bitten off more than I could chew. Before I could say anything, however, a shrill chime sounded through the halls—saved by the bell.

“We can talk about it after school,” I said.

“We’d better,” she said, an eager smile on her face.

With that, I headed to my class. A frumpy, middle-aged woman stood at the front of the room, ready to pop in a DVD and let that do the teaching for the day. I told her who I was, and that I’d be finishing up the school day. She shrugged and headed off.

The rest of the classes went by like any other day. The fire from last night already seemed like a distant memory. As the final bell rang and the kids said their goodbyes and filed out of the room, I tried to figure out just what it was that was making me feel like I was lighter than air, despite everything that had happened.

Then, it hit me: It was Ethan.

I was as giddy as one of my students just thinking about him. But I was a grown woman, and the idea of feeling head over heels was something that I’d just assumed I’d matured out of. Puppy love was for kids, not for women who’d had their share of relationships.

But there I was, unable to stop thinking about the guy. I was homeless, without a single possession to my name, and I was over the damn moon. It made me worry if I was losing my mind or something.

Bethany and Katelyn were all over me as soon as classes ended for the day. They hurried me out of the building and to the little wine bar on the corner where we often went for drinks to unwind after long days.

“Spill it,” said Bethany, her eyes flashing with excitement.

“Where do you want me to start?” I asked. “The part when I woke up in a smoke-filled apartment? Or the part where I thought I was going to die?”

Katelyn waved her hand through the air.

“You’re fine, right?” she asked.

I looked myself over, as though I might discover some major burn or something that had gone unnoticed. “Reasonably sure,” I said.

“Then you can start with the part where Ethan came into your apartment and saved you,” said Bethany. “I think that’d be a lovely place to start.”

“There really isn’t much to say,” I told them. “It was all so…dreamlike.”

I gave them the broad details of the evening, stopping as I got to the part where I arrived at Ethan’s apartment.

“Then, um, you know,” I said. “Things got kind of sexy.”

The girls’ eyes went wide with disbelief.

“That’s all you’re going to give us?” Katelyn asked. “Come on!”

“I mean, the sex was great—don’t get me wrong,” I said, my eyes on the glass of ruby-red wine in front of me. “But it’s…I don’t know. I feel like I’m falling hard for the guy, like I’m losing control of myself or something.”

“And what,” said Bethany, “you’re finding something wrong with this?”

“I don’t know. Shouldn’t I be more shaken up about what happened? I mean, insurance is going to cover all the stuff I lost, but I’m...almost carefree.”

“It’s called ‘being in love,’ Chloe,” said Katelyn. “You’ve gone on so many bad dates and dealt with so many loser boyfriends that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to actually be with a guy worth a damn.”

“And we all heard about what he did for Micah at the fire station,” said Bethany. “He’s just…incredible.”

They let out dreamy sighs, like they were a couple of girls out of the fifties swooning over some bad boy on a motorcycle.

“I’m just wondering if I’m going to snap out of it, you know?” I said. “Like maybe the smoke got to my head and I’m just numb about everything.”

“You just need to enjoy it,” said Katelyn. “Men like this don’t come around every day. And if you’re not careful, you’re going to think yourself out of a guy who might be the catch of a lifetime.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. We shared another glass of wine, and then it was time to think about heading home. I said my goodbyes and was soon walking alone toward Ethan’s apartment

And as I considered my destination, I realized just what it was that’d been making me feel so out of sorts. I had been saved by Ethan, was staying at Ethan’s place, and was being taken care of by him. I was totally under his control. I’d always prided myself on being the independent type, and here I was relying on a damn man to do everything for me.

Grim determination on my mind, I knew that I had to do something to feel like I was in control again. But what that might be, I needed to find out.