The boys and I clanked the rims of our beers together and let out a cheer.

“To saving kids from cars who don’t know any better than to not text and freaking drive,” said Rick.

I let out a dry laugh.

“Works for me,” I said.

I took a sip of my beer, the cool, foamy liquid filling my mouth before I brought it down in a gulp.

The Warsaw, a dive bar on the street and our usual joint, was surprisingly busy. Rock music played on the jukebox and chatter filled the air, broken up by the occasional clack of pool balls slamming into each other. Rick and a couple of the boys were about to head home for their days off, and as per tradition, we all had gone out for a few beers. I was still on call, so drinking was a technically a no-no, but the chief knew how it went.

“That girl’s lucky as hell no one got hurt,” said Stone, leaning forward on the table and wrapping his hands around his beer. “Put that car of hers right through a shop front. And for what? To not have to pull over to send a damn text?”

“No kidding,” said Mike. “She was damn lucky we were there.”

I nodded.

“You guys all did good,” I said. “Everyone was on the ball, and we showed the NYPD just how professional we can be. And that girl’s probably thankful most of all.”

The guys nodded.

“I can’t help but think about just why Chief put you in charge for that run,” said Mike.

“What, you don’t think Ethan was up to it?” asked Stone.

“I’d definitely disagree with that shit,” I said, taking another sip of my beer.

“Nah,” said Mike. “It’s just that the chief is normally so hands-on with the day-to-day stuff. Not like him to stay in the station like that.”

“What’re you saying?” asked Rick. “You think he’s getting soft or something?”

“Not that either,” said Mike, shaking his head. “Just wondering if he’s, you know, starting to think about his exit.”

“Chief’s still up to the job,” said Mike. “He’s just handling the bureaucratic shit so we don’t have to.”

“I don’t know,” said Mike. “I’m not saying he’s lost his step or anything. But he has been talking a lot more about his grandkids, like he’s wondering why he’s not spending the second half of his life with them instead of with a group of roughneck cocks like us.”

“That’s just the kind of shit guys that age talk about,” said Stone. “He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he wasn’t running that station.”

“But he does seem to be keen on giving you more responsibility, Ethan,” said Mike. “Wondering if he’s getting you all good and ready to take over for him.”

“Now that’s some shit I don’t want to think about,” I said. “I did the leadership thing back in the SEALs—you guys know this. I’m happy right where I am.”

“Yeah,” said Mike. “But you still haven’t said just what went down back in the service. You’re all cagey about that shit.”

“That’s for a reason,” I said. “You go through combat a few times and see how eager you are to talk about it.”

“Fine, fine,” said Mike. “I’ve got other shit I’d rather be talking about anyway.”

“Like what?” asked Stone, his eyes on the ass of a passing girl.

“Like that fucking chick that was at the station today. Are you kidding me?”

Big smiles appeared on the boy’s faces at the topic of Miss Parker.

“Goddamn,” said Stone. “Girl had legs for fucking days. You see how she looked in those jeans?”

“And that T-shirt she was wearing,” said Rick. “It took every goddamn bit of restraint I had to not stare right down at those giant tits.”

“Yeah, but she seemed like she was a little more interested in the fucking golden boy here,” said Mike, clapping me hard on the shoulder. “You see those eyes she was making when she was talking to Ethan?”

“Fuck,” said Stone. “When she bit down on her lip I was like, two seconds from jizzing in my fucking pants.”

Mike, Rick, and I all let out a moan of disgust.

“Nice mental image,” I said with a smile. “You sick little freak.”

“What?” said Stone. “Just saying.”

“Anyway,” said Mike. “What’d you two talk about? Tell me you got her number or something.”

“Nope,” I said. “She’s some teacher from one of the public schools. Wants to bring her kids to the station and let ’em take a look around.”

“Sounds like a pain in the ass,” said Mike. “You tell her no?”

“Nah,” I said. “Told her that if she wants to bring the kids, she’s gonna have to do a ride-along first. See the ins and outs of how we do things.”

“Not looking forward to trying to work with a distraction like that on the ladder,” said Stone. “Good thing I’ve got the next couple of days off.”

“Seriously, though, Ethan, my man,” said Mike. “You gotta at least take a shot at hitting that.”

I sat back and took a sip of my beer. Chloe was about as good-looking as they came, that was for damn sure. So good-looking, in fact, just picturing her was enough to get the blood flowing.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“You don’t know?” said Rick, his tone incredulous. “What the hell do you mean you don’t know? You want to go meditate or something and take some time to figure out if you want to see that girl naked?”

“Especially since, you know,” said Mike.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Now you’re just being coy,” I said.

“I heard all about your first year in New York,” he said, a broad smile spreading across his face. “I heard you had a different damn girl every night.”

“And who told you that?” I asked.

Stone raised his hand.

“Come on, Ethan,” he said. “You were about the biggest damn player I’d ever met. I used to joke it’d take the hose from one of the trucks to keep the girls away from you. And now you’re, I don’t know, living some kind of life of celibacy or something.”

“Just because I’m not hooking up with every wannabe model in this town doesn’t mean I’m all chaste and shit,” I said.

Right at that moment, as if on cue, a redhead in a very, very short pair of cutoff shorts sauntered by the table, tossing a look over her shoulder at me as she passed. All the boys at the table locked eyes onto her backside, and I watched them all. Silence hung over us until the girl made her way back to her seat, flashing me one last narrow-eyed glance before turning her attention back to her friends.

“See!” said Mike. “That’s the kind of shit I’m talking about! You could walk over to that girl and point to the nearest closet and she’d have those little shorts of hers kicked off in freaking seconds.”

“You know,” I said. “Just because you have the opportunity to do something doesn’t mean you should.”

“I don’t get it,” said Stone. “I mean, I feel stupid for even asking this, but this isn’t because of that girl you were dating way back when or something, is it?”

I winced at this. He was referring to the girl I’d been dating a while back, before I moved to the city. We had a good run, but we’d split up before things got marriage-serious.

“Why you gotta bring the ex into it, man?” asked Rick, tossing a coaster over at Stone. “You think that’s a fun subject to talk about?”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Been awhile.”

“It’s not fine,” said Stone. “‘Cause I’m thinking you had a nice little rebound thing going on when you moved to New York. And we had some fun too, chasing girls like crazy. But then all of a sudden, this guy decides that the life of a ladies’ man isn’t for him. Damn shame.”

“What’s the deal, Ethan?” asked Mike. “You just not into girls or something anymore? ’Cause if that’s the case I might need to talk to the chief about, uh, getting my own private shower stall or something.”

The boys laughed.

“You wish you could get a piece of ass like Ethan here,” said Rick, reaching over and trying to pinch me on the behind.

I laughed and smacked his hand away.

“No grabass,” I said, then turned back to the subject. “I don’t know. Just not really into dating right now. More interested in just doing what needs to be done at the station.”

I was playing it cool, but that wasn’t the whole story. Stone was right—after the breakup, I’d gone through something of a player phase. Though to be more accurate, it was more like a continuation. I’d been a total douche in high school, hooking up with just about every pretty thing on a pair of long legs there was.

I’d tried to change my player ways, but as soon as I moved back into the city, I was right back at it, heading out with Stone almost every night we weren’t working and adding notch after notch to our bedposts.

Now, it was different. I’d been in a funk, and I couldn’t explain it. But this Chloe girl… She was the first woman in as long as I could remember who I’d even paid more than a second of attention to. She was in my head, and she wouldn’t leave. I couldn’t believe it, but I was looking forward to the ride-along tomorrow, if only because that’s when I’d see her again.

“All right, boys,” I said, finishing my beer and getting out of my seat. “One beer’s my limit when I’m on duty.”

“Yeah,” said Mike. “You’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

“Try not to get too hot for teacher,” said Rick.

Stone got up at the same time as me, heaving his huge body out of his chair.

“Aw,” said Mike, “you gonna walk Ethan back to the station? How sweet.”

Stone rushed over with a speed you wouldn’t expect from a guy his size and put Mike into a headlock.

“OK,” said Stone, “now you gotta say ‘uncle.’”

“Ah, fuck,” said Mike. “Uncle, uncle!”

Stone let him out of the grapple.

“Nah, not walking the big man home,” he said. “I’m actually headed in the other direction.”

We all glanced in the direction he was looking. Sure enough, the redhead was still giving our table the eye. But now she seemed to be more interested in Stone. Made sense—he was the one giving her the time of day.

“I’ll see you boys later,” he said. “But for now I’m gonna start my time off right. Peace, dudes.”

Stone took off with a cocky stride, the redhead’s eyes locked on him all the while. I said good-night to the guys and headed off. My head swam a little from the beer, and the entire walk back was preoccupied with thoughts of Chloe. I couldn’t get that damn girl out of my head, and I was starting to wonder if this little ride-along was just one more example of me biting off more than I could chew.

One way to find out.