Chapter Nine

 

 

 

 

Megan

 

 

 

 

 

“Megan. Wake up.” Someone shook me and I pried my eyes open to meet my sister’s dark blue ones.

“What?”

She sighed and rubbed her face tiredly. “Your alarm has been blaring for like thirty minutes and I can hear it all the way across the apartment. Please make it stop.”

I was suddenly very aware of the beeping going on in my room so I turned over to silent the noise. My eyes widened when I saw the time and I jumped out of bed quickly.

“It’s been going off for an hour. I’m going to be late.”

I ran to my bathroom and turned on the water before grabbing my toothbrush. Kelly came in and sat on the toilet with a small grin on her face.

“Late night at Alex’s?”

“Shu’up,” I said as I scrubbed my teeth vigorously. I spit the toothpaste out and pulled my clothes off so I could get in under the spray.

Kelly’s laughter rang through the bathroom. “It must have been late because I was already in bed.”

I had come home late. I shouldn’t have gone over in the first place because I knew this would happen. They lived too far away for me to leave as late as I had and it made it impossible for me to get a good night’s sleep. I’d come to figure out Simon’s work schedule and I’d known that he would be home.

We’d stayed up until midnight talking about our past relationships. He had told me about his ex-girlfriend, Holly, and how she’d broken up with him after deciding she preferred women instead. To make him feel better after I’d laughed hysterically, I told him about my ex-boyfriend, Daniel, who had slowly stolen my shoes throughout our relationship.

I knew the time I spent with Simon was borderline inappropriate but I’d stopped caring. Alex knew that we’d hang out in the evenings and he didn’t seem to mind so I kept doing it. I had started looking forward to those moments more than I should have. I’d even go downstairs after having sex with Alex, something that was completely messed up but I couldn’t help it. I craved Simon’s friendship like a drug.

I turned off the water and got out of the shower. My sister gave up her teasing as she went to get ready for work and I was forced to leave with my hair wet. I made it to work with five minutes to spare and drank two cups of coffee to wake myself up.

I popped a hot French fry in my mouth during my lunch break as I pulled out of a drive-thru. I normally packed a lunch for work but my late start to the morning had foiled that idea. The greasy food tasted fantastic and the hamburger in my bag smelled delicious. I wasn’t complaining.

I maneuvered my car to the exit of the parking lot and caught sight of a firetruck parked near the driveway. My heart picked up a little when I saw that the side read ‘New Hope Fire Department’. The truck was empty and I saw four men standing near the intersection in their work pants, dark blue shirts, and a mixture of caps and helmets.

Without thinking, I turned my car around and went back to the burger joint I’d just pulled out of. I maneuvered through the drive-thru a second time and ordered four bottles of water and four of their signature lemonades. After I left the line, I pulled back to where the engine was and parked my car. As soon as I put my hand on my door handle, I started to doubt myself. I felt like it was an obviously inappropriate action, but a quick check told me it was ninety-eight degrees outside and I knew they had to be hot. Besides, there wasn’t any guarantee Simon was even there. New Hope had many firefighters and three stations so chances were that he wasn’t one of the four on the corner. After I’d justified my actions enough, I pushed open my door and carefully grabbed both drink carriers.

I walked towards the first guy who stood on the sidewalk near the intersection. He tucked the boot he was holding between his knees so he could pull his helmet off and he used the back of his hand to wipe his sweaty forehead. I stepped closer to him and cleared my throat quietly. His head snapped up and when his brown eyes collided with mine, he instantly grinned.

“Can I help you?”

“I…” That silly feeling amped up a thousand times as I stood there, glancing at the helmet that read ‘Christos’. Finally, I brought my eyes back to his and smiled. “You guys looked hot and I wanted to bring you something to drink.”

“Damn, that’s amazing.” He turned and let out a low whistle, catching the attention of two guys who were across the street. “Hughes, Barthe! Come here a sec!”

The two men crossed the street when they could and came to where we were. All three guys were pretty handsome, each flashing a devastating smile.

“This pretty lady here thought we looked thirsty and brought us something to drink.”

“Damn,” said one of the two newcomers. He wasn’t wearing a helmet like the other two but had on a pair of aviator glasses to hide his eyes. The corners of them crinkled as he smiled at me and took one of the lemonades to hand it to the man next to him. “Awesome. It’s hotter than Satan’s asshole out here. Thank you.”

All three thanked me profusely as they rehydrated and once they all had one of each drink, I glanced up to the fourth man who was still out in the road collecting money in his boot. The first guy, Christos, followed my gaze before looking back at me.

“I can take it to Owens for you, miss. I don’t think he’ll hear me from over here. Not being so close to the freeway.”

When he said Simon’s last name, I swallowed and shook my head slightly. “I can take it to him. It’s no big deal.”

“Okay. Thank you again.” He put his helmet back on and tipped it slightly before I moved away.

I went to the corner of the road and waited for a green light so I could cross. Simon was bent next to a car so he could talk to the driver through the passenger window. I took a moment to appreciate the view as I ran my eyes all over him. He was wearing a navy blue NHFD t-shirt and a matching cap on top of his head. The suspenders to his khaki uniform pants weren’t slipped over his shoulders and instead hung at his waist. As if he could feel my gaze, he glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of me.

Although he was wearing a pair of black sunglasses, our eyes locked and he broke away after a few beats to thank the person in the car. He pushed off the vehicle and slowly walked towards where I was standing.

“Megan.”

I bit my lip slightly before giving him a small smile. “Simon.”

He came to a stop a few feet in front of me and looked me up and down before stopping at my face. The sweep of his eyes made me feel like I was naked instead of in a pair of hot pink scrubs. A grin spread across his lips as he pushed his hat up slightly to wipe his forehead.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was getting lunch and spotted the firetruck.” I gestured to the engine with my head, still holding the lemonade and water in my hand. “I thought you guys might be thirsty.”

Simon looked at the drinks I was holding before reaching a hand up to pull his sunglasses off of his face. He hooked them into his shirt before taking the drinks from me.

“You brought me a drink.”

“Well, I didn’t know you would be with them,” I explained quickly, trying to dispel any stalker-ish assumptions he had about me. I watched as the smile fell from his face slightly at my admission.

“How very neighborly of you.” Simon opened the water and drank the whole bottle in one go. I watched his neck and thought about how even his swallowing was sexy.

“I hoped, though,” I admitted quietly and Simon looked down at me with a puzzled expression.

“What?”

I glanced over at the cars as they passed and shrugged my shoulders. “I hoped you would be here.”

Simon muttered something I couldn’t hear and I felt his fingers grip my chin slightly. He turned my face so I was looking at him and he smiled.

“Thanks, Megs.” He leaned forward and I didn’t have time to worry about the light sheen of sweat covering my face from the overbearing sun. His lips touched my forehead and I let my eyes close as time came to a halt. Such a simple, innocent kiss felt so perfect. So right.

We finally broke apart and I took two steps back to place some distance between us. Simon put his sunglasses back on his face and took a long swig of his lemonade.

“I better get back to work,” I said softly and Simon nodded.

“I better get back to fundraising. I’m doing something wrong because my boot’s not full yet.”

I smirked at him. “Just flash them your dapper smile and they’ll empty their pockets for you.”

“Dapper smile?” His lips turned into a grin and I let out a huff of laughter.

“That one.” Reaching into the pocket of my scrub pants, I grabbed the few bills I’d stuffed in there from lunch. I moved forward and dropped them into the boot before turning to walk away.

“See?” I called over my shoulder. “It’s working already. See ya, Simon.”

I had just stepped off the curb to cross the street when I heard him.

“Bye, Megan.”