[Jake]

It was one hell of an awkwardly silent ride home together last night. Ryan didn’t even acknowledge me when the Uber dropped him off in front of his apartment. I get he’s in shock. He’s in pain. That doesn’t give him the right to blame me for his mom hitting on me.

Talk about being dealt a shit hand. His dad has terminal brain cancer with only months, maybe weeks to live. Instead of his mom staying by her husband’s bedside until his last breath, she’s out picking up men half her age. I get some people don’t handle their grief well, but this can’t be attributed to the fact she’ll soon be a widow. TREX traced the anonymous donations back to half a dozen shell corporations, none that are still in business. If she is D. Mara, she knows how to cover her tracks.

I’m worried about Ryan. What’s going to happen to his family now? What about after his dad passes? That’s a lot to put on him and his brother. I hope TREX steps in and helps. I don’t know what they can do, but anything is better than sitting back and letting one of their own fall apart.

I push my concern for my partner to the back of my mind and refocus on why I have Kayla in the firehouse on a Sunday. It’s time to grant another wish.

“And this is our ladder truck.” I motion to it and swallow my nerves. Why the hell can’t I breathe? This is just another wish I’m granting. We can’t take the fire truck for a spin, but I can definitely give her the ride of her life once we get to the top.

Her head falls back. “How do you get up there?”

I take her hand and lead her around to the rear of the truck, to the ladder. “Want to go up?”

“No.” She shakes her head vehemently and my heart twists. I went through a lot of serious shit, hazing, and all-around mocking from the guys to pull this off. They called me pussy-whipped, and maybe I am. But there’s something about Kayla, something I’ve never found in anyone else, something that has me coming back for more. She’s like a drug to me.

Luckily, Sundays are usually slow. I’m the only one in the firehouse while the rest of the guys on shift make themselves scarce. Unless there’s a call, we have the truck bay to ourselves. I have blankets, pillows, and even flameless candles to set the ambience. This will count as Shannon’s wish to have sex with Kayla in an unexpected area and grant that daily orgasm Kayla and I have gotten used to. It also counts as Mel’s wish for Kayla to go for a ride on a fire truck.

“Why not?”

“I don’t do heights.”

“Would you do me?”

She narrows her eyes. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing.” I shrug to cover my stupid comment.

“Does this have anything to do with one of the wishes you’re supposed to grant?” She glances at the ladder. “Damn, that’s high.”

“Yet you lived on the second floor and had a balcony.”

“I never went out on it.”

Like that makes it make sense. “Why pay extra for something you’re never going to use?”

“Because it’s the best.”

“That makes perfect sense,” I lie. It’s going to take more than this conversation for me to unravel the mystery that is Kayla Riggs. I’m working on it, but she’s a tough riddle to solve.

“You didn’t answer the question. Does this have anything to do with one of the wishes?”

I grin. Did it ever. “Maybe.”

Kayla snaps her gaze to me. “Seriously?”

“If you go up on top with me, I’ll tell you.”

“It has to be Mel. She’s always had a fascination with firemen. That’s why she mentally undresses you every time she sees you.”

“Is that a yes?”

“On one condition.” She grabs the sidebar of the ladder and pulls herself onto the truck. “Tell me the truth. Have you already fulfilled any of their requests?”

“One.”

“The daily orgasm, right?”

How’d she know that? “That’s right.”

“That one has to be Shannon’s.” She takes a step. “She says she’s a happier person because of it and thinks it should be a requirement for everyone.”

“To come once a day?”

She takes another step. “At the very least.”

I push her ass to help her up the last few steps. Once she swings her leg over and lands on her knees, she freezes. I smack her ass and she moves to the side so I can join her on the top.

I freeze as well. When did they do this? Where’d the giant body pillows come from? Those comforters look plush. Like really really plush. This is not what I set up. At least the guys left the flameless candles.

Wait. They’re guys. They wouldn’t think like this. I steal a quick look Kayla’s way and catch her smiling. I can’t believe it. She already knew. “When did you do this?”

She feigns innocence. When I don’t back down, she giggles. “I may have convinced Jimmy to add a few things.”

“Jimmy? You mean Jordan?” I help her to the makeshift bed. “Since when do you call him Jimmy?”

“Jealous?”

“A little, yeah.” A lot, but I play it down. “I’m the only guy at this house I want you calling by his first name.”

“It’s okay to bang all the guys here, just so long as I don’t call them by their first names?”

“Come here.” I grab her and pull her to me. She screams playfully and giggles as I rest my lips against hers. It’s time to tell her. “Yes, this one is Mel’s wish for you.”

“And our daily sex ritual?”

“Shannon’s.”

“Do I even want to know what Ciara asked you to do?”

I shake my head, still unsure how to carry out that one. I don’t want to share her with anyone. “She wants me to invite another guy in to, you know, join us.”

She lifts her head as her eyes round in shock. “She wants me to have a threesome? What did you say to that?”

“I didn’t say anything. I love being with you, Kayla. So much. I don’t think I can share you.”

“Oh, thank God. I was worried you agreed to it.” She pulls me against her body. “Enough talking, Jake. I know it’s not our style, but I don’t want to be in the middle of anything and have the sirens go off.”

I cover her lips with mine. The smell of her fills my senses and intoxicates me. “You’re mine,” I tell her as I nip her lips. “I’m not about to share you with anyone.”

“You won’t have to. I’m yours,” she agrees and bites my shoulder. Sweet Jesus, I love the feel of that. “I don’t want anyone else.”

I can’t stand it and jerk her to me, rolling us so she’s beneath me and I’m between her thighs. I remove her clothes and then mine. Once I sheath my hard erection with a condom, I center the tip and push inside her. I hate moving this fast, but she’s right. We don’t want to be right in the middle of something and get a call. I’ll make it up to her tonight. And tomorrow. And every day after that.

Kayla cries out. “That’s it, Jake. More. Just like that.”

“Tell me this can last forever, baby.” I hold her against my chest. I need to feel her heart beating against mine. I want our skin to meld together, for us to be one. “Be mine forever, Kayla.”

“I’m yours forever, Jake.” She kisses my neck. “Forever.”

I thrust, desperate for that connection I’ve only felt with her. I need to feel her deep inside my soul. I tighten my hold and move faster, harder. I need more. Based on the way she’s lifting her lips to meet mine, she does, too. I slam into her and her body grips me as her orgasm takes over. She cries out. I bury myself inside her as I come. “I love you, Kayla. I. Love. You.” I punctuate my words as I drive into her, lost in my release, lost in her.

Only after I have nothing left do I slow and collapse at her side and pull her to me. Instead of her curling into me, she pushes away. Not again. “What is it?”

“You dropped the L-bomb.” Her voice is shaking as she is almost hyperventilating. She’s lost her color.

“So?”

“Jake, we agreed to no strings. That means no L-bombs.”

I shrug, not ashamed I admitted it. It’s how I feel whether I like it or not. Now I understand why she holds me captive whenever she’s around. Why something as simple as a smile sends my senses into overload. Why I refuse to share her or let her go. I want a future together. I want her in my life forever.

That cool look in her eye has me worried. “Are you saying you don’t love me?”

“We agreed.” She sits up and pulls her knees to her chest. “You can’t do this, not now.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t deal with this,” she snaps and quickly dresses. “I’m in the middle of the biggest final of my life and have all the stress I can take.”

“Why are you fighting this? You know there’s something there.” Did I read all the signs wrong? I would have sworn she felt the same.

“We graduate in two weeks.”

“And we’ll be living together for the summer,” I counter. Why won’t she let herself go? Why hold back? Why deny her own happiness? She reaches for the necklace that isn’t there and an idea comes to me. “Let me get you a new necklace.”

“That necklace was my grandmother’s. She gave it to me when I was seven and told me to hold onto it for her. She died a week later. It was the only thing I really cared about—and it’s the only thing I lost in that stupid fire.”

Shit. I can’t stand the pain I hear in her voice. “Let me get it back for you.”

“It’s gone, Jake. The building has been condemned. They’re probably already demolishing it on the inside.”

“I’m going to find it for you.” I don’t care what it takes. Hell, I’ll call in TREX if I have to. They find anything. I make a mental note to talk to Ryan. He’ll back me on this.

She glances over her shoulder and I suck in a breath when I see tears in her eyes. “Why would you do that? Why go through all this trouble for me?”

“Because, like it or not Kayla, I love you. That’s not going away.”

She closes her eyes. Her tone is cutting as she drives more words to slice into my soul. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

Now I’m pissed. I just poured my heart out to her and she still won’t allow her own feelings out. Am I making a mistake? Am I going to regret this? “What are you so afraid of?”

“I want to go.”

“Not until you tell me why you won’t let yourself go. What’s so bad about love? Is this why you never date? You’re too afraid you’ll actually fall for the guy?”

“I date.”

“Bullshit. You only go after guys you know you can push away. What’s so wrong with being in love?” Jesus, listen to me. I’ve gone from the ultimate player to the poster boy for Hallmark.

She refuses to look at me. I grab my clothes and dress. This is not how I wanted this day to go. It started out great. How the hell did it go from sex on a truck to completely FUBAR’d? It’s like there’s something unknown, something she can’t control, lurking behind a door. Instead of opening the door to face it, she keeps the door closed, like that’ll keep it from coming out. That’ll keep her safe. She’d rather live life never knowing what’s behind that door than take the risk.

It clicks. She’s scared. Terrified. What if she opens the door and it’s something terrible? What if it hurts her? What if she never recovers? “Without risk, there’s no reward.”

She stiffens and glances over her shoulder. The tears in her eyes punch my entire world, and I come undone. I don’t want to be the cause of those tears. Instead of pushing her for answers, I pull her to me and hold her. “Take your time figuring things out. I’m not going anywhere.” When she sobs, I hug her tighter and kiss her forehead. “I took the risk. You’re my reward.”

She sobs harder. Each one is like a strike to my heart, the venom seeping into my veins and slowly killing me. “I’m scared, Jake. Guys like you don’t fall for girls like me.”

I lock her in my gaze. “This guy does.”

Before she can respond, the alarm sounds and the entire bay lights up. Shit! It’s a call. We need to get off the truck before anyone else sees us and I lose my chance at being hired on permanently. Jordan and McElroy know about this, but that’s it. If the captain finds out, I’m fired for sure.

The radio comes to life with the details of the call. “Bainbridge Island Fire Department, be advised. Two-vehicle accident at the intersection of University Drive and Eleventh. One car. One scooter. Casualties reported.”

“Scooter?” Kayla looks at me as she sucks in a breath. “That’s right by Ryan’s apartment. You don’t think…?”

I toss all the blankets and pillows over the side and then the candles before sliding down the ladder, pulling Kayla with me. I scoop up the evidence, fold the candles inside the blankets to kill the lights, and push everything into her arms. “Take this and get over against that wall. Push into the corner and stay.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Get over there. Now!” I can’t have her in anyone’s way. It’s bad enough she’s here at all. I should have found another way to grant Mel’s wish. I fly into my turnout gear just as the rest of the crew comes scrambling in. As we gear up and jump into the trucks, I steal a glance at Kayla. Her eyes are wide as she watches the scene, tears streaming down her pretty face. I wish I could hold her and tell her it’s okay, but I can’t. Not right now. I don’t know if it’s going to be. The stats of cars versus motorcycles are not stacked in favor of the two-wheeler. It’s even worse with scooters.