Page 19 of Set My Soul Ablaze

“You too.”

I stepped back as she opened the car door and got inside. She got comfortable and adjusted her mirror before tapping her horn and pulling off. I watched her merge onto the main road before I went back inside the station.

“Flame, you feeling her?”

“Flame’s got a crush!”

“Flame and Mali, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

I ignored the crew as I walked over to the couch and plopped down. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt drawn to her. I wanted to be near her, be with her, be her protector, be her person, be her friend. It might have been crazy, but I didn’t care. I’d do what I had to do to make sure the good days outweighed the bad in her life.

“You thought we wouldn’t pry?” Juliet asked as she plopped on the couch beside me.

Connor sat on the other side of me. “Exactly. Spill the beans. What’s that all about?”

“Y’all get on my nerves. You know that, right?” I asked rhetorically.

“You know we never cared. Are you going to pursue something with her?” Juliet asked.

“You know, in all my years here, I’ve never seen you mention your dating life,” Connor admitted.

“I don’t have a dating life. My focus is my family.”

“So you didn’t get her number?” Juliet inquired.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

She squealed. “I knew it! She fits you. The way y’all looked at each other at the table, I could tell there are feelings there that y’all should explore.”

“You sound crazy. We saved her life. What you saw in her eyes was appreciation. She’s only grateful for me being the one to save her and walk through the aftermath with her.”

“You can tell yourself that lie all you want. We were all there that day. I could tell then there was a spark between y’all.” Connor shook his head.

“Look, I will not force you to step out on faith and make her your girlfriend or anything, but don’t close yourself off to the idea,” Juliet advised.

I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Two weekslater

“You can do this, Mali.”

I sat in my car for almost an hour, prepping myself to return to work. It had been two weeks since I’d gone to the fire station and spoke to Flame. The tour was so cool. He showed me the inside of the fire truck, the different rooms in the fire station, and his locker with his clean uniform.

I couldn’t lie to myself. Flame was attractive. He had the slim yet muscular vibe. He wasn’t bulky or extremely big, but he could lift me up and carry me out of buildings, so he was strong enough for me.

“Focus.”

Since the tour, I constantly went back to that day. Flame infiltrated my thoughts multiple times a day. I caught myself thinking about him in uniform, in the slacks, and naked—a sight I hadn’t seen yet, but my imagination loved to run wild.

Even though he’d given me his number, I still didn’t message him. I didn’t want to use him as a vice to get over Juda. I needed to work through the breakup and not get under a new man to forget about the old one.

After another fifteen minutes of stalling, I finally pulled myself out of the driver’s seat and made my way up the path to the front door. I pulled the door open and walked in.

“Surprise!”

I held my chest as my employees and best friend shouted at me. My eyes instantly watered as I looked around at them.

There was a welcome back sign with an array of signatures from humans and fur babies. There was a gift basket with all my favorite snacks, a bottle of wine, and custom wine glasses. There were also a dozen cards with kind words from the community.