Page 39 of Calling a Cease-Fire

That one word was all I needed to hear. The phone and I were forgotten. My job was finished.

And I spent the rest of my shift being grateful for how easy that call had been. Because the two that followed were anything but, their outcomes offering much less than the positive feeling I’d had after helping Reid get help for his mom.

Although, any call lately was better than holding our breath every time a call about a fire came in, praying it wasn't another arson. We were all glad to not be dealing with that anymore. After more than a year of that chaos, it seemed to have stopped as suddenly as it started. If only the person responsible could be brought to justice.

After the day I had, I was tempted to reach out to Zack. I kind of liked the way we talked in the rage room. It gave me the chance to voice what I felt without the pressure of having to actually talk it through. Without looking him in the eyes and confessing the hurt I was exorcising through brute force.

But I couldn’t. I needed to start putting space between us.

Before I did something really stupid.

Chapter Fifteen

MIA

A bunch of kids bolted past me, giggling. I wasn’t even sure why I was there. I felt so out of place with all the couples and kids mingling around. But it was the twins’ first birthday since Izzy and Logan had gotten together last summer. And if it was important to Izzy, it was important to me.

“Zack, Zack,” I heard a tiny voice call from behind me. “Come jump with us.”

I turned and squinted toward a large inflatable bounce house, and my jaw dropped open. Was he really climbing into one of those things? With how large he was?

I shook my head. Of course he was. It was Zack.

I found myself inching forward, wanting to get a glimpse. Things had been quiet between us over the last week and a half. He’d sent me a bunch of cat videos, and asked once if I needed another rage room session. But I’d said no, making up some excuse or another to turn him down. Besides those brief exchanges, we hadn’t really interacted or seen each other.

Surprisingly, I’d felt half nervous and half excited at the thought of seeing him again. Which was utterly ridiculous, because I shouldn’t feel any of those things. I should have no opinion on whether he would smile and flirt with me, or act like the other night didn’t happen.

Yet, I couldn’t stop the smile that made its way across my face. He sat in the middle of the bounce house as a bunch of six-year-olds jumped around him, causing him to flop around dramatically. And knowing Zack, he added a little extra flop and flail just to make them laugh even more.

“He’s going to be an amazing dad,” Nicole said, stepping up next to me. “Don’t you think?”

I glanced over at her before looking back at him. He would be a father one day. I knew that without a doubt. And that was exactly why I couldn’t give in to this attraction between us. He should be with someone who could give him the future he was destined for. And that wasn’t going to be me.

The kids climbed out of the inflatable and ran past us. My mouth went dry as Zack folded himself out of the ridiculous thing. The T-shirt he wore stretched taut across his muscular chest, his jeans hugging his thighs perfectly. And as he turned and bent over slightly to adjust the screened opening, those jeans showing off his perfect ass, I think I forgot my name. Every thought in my head was replaced with the sound of his voice calling me that stupid nickname, and the memory of his body pressed against mine as he explored my mouth.

I quickly pushed those thoughts away as he approached, a wide, playful grin on his stupidly handsome face. “You two wanna do a round of bumper cars?”

“Oh. Sounds fun.” Nicole beamed, clapping her hands.

I couldn’t stop the eye roll. God, she was ridiculous. But I realized as they both looked at me expectantly, she was perfect for Zack.

I shook my head. “I’m good.”

I didn’t miss the hint of disappointment that flashed across Zack’s face, but it disappeared just as quickly when Nicole looped her arm through his and pulled him away toward the bumper cars. A weird feeling—that was absolutely not jealousy—spread through me, and I found myself following, stepping into line behind them. Nicole looked back with a raised brow.

I shrugged. “Changed my mind.”

Which surprised me probably more than it did them.

Zack spun and smiled, showing off both of those stupid dimples. “Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run into me with a car?”

“Something like that,” I mumbled as Nicole laughed, grabbing him by the arm again and pulling him forward.

I really wanted to know what the hell was wrong with her. Was she really that oblivious and I just never noticed? Zack didn’t even let the innocent touches she kept initiating last very long, shifting his body so he could disentangle from her and put some space between them. I was half tempted to pull her aside and tell her he just wasn’t into her, and she should take the hint.

I didn’t want to hurt my friend’s feelings, but eventually someone needed to clue her in. Before she wound up embarrassed and even more hurt.

Once everyone was buckled up in their cars, the buzzer rang, and we were moving. I turned and headed forward, quickly intercepting Nicole as she aimed to bump Zack. She smacked into me instead, sending me a glare.