Page 102 of Chasing Smoke

“And then…”

“Then I fell for her. I didn’t plan it. Didn’t want it to happen for obvious reasons. But it did. And here we are.”

The room goes quiet. Gonzalez shifts in his chair, and Fleming glances at me.

“I just needed to hear it from you,” Ramsey says. “That’s all.”

I nod. “You heard it.”

Russo runs a hand over his jaw. “Ansel, Caleb was our brother.”

“Mine too. For years before we were firefighter brothers.”

“He’s not here to have an opinion about it, so we have to have one for him.”

“Fair enough.”

“Some of the guys aren’t gonna be okay with this, you gotta know that.” He crosses his arms again.

“I do.”

“Some of them are gonna say stuff. Already are.”

I step all the way over to the table now and lean my weight on the back of a chair. “What are they saying?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just know it’s out there. But also know that when it’s said around us, we’ll be shutting it down. All four of us.”

I look at Fleming, who hasn’t said anything at all, and he nods and says, “All four of us.”

Something in my chest loosens. Even if everyone thought I was a douchebag who was messing around with Collins when Caleb was alive, I wouldn’t have backed away from her, but it feels good to know that the guys I’m closest with at the station have my back and believe in me.

“Thank you.” My voice comes out hoarse.

“Don’t thank us.” Russo stands from the table. “Just don’t break that poor girl’s heart. She’s been through enough. If you do, you’re gonna have four guys on your ass.”

Gonzalez gets up and clamps me on the shoulder before he leaves the room.

Ramsey comes over. “For what it’s worth, Russo’s wife said she looked really happy at Halloran’s. Said she had a smile she hadn’t seen in a long time.”

My chest swells with an unnamed emotion. “Yeah, she laughs now.”

He smiles and continues out of the room.

Fleming remains at the table, looking at his phone again. “Told you they’d notice.”

I shake my head at him. “You want an award?”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

I arch an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Why do you think Russo came in here all calm? I ran interference for you beforehand.”

I give him a small smile. I want to tell him thanks, but he’d hate that. So I just nod. He nods back and picks his phone back up.

A half hour later, I’m outside, sweeping a bunch of the shit the snow left behind off the drive, when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

I don’t know the number, but it’s a Portland area code. Panic rushes through me. “Hello?”