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“OKAY ENOUGH,” the chief snapped hotly. “I cannot believe I’m going to say this to three grown men, but here we go: no more magical rats, you cover each other’s butts in a fire, you document what happened at each call, and no more pulling into the Whataburger drive-thru with the firetruck! Park it and go inside – you’ll damage the awning… again!”
Alec pointed at Colton in silent question and made a signal with both hands, pretending to drive a vehicle. Colton shook his head, confused, and pointed at Lance, giving him a thumbs up or a thumbs down signal, asking silently if he’d done it.
Lance shrugged.
All three mouths dropped open in shock and awareness.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Lance retorted. “Banana pudding shakes are back and with the little sprinkles… mmm…”
“And your new probie will be here in two weeks! Do not run this one off again. Am I clear? Colton, can you hide the keys from the lactose-intolerant twerp.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ugh…” Lance groaned. “I forgot how bad the diarrhea and gas was…”
Only to hear the chief make a noise that sounded between a scream and a groan of frustration as he walked off, Alec grinned at Lance.
“Dishes?”
“Heck yeah, baby…”
“Y’all, I’ve been the butt of that prank and it’s not funny.”
“It’s hysterical, and you know it.”
“C’mon Colton…”
“C’mon, nothing… I’m serious. If you want us to do stuff together, you’ve gotta have my back. I was in deep doo-doo for running into that fire and abandoning my station at the truck. Do you know how badly I got reamed before the chief wrote me up for that stunt – and then you left me because of Fievel from ‘An American Tail’?”
“Rat! It was a big ol ‘Ratatouille’-Rat…”
“Spell ‘ratatouille’ and all is forgiven…” Colton mocked.
Lance gave him two middle fingers and walked off as Alec laughed uproariously, only to hear the alarm go off again announcing a motor vehicle accident.
“Let’s go fellas…”
* * *
Before Colton knew it, it was Friday night, and the auction had already been held ‘bartering’ him off. Yeah, from what he heard about the auction, it was a real mess. They had been covering for the other truck while they were paraded onto the auction block, and Olivera spilled the beans the moment they got back.
Apparently, the wily Mrs. Kendall had indeed brought her wallet, bidding on several of them. She’d tried to purchase a date with ‘her sweet Kyle,’ which made him chuckle… and turned Chase’s face white as a ghost before he muttered something and walked off.
Mrs. Kendall bought Chase as her date – and Colton.
“What?”
“Yup!” Austin was grinning, bumping knuckles with Alec and Lance, laughing uproariously. “Mrs. Kendall said she wanted a photo with her ‘main squeeze’ and was extremely verbal about it… to the point that the chief went down into the crowd and pulled the old woman aside, saying something to her. Not sure what he said, but boy, was he upset!”
“Really?”
“Yup – and the second the chief turned his back to walk off, ol’ Mrs. Kendall stuck out her tongue at him… and dropped one ‘G’ on you, Colton.”
“You’re kidding me,” Colton sagged in shock. “The woman spent a thousand dollars to do a picture with me? Why?”
“I’m betting it’s because she wants to get all grabby with you…”
“She’s never like that with me.”
