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Drew strolled over to the cooler and grabbed a bottle of water. He downed it before answering. “Why would I tell you knuckleheads if I did, hmm?”
Luckily, Sophia, Romeo’s wife, chose that moment to bring a large platter of meat outside. Conversation pretty much became nonexistent as everyone focused on the food.
His reprieve didn’t last long, though. About five minutes into the meal, the eating slowed, and the conversation resumed. Of course, his phone call was still at the top of the subject list.
“At least tell us if it was a woman? It was a woman, right?” This time it was Baily who chimed in.
Drew sighed. Not answering would only work the guys up more, but he didn’t want to say too much either. His relationship with Beth, whatever it was, was private. “Yes, it was a woman. Your sister, actually. She wanted to know if I was free tonight.”
Irwin and Romeo laughed. Baily scowled. “Not funny, man.”
“Yeah, it really was,” Romeo said.
With a few well-placed comments, Drew was able to deflect the conversation away from his phone call. He doubted it would last indefinitely, though.
Sure enough, the next day the guys started in with little comments. First it was Baily asking if he needed to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Drew about the birds and the bees. Then it was Romeo with an offer of dating advice. The only one who kept his opinions to himself was Irwin.
“Come on, guys. It was just a call.”
“Yeah, ’cause I go running for privacy when my friends call,” Romeo hollered from the top of the truck.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to make them listen to all your whining,” Drew shouted back.
There was a collective laugh.
Before the guys could get started again with the questioning, the alarm went off and they all abandoned cleaning the rig to respond to a small kitchen fire a couple of blocks from the station. The entire call took a little over an hour. It was enough to get the guys’ minds off Drew’s personal life, but he knew not to get his hopes up. That’s why as soon as they were back at the station, he cleaned his gear as quickly as he could, and then barricaded himself in his office.
Throughout the afternoon, there were knocks on his door from not only his crew, but nearly every one of the guys at the station. It was almost as if they’d developed a rotation and brainstormed excuses to bother him. He wasn’t sure if they were waiting for him to extend an invitation for one of them to come in and talk, or if they were hoping to catch him on the phone again. Either way, they were disappointed. He would answer their question and then send them on their way. After a while, he began thinking of assignments to keep them busy. Once they realized bothering him was getting them more work, the interruptions became less frequent.
When dinnertime rolled around, Drew grabbed his food, and headed back to his office. He wasn’t in the mood to socialize even though he knew doing so would only invite more questions. What he really wanted to do was talk to Beth, but he didn’t think calling her so soon would be a good idea. He didn’t want her to think he was a stalker or anything.
Sleep was a long time coming that night. He’d waited until most of the guys had gone to bed before heading for his assigned cot. Even then, he’d heard a couple of coughs and mumbled words as he made his way to his bed.
Although he wished the guys would let it go, Drew knew that wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t the way things were done. He was acting strange, and they all knew it. Drew was going to have to figure out something to tell them. It would be different if he and Beth were already in a relationship. This friendship of theirs was a little more complicated to explain.
If he and Beth did end up in a relationship, he was sure she’d meet the guys eventually. It was sort of inevitable. He wasn’t worried. Beth could hold her own. Drew had no doubt about that. It was the fear that if his buddies found out what Beth was—what he was—Drew had no idea if it would change how they viewed him.
It ended up being a slow night. They’d been called out a little after one to a possible heart attack. The EMTs had taken the man to the hospital, and then they’d all returned to the station. Nights like that were rare, so Drew counted his blessings.
Five days later, he walked into his apartment around nine with an arm full of groceries. Before leaving for his shift the day before, Drew noticed his refrigerator was disturbingly empty. Granted, he didn’t cook much outside the station—it was only him, after all—but that didn’t mean he wanted to eat peanut butter on stale bread for every meal. Plus, he was off for the next four days, and the last thing he wanted to do was eat frozen dinners the entire time.
Setting the bags down on the counter, he went to work putting everything away. Drew placed a couple of tomatoes on the counter beside a bag of onions and some garlic. One of these days he hoped Beth would let him cook for her. Of course, there were a lot of things Drew was hoping she’d let him do for her.
His thoughts began drifting into X-rated territory when he heard his phone beep. Digging it out of his pocket, he checked the message he’d just received. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it was Beth. He hadn’t heard from her since they’d spoken on the phone the week before, and he hadn’t been able to make it to the club on Saturday. When he hadn’t heard from her again, he’d debated calling her, but had hesitated. He was trying to let her set the pace.
I hope I didn’t cause you any problems with your friends. - Beth
Drew quickly typed out a response.
You didn’t. I was happy you called.
Okay. - Beth
Her reply didn’t give him much to work with, but he wasn’t willing to end their conversation yet—even if it was only via text.
The café is closed today, isn’t it?
Yes. - Beth
