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“Still. It was really nice of you to get everything sorted out in such a short amount of time.”
“Again, what was I supposed to do?” Parker chuckled. “Also, don’t act so surprised when people want to do nice things for you. You’re a pretty nice guy, Nicholas. You deserve nice things, too.”
Parker nodded toward a corner of the room, where a few boxes of beer were stacked on top of each other. “Oh, and I hope I got the assortment right. I was trying to remember what George was drinking on our snowmobile trip but even if I got it wrong, there should still be plenty to choose from?—”
I interrupted Parker’s words with a kiss, my lips softly pressing against his own.
“Thank you,” I murmured, before kissing him again, just as sweet.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured back, in between our kisses, his arms wrapped around my waist.
For a moment, it felt like the fire station, the impromptu party, the rest of the world disappeared, nothing was more important than being this close to Parker, nothing was more important than pulling him closer into my arms. I didn’t want to break off our connection, even though I knew at any minute the guys were going to start pouring through the cafeteria door, hungrily tearing the lids off the trays and bantering over bottles of beer.
Reluctantly, though, I felt Parker shift his mouth away from mine. “Hey, why’d your boss leave it to you to plan his retirement party, anyway? Shouldn’t that have been a whole station sort of deal?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but suddenly all the right words turned into shards in my throat.
The promotion.
Why was the truth refusing to come out of my mouth, frozen somewhere on my tongue, my lips putting on a full protest? I racked my brain for an answer, and it came to me as I looked down into Parker’s eyes, his expression patient yet expecting me to say something, sooner or later.
The promotion meant being away from Parker.
Permanently.
I knew what it took to run a fire station. I knew George’s long hours and commitment to the team. I knew how much it was going to take out of me, how much time it was going to take up on my calendar, how impossible it would’ve made something like a long-distance relationship?—
Wait.
What the hell was I thinking right now?
A long-distance relationship?
Parker and I hadn’t gone past practical.
So, why the hell was I thinking about how my future promotion was going to affect my non-existent relationship?
“Nicholas?” Parker lightly chuckled as he quirked an eyebrow in my direction. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I lied, trying to push the thoughts that’d crept to the front of my mind all the way to the back. “Sorry. I just got a little lost in thought.”
“P-man!” Tyler came through the cafeteria door, offering Parker a pair of finger-guns. “How’ve you been since the snow?”
“I’ve been pretty good.” Parker returned the finger-guns before he motioned toward the trays of food. “Help yourself, by the way.”
“Whoa. Is this for George’s retirement party?” Tyler was already making his way toward one of the sub trays. “Fuck me. That smells good. Is this from that place on Main Street?”
“Hundred percent.”
“Kiss-ass.” Tyler threw a smirk over at me before he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Hey guys! Come get it while it’s hot!”
“For he’s a jolly good fellow! Which nobody can deny!”
The fire station cafeteria was alive with song, so loud that it was nearly deafening to listen to. I was sitting at one of the corner tables with Parker, Tyler, and a few of the other guys from the station, seemingly too busy with their own conversation to notice what we were saying in ours. I’d been slowly sipping on the same beer since the party had started, wanting to keep my wits about me so I didn’t let anything slip…
So I didn’t end up telling Parker about the promotion before I was ready to.
“This is a damn good party, Nicholas,” Tyler said, after taking another bite of his sub. “I’m surprised you were able to throw it together so fast.”
