Page 17 of Stuck With the Smokejumper

I take a chip. “Military family. We moved a lot.”

“What do you consider home?”

“Usually wherever I'm working.” There's nothing complicated about the answer. That's been true most of my life.

Reid points toward me with his sandwich. “That's because he owns four things.”

“I own more than four things.”

“Name five.”

“I bought a Bigfoot caller this morning.”

Tessa looks at me. “So where do you go after fire season?”

“Ski patrol.”

Nolan stops eating. “Seriously?”

“Usually.”

“So you jump out of airplanes all summer and ski all winter?”

“Pretty much.”

He looks down at his sandwich. “I chose my career poorly.”

“You spent fifteen minutes swinging back and forth over a lake because you forgot to let go of a rope,” Tessa says.

Nolan points at her. “I thought we were moving past that.”

“We are not.”

Dani looks between Reid and me. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Six years,” I say.

Reid nods. “Longest six years of his life.”

“See what I put up with?”

“You love me.”

“I tolerate you.”

“Same thing.”

Reid steals a handful of my chips.

I should've seen that coming.

It turns out rope swings aren't the crew's only competitive tradition.

Someone finds pool noodles. I don't ask why they brought pool noodles to a mountain lake. I learn soon enough.

“Chicken fight,” Tessa announces.

Ivy is already moving toward Reid.