Page 16
Chapter 6
As he and his crew packed up their truck after yet another call, Tucker jogged over to where Will was standing alone, scrolling through his phone. It was the first time in a week that he’d managed to snag his friend alone to try and talk about whatever the weird vibe was between them.
Since the day Cecilia had cornered him in the locker room, Tucker felt like he was getting the cold shoulder from Will, and he didn’t like it. Whatever the issue was, he wanted it out on the table so they could get past it and move on.
“Yo,” he called, getting Will’s attention, barely. Lifting his eyes up from his phone for a split second, Will dropped them again.
“What’s up?”
“Everything straight with you?” Tucker questioned, trying to sort whatever the problem could be out.
“I’m cool.”
“You sure? Cause I’ve been hitting your line lately, and…”
“Hey, Tuck,” Cecilia chose that exact moment to walk past, offering him a wide smile that shrank a bit when she realized he wasn’t alone. “Will.” She nodded, opting to keep it pushing.
The irritated snort Will let out illuminated everything for Tucker perfectly.
“Whatever it is you think is going on between Cece and I,” he began. “Get it out of your head. It’s not like that between us.”
“Man, I don’t give a damn what that girl does or doesn’t do.” Will announced, but Tucker knew it was a lie. His entire demeanor was tense, and his mood had blackened further the minute she walked by.
“Look, bro, it’s on you to sort out however it is you might or might not feel about her, alright? I’m just letting you know that you don’t have to worry about me crossing that line.”
“Heard you.”
“Alright then.”
Telling himself, fuck it, Tucker headed to his truck to roll out with his team. He’d said his peace, and it was up to Will whether he wanted to accept it or not. They seemed to make it back to the station in record time, and he hopped out with his stomach rumbling loud enough to wake the dead.
He’d barely made it into the kitchen to wash his hands before one of his team was hollering his name.
“Aye, Tuck!” Charlie called loudly. “You got a visitor.”
Gritting his teeth, Tucker let out a growl before turning back in the direction that he’d come. Stopping in his tracks as soon as his view was clear, Tucker’s heart thumped a few times when he saw it was Danica standing there.
“Damn,” Wade grunted, walking up next to him. “Who is she? And if you don’t have a claim on her, I swear I do.”
“Back the fuck up,” he barked, getting a laugh out of Wade as he left him standing there to approach her.
“Hi,” she waved nervously, letting go of the plastic container in her hand to give him a nervous wave. “I hope it’s okay for me to be here. I don’t know the protocol for you having visitors at work.”
“It’s all good,” he assured her, discreetly taking her in from head to toe. She was dressed down in a pair of cotton shorts, a fitted shirt, and sneakers. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her bare face was free from any make-up. It blew his mind the way Danica managed to take his breath away effortlessly. “What brings you by?”
“Well, since I was in the area, I thought I might stop past and say hello.”
An involuntary smile crossed his face as he sniffed out her lie. “So you just happened to be passing the fire station with a big ass plastic container of cookies?”
“Yesssss,” she dragged out, twisting her lips to the side. “Is that a crime?”
“No, but in the eyes of God, lying is.”
“Okay, let’s just leave Jesus out of this, okay?”
“I will when you ‘fess up and admit that you just wanted to see me.”
“Fine, whatever, you caught me.” Danica shoved the container in his hands. “You haven’t been responding to me, so I wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”
