I smirk and turn my head Luca’s way. “Oh, he gets laid.” I always love when I know something he doesn’t.
Luca’s head jerks my way. “What?”
“Nothing,” I say, quickly changing the subject because the guys in back don’t need to know about Gio’s private life. “So, back to tomorrow night. Is there a special occasion? Or are we just going out because we have two days off and Scotty is a horn dog?”
“It’s ladies’ night,” Scotty yells from behind me.
“Ah. Now I get it. More ladies than men, Scotty included.”
“Trying hard not to curse you again, boss,” the man in question grumbles. He knows it’s in good fun though. We’ve been working together for nine years now. After that long, we all give each other shit. It helps break up the long twenty-four-hour shifts together.
“Right. Good luck with that. I now might make it my mission to piss you off so you do something dumb, then I can take pleasure in the threat of writing you up.”
“You wouldn’t . . .” he gasps. I shrug.
“Who knows?” I try to keep a straight face but lose the fight, and a snicker escapes my lips.
“Such a dick,” Scotty mutters.
“Heard that,” I say. I look over my shoulder and smirk back at him. “Meant you to.”
Rhodes points his arm straight ahead toward the windshield. “Ah, good chat, guys, but see that big plume of smoke right ahead? We kind of need to get there. They’ve called in five engines for this one.”
I look out in front of us, the night sky a muted orange up ahead. Flashing red lights brighten the dark and lead our way.
“Get ready, boys,” I say, turning to look back at the crew. “Looks like we’ve got a big one on our hands.”
Luca slows and brings the engine to a stop at the cordon surrounding the old warehouse building now raging with flames three-stories high. “Let’s go. I’ll check in with Cap and give orders after that. We’re not first here,” I say, looking around to see our ‘rivals’ Firehouse 22 on scene. Their engine lieutenant Nick Pierce is a grade-A asshole, and he doesn’t seem to hide that fact. I really hate deferring to that jerk at a call-out. “It’s not our scene to control but just get ready to go in if needed. Yeah?”
“Yes, boss,” fills the cab, then we all jump into action.
Hours later, I get back to my soggy Portillo’s sandwich.
That’s not to say I don’t inhale it like it was my last meal on earth.
It’s a little bright spot on an otherwise heartbreaking night. Sometimes you’ve just gotta focus on the good to outweigh the bad.
I blame peer pressure.
Not really. After that terrible fire last night, where the bodies of two squatters were found inside, the entire crew needs a big blow-out. And since most of them were already conned into tagging along by Scotty, I won’t pass up the opportunity to let off a bit of steam. Scotty is good at a lot of things even though he might not seem it, but charming his way into a woman’s heart—or pants—is not his strong suit.
I’ve been to many bars and clubs over the years, but this is the first time I’ve been to ladies’ night at Throb. I can see why Scotty wanted to come here. In fact, I would hazard a guess that this isn’t the first time he’s been here for this monthly event.
Earlier in the night, the entire crew was here. After a few hours, my friend Zach left to get back home to his wife and kids, along with a few of the others with families. Now, it’s just Rhodes, Luca, Gio, Skye, Cohen and myself, all standing around two tall tables lining the wall of the dance floor. In front of us, Scotty is moving from one potential victim to the next, introducing himself and trying to get some action. It’s comical.
“I can’t watch anymore,” Rhodes mutters, snorting and shaking his head. “It’s just too sad.” He lifts his chin my way. “Some wingman you are. Aren’t you supposed to be helping the dude get laid?”
My lips tip up into a smile. “You, I could help. Him?” I ask, looking back just in time to see Scotty getting a martini thrown in his face. “Nope. There’s absolutely no chance.”
Skye leans into my side and puts her hand on my arm. “Don’t look now, but your little realtor is in Scotty’s crosshairs.”
My head snaps up and I scan the room for the errant horn dog and his prey. Then I catch sight of her and her blonde friend being accosted by Scotty at a table on the edge of the dancefloor.
I put my beer down on the table and push off the wall. “I’ll be back. It seems wingmen need to stage rescue missions too.”
“For him or for her?” Gio calls out with a laugh.
I grin. “Him, definitely him. He’s gonna get eaten alive.”
“Maybe they’ll eat you instead,” Skye says.
“Or castrate the two of you. They kind of look like bad asses,” Luca muses.
“It might do the women of Chicago a favor if they put Scotty out to pasture,” Rhodes mutters.
“Play nice, Rhodes,” I say, but there’s absolutely no malice in it.
He holds one hand up in the air. “Hey. I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.”
“Hold that thought until I get back.” I slowly maneuver my way through writhing bodies on the dance floor to the other side of the bar where Renee and her friend are glaring daggers at a seemingly clueless Scotty, who has his hands on his hips and a drunken sway going on.
“Ladies. There’s more than enough of the Scottmeister to go around,” he slurs.
“God, no. Scotty,” I say, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, putting him out of his misery because when a guy is so drunk he talks about himself in the third person, that’s when a man who is any friend at all needs to step in. “There’s no one right now who wants a piece of the Scottmeister. You’re drunk, and your beer goggles are definitely leading you down a path you don’t want to travel.”
I lock eyes with Renee, the spark of heat I see there making me stand a little straighter and smile a little brighter. Good to know I wasn’t imagining things the other day.
“Beautiful laaaaaddddiiiieeeessss, have you met my boss man? He’s my lieutennnnant. The big cheese,” he says, puffing his chest up, making me laugh.
Renee’s long, inky hair is swept to one side over her shoulder. Her gleaming white teeth bite into her perfectly shaped ruby-painted lips as her gaze roams down my body and back up again. Tonight, she’s wearing a sexy-as-hell dark lace top and skin-tight pants that cling to her curves in a way to entice and tease—something she’s achieving with ease.
“Lieutenant?” her blond friend asks with a giggle, turning her head to the brunette goddess I can’t look away from. “It’s our lucky night, Renee. Two for the price of one.”
Renee rolls her eyes. “Hayley. It might pay to lay off the cocktails.”
Hayley throws her head back and laughs. “God, Ren. Live a little,” she says, throwing her arm around Renee’s shoulders, drawing my attention to the enticing smooth skin of Renee’s exposed chest. “The least you can do is try to enjoy yourself. Look here,” she says, nodding my way. “This big, buff boss looks right up your alley.”