Forged by Fire: A Small Town Second Chance Romance

by Cleveland, Eddie

  All my uncertainty dissolves into the night as Luke kisses a quick hot path down my neck and over my collarbone. His lips find my breast and I lie back on the blanket. He follows me, his hand supporting his weight as the other drifts down over my belly and hovers on the top button of my jeans. His blue eyes lock on mine. “Is it still what you want?”

  It takes a bit to find my voice. “It is.” I nod, biting my lip.

  Luke pops the button open and tugs my zipper down. I lift my hips off the blanket, arching my back up, helping him remove my pants. Now I'm exposed, completely naked and ready to surrender to him.

  Even though the heat of the roof is enough to keep us warm, I can't help the little convulsions that quiver through me. The anticipation is too much. I literally hold my breath, waiting, watching, wanting, while he removes his jeans and underwear.

  It feels like an eternity, but I know it can't be more than a few moments. Still, every second is an entire lifetime as Luke tugs the condom free from the wrapper and puts it on. And then it’s as if this bizarre time warp rushes in reverse and everything goes very fast when he lies over me and guides his cock to my entrance.

  “You're so beautiful, do you know that?” Tenderness dances in his eyes. “I love you, Karen.”

  “I love you too. So much.” My voice cracks. My emotions are running high, but I'm ready for this. I want to give myself to Luke fully.

  Completely.

  "Are you ready?" His eyebrows arch with concern.

  I nod and pull him toward me. "I am."

  He pushes the tip to my mound and I tense a bit as I wait for the flash of pain every girl talks about. I know Luke won't go too fast. I trust him. He's a good guy who knows to give me some time to get used to him. Still, I can't help but hold my breath as I wait for the pinch.

  Wah! Wah! Wah!

  "Nononono!" I yelp as the distinctive and ear-piercing sound of the fire alarm rings through the night.

  "Shit, fuck, fucking-shit!" Luke leaps up and tugs the rubber free from his erection.

  There’s no time to watch or wonder. Not when his father is the fire chief. Not when every guy in my entire fucking family is a volunteer firefighter and they respond to every call. Not when we're naked, on the roof of the station with one of the truck ladders perched over the open bay door.

  All I have time for right now is sheer panic.

  3

  Luke

  Karen scrambles up from the blanket and kneels naked in front of me. I refuse to indulge in every teen guy’s fantasy of watching her swallow my dick. At least that’s what I tell myself. The fact that my cock surges even stiffer makes it clear I’m a bad liar.

  “Luke,” she moans and my dick twitches again. I’ve spent literally years dreaming of Karen kneeling, naked and moaning my name. Years. So, of course, when the stars and planets and whatever else finally align and I get this chance, it’s destroyed by the not-so-distant headlights rolling across town toward the firehouse.

  “Oh my God, they’re going to be here any second. Help me grab my clothes. Please!” she pleads and stays crouched down out of sight. I can’t say I blame her. With her father and three older brothers all in the department and all heading this way, I’m surprised she isn’t lying down flat.

  “Just a sec.” I rip through our pile of clothes and toss them this way and that until I find them. I hold up my underwear like a hockey player holding up the Stanley Cup. My triumph is short-lived, though. The trucks are so close now I can hear their tires rolling over the tiny rocks on the old country roads.

  Hopping around the roof, I manage to get my underwear back on. The waistband snaps in place and I grab Karen’s clothes. “Here, hurry!” I drop my voice as the first Ford pickup pulls into the driveway.

  Karen winces as the door slams and her oldest brother, Todd, jumps out with his hands already curled up into huge fists. The Baker boys are known around town for two things: scrap and scrapping.

  The first is the giant heap of metal scrap they grew up in. Their yard has long been the talk of town since Karen’s father, Clyde, somehow jumped through town bylaw loopholes and managed to turn his lawn into a functioning junkyard. There have been many locals who have tried to get the city to shut down the eyesore, complaining about everything from the potential for oil to leak out of the rusty old cars to the fact that someone could get really hurt just by trying to do something as simple as deliver their mail.

  Clyde and his junkyard queen, Candace, have gotten a few tickets here and there, but no one has been willing to push the issue too far. That’s because the second thing the Baker boys are known for is banding together and beating the living daylights out of anyone who does them wrong.

  “What in the fuck is goin’ on here?” Todd scratches his head and stares at the open garage door.

  Within seconds Clyde has joined the group. He’s out of his run-down Chevy and his sons join him as they run inside with the fire trucks. “Is someone tryin’ to rob the department?” I can hear her father.

  “What are we going to do?” Karen is shaking like a leaf in a November rainstorm.

  “I’ll take care of it,” I hiss. But I have no clue what I’m going to do. Besides get the shit kicked out of me by every guy in her family. And somehow, broken bones and internal bleeding just don’t feel like a solid plan.

  “I think someone’s up on the roof,” another one of her brother’s, Kirk, calls out.

  I dive down and scrape my elbows on the gritty concrete, trying to get out of sight.

  “There is!” Joshua Baker yells out. “I’m gonna go grab ‘em.”

  Clang! Clang!

  The metal ladder dings against the side of the building as Joshua starts climbing. My mind is racing. Even though Karen has her clothes on, I’m still just a sitting duck up here in my underwear. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a hard sell to tell them we were just up here to look at stars. And the funny thing is, if this had been literally any other night that we’ve come up here, for years now, that’s exactly what they would’ve caught us doing. It’s just my luck that the first time Karen actually wants to have sex, I’m going to end up on life-support. And the worst part is, I’m going to die a virgin.

  “No, no! Don’t come up here. It’s just me, guys.” Karen shocks me as she leaps up and moves over to the ledge of the roof so her family can see her in plain view.

  “Karen?” her father calls up. “What in the hell are you doin’ up there?”

  “Yeah, and how’d you get the ladder? You don’t have the code for the door,” Todd helpfully points out.

  I wince and stifle my groan as I drop my head to the roof. This is falling apart fast. Part of me is hopeful that the Baker boys will go easy on me. After all, they’ve known me since I was in kindergarten.

  “Is Luke up there with ya? ’Cause if he is, I’m gonna break his goddamned neck!” Clyde calls out.

  Fuck.

  “It’s sixteen-ninety-four.” Karen surprises me. “Honestly, how stupid do you think I am? You think I grew up in a house of firefighters and somehow didn’t pick up on the same code you guys all punch in?” She shakes her head. “Come on.”

  “Well, get your smart-ass down here. We need that ladder. There’s a call, you know.” Clyde is sounding pretty chuffed up, but there’s no way I’m peeking over the edge to check. They seem to buy the whole idea of Karen being up here alone, and the way I figure it, that plan is one where I don’t end up in a body cast, so I’m gonna roll with it.

  “Okay, Dad.” She smiles sweetly and the tight ball in my stomach begins to settle. Karen is the baby of her family. She’s got the guys wrapped around her little finger. Not to mention her mom and older sister. It was a great idea for her to step up and leave me up here.

  I mouth the words, “Thank you,” as she eases off the roof and onto the top of the ladder.

  Slam! Thump!

  The sound of two car doors being flung shut fill the air. I silently pray that this situation blows over, but that fee
ling in my gut is tightening back up and growing by the second. Other cars pull in and familiar faces shuffle past the commotion we’re causing as they get ready to fight a fire. Suddenly the grinding sound of the other bay door fills the air and the faces below are washed in red. A truck pulls out and the sirens blare off into the night.

  “What’s happening? Who is that?”

  Fuck, it’s my father. No mistaking that voice, as much as I wish I were wrong.

  “I dunno, Bob. I’m sorry ’bout this. Karen decided to go hang out on the roof for some reason,” Clyde explains.

  “Isn’t she with Luke?” My mother joins in the confusion.

  On the ladder, Karen starts descending, but I can still see her face clearly. Her eyes are saucers as this whole thing just takes another turn.

  “Naw, it’s just her.” Clyde brushes off the idea and the bristling hairs on the back of my neck start to settle back down.

  “No, now wait a sec. I didn’t see Luke at the spaghetti dinner. Is he sick or something?” Kirk starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

  “Sick? No, he went out with Karen. Didn’t he?” my mother calls up to my girlfriend and she freezes on the ladder.

  “Umm,” Karen sputters.

  “So, that means…” I don’t need to see his face to know the rage that’s flashing across Clyde’s eyes right now. “Karen, I’m only gonna ask you this one more time, is Luke up there? What the hell were you two doing hiding up on the roof together?” I mean, he’s asking the question, but I can hear from the thunderclap of anger in his voice that he knows the answer.

  “Luke? Are you up there?” Mom calls out.

  Jesus, what the hell am I supposed to do? The way I see it, I can either hide like a coward, belly down on the dirty roof, or I can stand up and face them all as a man.

  I stand.

  Now I’m not saying my legs are steady, and I’d like to believe that the shiver that just ran through me is because I’m only in my underwear. But I’m not willing to guarantee it.

  “Is he naked?” Todd squints up at me.

  “Nah, he’s wearing his tighty-whiteys.” Joshua points.

  Even in the dark, I can see the crimson tide crash over Clyde’s face. “I’m gonna kill him! Karen, get out of the goddamned way, he’s a dead man!” Her father rushes to the bottom of the ladder and Karen practically flies back up and leaps onto the roof with me.

  “Dad! No!” she screams down and starts crying.

  Clyde isn’t a little guy. He’s carrying at least a hundred pounds in beer and wings around his belly, so the chances of him cresting the top of this ladder are slim. But the chances of Karen’s three older brothers doing the job for him are pretty good.

  And I don’t like those odds.

  “Dad, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack. Get off the ladder.” Kirk holds his father back.

  I glance over at my jeans and shirt and quickly put them on. I figure if I’m going to the hospital tonight, I want to be wearing more than my fruit of the looms.

  “I’ll kill him. You hear me, boy? You’re dead.” Clyde is cursing me out so much I can’t even make out the rest of what he’s saying.

  “I’m sorry, sir. But I love your daughter. We’re moving to New York together in a few weeks. I mean no disrespect, but we’re not kids anymore.”

  My grand statement doesn’t do much to calm Karen’s father. Now he’s just spitting mad. He can’t even form words anymore. I look down at him, at all of them, and then my stomach sinks as I see my father’s face.

  “You’re going to New York?” He shakes his head slowly. “In a few weeks?”

  Shit.

  “I, we are, yeah.” I rub my hand over the back of my neck. “I was going to tell ya, Dad. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you.” I wish I could disappear. That somehow a strong wind would come pick me up and take me away. Hell, I’m even wishing for a lightning strike to just end me right now. Anything to stop that pain from flashing in my father’s eyes. Anything to take back the way I know I just hurt him now.

  Dad clears his throat. “Clyde, get yourself under control. We’ve got a call to answer. We don’t have a second more to spend on this family drama,” he barks, and Karen’s father stiffens.

  “Karen, Luke, get down here. Kirk, Josh, once they get off the ladder, get it back on the truck. Everyone else, get your gear on and get ready to go.” Dad goes into chief mode and everyone scurries. Even me.

  When my feet hit the pavement, I feel like that little kid again. The one who was way too small to be dressed in his father’s uniforms. The one who would do anything to make his old man proud. This is worse than the time I threw a ball in the house and smashed the television. And I wanted to run away that day because I couldn’t face disappointing my dad.

  I look at him, but he won’t meet my eyes. I can’t be sure, but it looks like he’s tearing up a bit.

  This is so much worse.

  “Dad?”

  He holds up his hand and I clamp my jaw shut. “Just get Karen home safe. I’ll talk to you later.” His voice is tired and worn.

  “Sure thing, Dad.” I hang my head and lace my fingers in with Karen’s. As we head down toward the sidewalk, I look back over my shoulder and see my father. He’s frozen, staring off, looking older than I’ve ever noticed before. He breathes in deep and wipes the heels of his hands over his eyes before heading into the chaotic fire station.

  So much worse.

  4

  Karen

  Two more trucks whizz by us on the street. In the darkness I can't see inside them, but I can feel my father's rage-filled glare as they go by. Once they disappear into the distance, and the sirens die out, the overwhelming silence that defines our small town wraps around us. It’s like a python, squeezing the air from our lungs and strangling out our voices.

  With every step, the distance grows not just between me and the firehouse, but between Luke and me. Even though our fingers are intertwined he feels miles away.

  “Luke?”

  “Hmmm?”

  He doesn't look at me. His eyes are captivated by some distant daydream. He's got that little wrinkle that only grows between his brows when he's super worried. I don't want to ask him the question forming on my lips. For a second I even bite my tongue because I’m not ready to know what he's pondering right now.

  Deep breaths. I gulp them in, like I'm hoping to inhale the bravery I need. Maybe it works. “You haven't changed your mind, have you?” My teeth clamp down on my bottom lip and I frown at the ground.

  “About what?” He still won't meet my eyes.

  “About everything. New York. Living together. About us starting our new lives in the city.”

  He stares off again and I’m looking at an empty shell of Luke. A ghost. If I couldn't feel his fingers threaded between mine, I'd swear I was walking alone. Nerves overtake me. It’s funny how people always describe the feeling as butterflies gently fluttering around inside their stomach. Like something from a blissful field of flowers on a beautiful summer day. That couldn’t be further from how I feel. There are no butterflies. Only cold tendrils of frost, like the ones that creep up over my windshield, warning of the treacherous winter to come.

  I can't take it anymore. Not his silence, and not this dread filling up my insides. “Listen, I know that's not how you wanted to tell your dad, I get that. You think that's how I wanted that to go? I had this whole romantic idea in my head about tonight, about what it was going to be for us, and obviously that failed as hard as it could. But I hope you're not going to let that change our plans because…” I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but it only grows bigger. Tears prick the corners of my eyes and my nose tingles as I try not to cry. “Because, Luke, I need to go. There’s no way I can stay trapped in this town for another year. Some days I look out my bedroom window at all the scrap around me and I feel like I can't even stay here for another ten seconds.”

  “Listen”—his voice is strained—“I
need some time to work this out, okay? Tonight was all fucked-up. I really hurt my dad, Karen. I just need to figure it out.”

  My feet hit the pavement harder. The next thing I know I’m power walking up the road. Luke easily matches my pace. Swirling thoughts make it impossible to think straight. They always come back to the same conclusion. I’ve gotta get out of here.

  My chest is crushing in, anxiety clawing up the back of my throat. Could I put New York off? Tears stream down my face. I have no words. All I can do is shake my head at the thought. My fast-paced walk becomes an all-out sprint. My lungs burn up with each gasp of the cool night air, but I keep running. I need to escape—these feelings, this place, this crushing weight that comes attached to my last name.

  “Where are you going?” Luke matches my pace.

  I can't answer him. All I can do is gulp oxygen and try to outrun this horrible sensation tearing me up inside. The one that's followed me my entire life, like a black shadow that little kids think monsters hide out in. The sinister voice that plays on repeat in my head, fills my mind.

  You’ll never do better.

  You’re disgusting.

  Nothing but a ...

  “Junkyard Rapunzel,” I sob.

  “What? Slow down. Talk to me, babe. Please,” Luke pleads and his voice cuts through the growing noise in my head. Somehow he brings me back. He’s still the same boy who grabbed my blue balloon at the state fair, in grade two, saving it from floating off into the sun. Except now, I'm the balloon.

  I stop short, trying to catch my breath. Luke holds my shoulders, searching my face for answers. "Karen, talk to me."