by Amy DeMeritt
Skylar takes the tube of burn cream from Ashton and puts it in her back pocket. With a hand on Ashton’s side, she eases her out of the way so she can get to the sink and wash her hands.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to put this on for you.”
“I can…”
“I’m doing it.”
Ashton shakes her head in amusement and leans against the wall. “You really have been around Gloria too much. You’re getting so bossy.”
Skylar grins at her through the mirror as she rinses the soap off of her hands, and teases, “From the looks of it, you like bossy women.”
“I’m that transparent, huh?”
“It’s kind of funny.” She turns to dry her hands on the hand towel next to the vanity. “You’re this super badass firefighter with the title of lieutenant, but you like the women in your life to tell you what to do.” She walks over to stand in front of Ashton, and as she pulls the tube of cream out of her back pocket, she says, “Drop your arms, Lieutenant, so I can see your chest.”
Ashton quirks an eyebrow with a grin, but she keeps her arms crossed over her bare chest. “You think I’m that easy, huh?”
With a giggling, “Come on,” Skylar grabs Ashton’s sides to try to tickle her, but Ashton’s not ticklish on her sides. She pouts as she stills her hands, leaving them on Ashton’s sides.
“Maybe Gloria hasn’t rubbed off on you as much as I suspected. You gave up too quickly on the verbal battle.”
Ashton lowers her arms and Skylar’s pout flips up into a victorious smile. “Or I just have different tactics to get what I want.”
“What you want?” Ashton looks down at her small perky breasts with hardened pink nipples, then looks up at Skylar’s blushing face. “Yeah, I look pretty good. I can understand your desire.”
Skylar laughs as she hides her reddening face in her hands for a moment, saying, “Oh, my god, I walked right into that one.”
“Yes, you did. But I’ll be a good patient now. Maybe.”
“You’re really funny.”
She unscrews the cap off of the burn cream and squeezes a small grape size amount onto two fingers. She dabs at each red and pink spot, leaving a small amount of cream on each spot, then gently rubs her fingers over Ashton’s neck and chest to spread a glossy white layer over the entire area.
“Does this hurt?”
“No, not really. It’s raw and sensitive, but it’s bearable.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“After Gloria has helped me find an apartment, are we…?” She lightly bites her bottom lip for a moment. Ashton gently lifts her chin to look in her eyes, giving Skylar courage to continue. “I like hanging out with you. I don’t want to go our separate ways after the obligation is over.”
“It’s not an obligation. We’re helping you because we want to. I’m topless and letting you rub your hands all over me. You really think I’d allow this with just anybody?”
With a blushing grin, Skylar corrects her. “I am not rubbing my hands all over you. I don’t think Erin would approve of that.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought about this. Should I be concerned about your intentions right now?” Skylar laughs as she hides her face in her clean hand. “I’m just teasing you. I’ll behave now.”
“Do you flirt with everyone?”
“I could ask you the same thing. You are not exactly innocent in this department, Ms. West.”
“That’s fair. Can I ask you something else?”
She twists the cap back on the burn cream tube and hands it to Ashton as she turns back to the sink to wash her hands.
“You can ask me whatever you want. I can’t guarantee an answer though.”
“What’s the deal with you and Gloria?”
“Ah, that’s a complicated answer. You really ready to go down that twisted maze of nonsense?”
Ashton releases an overwhelmed sort of laugh as she bends down next to Skylar to put the tube back in the first aid kit at her feet. Skylar looks down at her with a grin and nudges her knee with her own.
“Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad. I can tell you love each other – like seriously love each other. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re with Gloria and Erin is just the friend.”
“Ah, yeah, see, that is part of the complexity of our relationship. We didn’t always love each other though. We couldn’t stand each other in the beginning. I met Gloria on a job over six years ago. We were having a really dry summer and restrictions had been mandated on watering lawns, so the grass was very dry and brittle. It was so bad that we had paid for billboards and radio and TV commercials warning the public about barbeques, camp fires, waste burning, and so forth just to try to mitigate some of the fires we knew were going to erupt. Some moron at one of her open houses lit a cigarette with a match and tossed the match in the grass without blowing it out. That little flame spread like a wildfire. It was bad. What made it worse was Gloria Sanchez barking in my ear, trying to tell me how to do my job and how she would not permit me to do my job.”
Both of them laugh a little, and Skylar asks, “What was she trying to tell you that you couldn’t do?”
“The crazy woman was so concerned with flood damage to her client’s house that she was completely oblivious to the fact that the water had to be used to put the fire out or the house would be reduced to ashes and blocks of charcoal. She was trying to tell me where not to aim, as if she knew a single thing about how to control a fire. We had three front lawns and houses on fire and she was just this gorgeous, yet very loud gnat that wouldn’t go away.” Skylar laughs. “I literally had to pick her up and lock her in one of the firetrucks just so I could do my job.”
Skylar laughs hard as she takes Ashton’s hand and leads her to the bedroom. As she pushes her down on the bed and grabs her sports bra, she asks, “How did you end up being friends after that?”
“That took time. I didn’t let her off of the truck till we got back to the firehouse. She followed me and three other women into the locker room and stood right next to me while I showered and dressed, ranting and raving the entire time. And I just listened while I did what I needed to do. But after I was dressed, I picked her up and carried her to my office. Once the door was closed, I let her have it. We screamed back and forth for probably an hour, then I demanded a pause for a lunch break.”
“You had lunch together after all of that?”
“It was the only way to get the woman to chill out.” Skylar laughs again and taps Ashton’s arms. She lifts them in the air, and as Skylar leans in to put her bra on for her, she continues the story. “Gloria is a professional – you know, dresses real nice, always has the beautiful perfect hair and makeup, and I could tell she’s the type of person who could bite her tongue when she’s in public just so she doesn’t cause a scene. So, I took her out to lunch, my treat. And we actually had a pretty nice time. She took my pause on the drama seriously and we didn’t talk about the fire at all. We just got to know each other. Of course, as soon as we were in my truck, she started in on me again, but the tone was different. She grew to respect me and the job I had to do while we were having lunch together.”
Ashton hisses in pain and clenches her jaw and her eyes pinch shut. Skylar pauses as she’s getting the bra down over her shoulders and grabs the back of her head, instinctively pulling Ashton’s head against her stomach to comfort her.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
She takes a deep breath and nods against Skylar’s stomach, saying, “Yeah, just go for it.”
“Keep talking to distract yourself.”
“I drove her back to her car thinking that would be the last time I saw her. But she came to the firehouse the next day to pluck my nerves about the watering ban, as if it was under my authority to lift. Then she came in again the next day to bug me about something else. The third day she showed up, she walked into my office and demanded to know when I was going
to take her out to lunch or dinner again.”
Ashton groans in pain and buries her face in harder against Skylar’s slim stomach. With one more tug on the sides, Skylar gets the bra down over her shoulders, then glides her fingers along the band to the front to make sure the bra is over Ashton’s breasts. Ashton feels Skylar’s abdomen contract and her fingers slightly tremble as they glide over the underside of her small breasts.
With a breathiness in her tone, Skylar asks, “Are you okay? Is it on how you like it?”
She takes a deep steadying breath and lifts her head off of Skylar’s stomach. “It’s perfect, thanks.”
With blushing cheeks, Skylar visibly swallows, and needlessly adjusts the shoulder straps of Ashton’s bra. “You’re welcome. Do you need help with your shirt?”
“That depends on the kind of shirt. I haven’t picked one yet. If it’s a pullover, I’ll need help. If it’s a button-up, I can handle it. If you want to channel Gloria again, she normally hates how I dress myself and makes me change. You can pick if you want.”
“That’s an interesting offer. But I think you should pick so we can see if I like your style. If not, then I’ll channel Gloria and pick for you.”
Ashton smiles as she stands up and playfully pokes Skylar in the belly. “Well played.”
Chapter Fifteen
Outside of the bedroom, Gloria covers her mouth yet again to keep from laughing from the cute conversation between Ashton and Skylar so she can keep eavesdropping undiscovered. She arrived just as Skylar was asking about her and Ashton, and temptation got the better of her. Instead of announcing her arrival, she has been leaning against the wall listening. She wishes she could watch them together – she can hear and sense affection growing between them, but she wants to see it to be able to read their emotions more clearly. She knows Ashton will talk to her about this conversation later when they’re alone, so she wants to be able to help her with whatever questions she might have about Skylar’s intentions or behavior. But she’s just going to have to rely on sound alone.
As Ashton opens the closet with her back to her, Skylar comments, “Your bruise looks worse today. Have you taken any medicine?”
“I actually meant to, but I grabbed a beer instead. I was ‘feeling sorry for myself’ as you said.” She tosses Skylar a smirk over her shoulder. “I should probably take some before we go out. What time is it?”
“A quarter to twelve. I got here a little early.”
“Okay. Gloria should be here soon.” Ashton turns with a shirt held up to her front, and waves a hand, asking, “So, is this hot or not?”
The shirt is a stark-white button-up collar shirt with black buttons and zipper pockets on the breasts.
Skylar grins as she nods and licks her lips to moisten them. “Hot. I like it.”
“Good. This is one of my favorite shirts.”
Skylar takes the shirt from her and presses her fingertip into the top of her chest, gently pushing her back to sit on the bed. “Sit. What happened after Gloria showed up and demanded you take her out again? Was it supposed to be a date?”
“I actually asked her that and she scoffed and said something like, ‘I, date you? I don’t think so. I’m going to be the most important woman in your life, but we’re not going to fuck.’ So, the tone of the relationship was set – we were just friends.”
“Damn,” she laughs, “that sounds kind of harsh and confusing at the same time. So, is she the most important woman in your life?”
Ashton groans as her head droops into her hands as she puts her head between her knees. Skylar quickly kneels in front of her, thinking something is wrong. She grabs her head and pulls her against her chest as she runs her hand through her hair.
“Ash, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“No, it’s not you. It’s… complicated.” She lifts her head to meet Skylar’s pretty light brown eyes, putting their faces only inches apart. “I told you – this is a twisted and messy relationship. I love Gloria above everyone and everything, and everyone knows it. But the thing is, it’s a different kind of love than I have with Erin – so it’s kind of hard to equate the two. My Gloria-complication got in the way of my relationship with Erin before. This is actually our fourth time trying to be a serious couple. All of us have been trying to make changes to tip the scales of power so Gloria isn’t so almighty in my life so Erin and I can stand the test of time or whatever cliché phrase you want to use.”
“She must be hating that. Gloria, I mean.”
Ashton exhales hard and Skylar runs her hand up through the back of Ashton’s hair to comfort her. “It has been interesting. Gloria wants me to be happy. She just doesn’t think anyone is good enough for me so it’s hard for her to loosen the reins. She doesn’t want me to get hurt.”
“I can see that. She really loves you. I’ve never seen someone love another person like she loves you – not even my own parents and they are very happily married. When we were waiting for you to get checked out yesterday, she was so upset and stressed out. She told me about some of the other major fires you’ve been injured in and how she took care of you. She wasn’t bragging though – she was just so scared.”
“Gloria has always been good about taking care of me. She’s wonderful. She’s the one person I know I can always count on for anything at all. She’ll literally stop the planet if I need her. Even though the woman drives me crazy sometimes, she’s way too good for me. It’s funny – I haven’t really thought about that first day we met in a while. We really have come a long way.”
“Is that why she doesn’t want to be with you romantically – she thinks she’s too good for you?”
“What? No, of course not. I think she’s too good for me. She thinks I’m great. Honestly, we’ve talked about the many reasons we don’t think we’d work as a real couple so many times because people get so confused when they see us together. But none of the reasons make any sense except for one. Neither of us want to fuck it up and lose each other. It’s less messy as friends.”
“If you ask me, and I know you didn’t, but if you were to ask me, I’d say that’s a pretty weak reason not to be together. But I know I don’t have all of the same relationship and love experience as either of you have, so I could be completely wrong.”
“No, you’re right, but you’re also forgetting about my occupation. I go into life threatening situations almost daily. That’s a very risky reality for someone to put their heart through. No one wants to give themselves so completely to a person they have such a high probability of losing. Losing the person that you love above all else is beyond painful.”
Feeling too vulnerable, Ashton affectionately pinches Skylar’s chin and stands up. She pulls the shirt off of the hanger, unbuttons the top, and pulls it on. As she’s grabbing the bottom button to match with its hole, Skylar stands and takes the halves of the shirt. She looks searchingly into Ashton’s light gray eyes for a moment, then gently tugs Ashton into her arms and lays her head on Ashton’s strong chest. Ashton embraces her and combs her fingers through Skylar’s silky hair, allowing the side of her thumb to caress her cheek and the side of her neck with each slow pass through.
“Ash?”
“Yeah?”
“I thought you were really happy, but what you just said… It sounds like you’re really lonely. And that makes me feel like I’m going to cry. You are so amazing – you should have everything you want from life.”
Ashton’s eyes tear up and she takes a deep breath as her throat tightens. She kisses the top of Skylar’s head and Skylar tightens her embrace.
“I am happy. I have two incredibly loving women to look after me and spend my life with. I have great friends and colleagues. I have a good life. And I have good reasons to believe it’s only going to get better.”
“You still sound lonely.”
Gloria’s chest tightens as she stands outside of the bedroom and listens. She can hear the strain in Ashton’s voice as she speaks and in the deep way she’
s breathing. She can hear the doubt in her words – she can tell Ashton doesn’t fully believe what she’s saying. Ashton is lonely. Ashton. Is. Lonely. Ashton is hurting. Shit – how is she going to fix this? She thought everything was going great with her reboot with Erin, but Ashton is still lonely. Gloria wants to run into the bedroom and shake the answers out of Ashton so she can make it all better. Why isn’t she saying anything? Why isn’t she denying that she’s lonely?
“Honestly, I think everyone is lonely sometimes.” The sadness in Ashton’s tone breaks Gloria’s heart, causing tears to streak her cheeks. “Even the people with exactly everything and everyone they could possibly want and need.”
“You only think that because you don’t have everything and everyone you want. You’re still waiting and looking for something.”
Ashton lifts Skylar’s head off of her chest to look in her beautiful light brown eyes, feeling extremely impressed with the young woman.
“Where did that come from?”
She smiles as she places a hand on the side of Ashton’s neck – the side that wasn’t scalded by hot coffee yesterday. “It’s just simple logic. Loneliness is a state of mind caused by a sense of being without something or someone you need. If you have exactly everything and everyone you need, you would never experience loneliness.”
“But what if you have exactly what and who you need, but just not in the capacity you need it? For instance, what if you’re stuck on a deserted island with a box full of everything you could possibly need to survive, but you can’t open the box? You have everything you need, but you’ll still die if you can’t figure out how to open the box.”
“The answer is you never did have everything you need. If you put everything in a box you can’t open, then you have a need for a tool or password or something to get into that box. When you truly have everything and everyone you need and want, there won’t be any restrictions to how you have them – you will have them exactly as you need and want.”