by BJ Harvey
“Oh, I am, but she’s already getting that drummed into her by Dion and Vin. They’re determined she’ll become the country’s first female president with two gay dads.”
“With you as a role model, I have no doubt she’ll be running the playground and be the leader of the free world in no time,” I say wryly.
“She’s already ruling the house with an iron fist. She talked me into popcorn, sliders, and ice cream.”
I snort because Skye is the biggest junk food addict I know. “I doubt you needed much persuasion.”
“Considering her papa told her to not eat her weight in food, and her papa is a rather formidable force when it comes to his Queen P, it did take a little bit.” She holds her fingers up to indicate how small her resistance was.
“So basically, Penny is a lot like Axel, Harry, Anna, and Anya?” Harry, Anna, and Anya are my sister Abi’s kids, and although the girls are only three months old, all signs are pointing to them joining Penelope in the spoiled princess stakes, if only by my brothers and me.
She laughs. “What does it say about us when we let these cute little kids wrap us around their little fingers?”
“They’re adorable, and they’re also not ours. Therefore we can play the fun uncle and aunty, ply them full of sugar, and leave their parents to deal with the aftermath.”
“That’s so true,” she says. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Well, until we get to the stage when we’re ready to have our own.”
She giggles. “And that’s when our siblings get us back tenfold.”
I smirk. “Yep. Jamie and April are already starting with Harry. They’re having him for a play date next weekend and are planning on taking him to the aquarium and the park. The way Jamie tells it, that kid is going to be so wound up when he gets home, he’s half-expecting Cade to hand him straight back and tell them to keep him for the night.”
“I haven’t had Penny for a sleepover yet, but I’d probably do the same.”
The radio sparks to life with news of a dog attack victim. Skye picks up the call and confirms we’ll take it, and just like that, we seamlessly switch back into work mode. This is one of the reasons why I don’t want to risk screwing up this partnership. If we were to give in to this attraction and take things further, I’d need to know we were truly on the same page before moving forward.
Ten minutes of lights and sirens later, we pull up outside a duplex to a woman waving us down in the middle of the road. We both hop out, and I look around to see if Animal Control is here.
“You called about an animal attack?”
“My son did. It’s not an attack though. It’s just that the dog is rather excitable, and he rushed at my friend Jenny, taking her out at the knees.
Skye and I look at each other, and without saying anything, we know what’s needed and who’s going to do it. Skye stays with the woman while I grab my bag and the gurney. It’s call-outs like this that make me thankful I just passed my paramedic course a month ago. It was something I’d been working on for a while in the background, but with everything going on with Ronnie being pregnant and Bryant and Faith renewing their vows, it was kind of a non-event in our family. Not that I minded since I’ve never been one for huge fanfare. Maybe that comes from being the youngest of five, something my partner and I have in common.
“Okay. And your name?” Skye asks the woman.
“Sonya.”
“Hi, Sonya. I’m Skye, and my partner there is Cohen. Can you show us where Jenny is? We need to make sure she’s safe and assess her.”
“Sure, follow me,” the woman says, tightening her dressing gown and shuffling along the pavement. She moves up the stairs into a two-story brownstone.
I leave the gurney on the front deck and move inside. As I enter the living room behind Skye and Sonya, a loud booming bark stops me in my tracks. I peer around the corner to be met by a giant behemoth resembling a dog, standing guard in front of a woman I presume to be Jenny.
“Hey, Skye. You good?”
“Forrest, stand down,” Jenny says from her position on the floor. Did she just say, Forrest? As in, Gump?
She’s leaning against a couch, her ankle propped up with a throw pillow. As instructed, the Big Foot canine looks to its owner and, with what could only be described as a harrumph, folds his body down next to Jenny, resting its head in her lap with a whine.
Jenny looks up at me with a small pained smile. “Hi. He’s rather protective.” No shit.
“A good thing to have in this day and age,” I say, still frozen in place with my eyes locked on the giant mammal who looks capable of tearing me limb from limb.
She laughs but winces. “Yeah, except when this happens.” She looks from her dog and up to where I’m standing. “He’s not going to bite. He has a menacing bark, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone here to help me.”
Sonya moves out of our way, and with Jenny’s assurance that we’re safe, we move to either side of her.
“Hi Jenny, I’m Cohen, and I’m the paramedic. Skye, here, is my partner, and we’re here to help you.” I nod down to her dog. “So, Forrest here isn’t going to cause us any problems?”
She shakes her head, pain etched in her features. I take a quick look down at her swollen leg. She rubs her pet’s neck and looks up to her neighbor. “Can you take him for the night? I’ll call my brother to come get him tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, Jen. We’ll watch him; you worry about yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Sonya whistles and Forrest lifts his head, nuzzles into Jenny’s stomach, and then stands and moves towards his new dog-sitter for the night.
She looks over at Jenny. “I’ll take him home and then come back over and lock up for you. Don’t worry about a thing.” Jenny’s face crumbles as Sonya and Forrest leave. Skye is there, offering our patient a shoulder as I continue assessing her.
Once I’ve established the only injury is to her leg, Skye and I move into action, immobilizing the limb. Jenny declines pain relief, but when we lift her up to move her to the gurney, she soon changes her mind.
“One question, Jenny?” I ask, wheeling her toward the back of the bus.
“Yes, I named my dog after my favorite movie.”
I chuckle but shake my head. “I got that one already. What I want to know is whether Forrest would’ve come with us if your neighbor wasn’t there.”
Jenny gently grins. “Yeah. There’s no way he would’ve left my side.”
Skye looks across at me and grins. “Kind of like Cohen here. He barely leaves my side, either. Twelve months as partners and he not only lives downstairs from me, he now owns the building.”
Jenny’s eyes dart between us. “And you’re not…?”
“No.”
“Nope,” we say in unison, and it sounds dubious as hell. Technically, it’s not a lie. Not yet, anyway.
We lift her up into the ambulance and lock the wheels, then Skye takes a seat next to her.
Jenny’s eyes drift shut as she slips into a little opioid-induced nap, but not before she slurs one last coherent thought with a wonky grin on her face. “I bet that’ll change.”
Skye looks at me and winks. “One can only hope.”
“We should carpool all the time,” I suggest, my eyes on the road as we pull into Lakeshore Drive, having just left the hospital after transporting Jenny.
Skye chokes around her water bottle, coughing and spluttering. “Say what now?”
“I figure we’re neighbors, and we’d be doing the environment a favor by ride-sharing since we work the same shifts anyway.”
“And it would have nothing to do with saving miles on your baby or keeping her locked up safe and sound in the garage?” she asks with a quirked brow.
“I mean… that is an added bonus.”
Skye is quiet for a while, looking out the window as we head in the direction of the firehouse, even if it’s unlikely we’ll make it there before another call-out comes in. “Do
you think living in the same building and working together is going to be too much?”
“If I thought it would be, I wouldn’t have said yes when Jamie suggested it,” I say with a shrug. “It’s not like we don’t spend time outside of work together already.”
“But… not like this. You’re literally two flights of stairs away.”
“Do you have a problem with it? I didn’t exactly ask before springing it on you.”
“It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything is fine,” she rambles. “I’m just in one of my weird overthinking, worst-case-scenario, the-world-may-end-tomorrow kind of moods.” She waves her hand in the air. “Just run with it, keep me fed and watered, and tell me I look pretty.”
“You’re fucking gorgeous, Skye, and you know that.”
“Well, that’s a bit much, but I’m not gonna stop you.”
“It’s true. And to take it one step further,” I say, leaning in, the smell of her perfume more potent the closer I get, “when you walked into the station tonight, I had to turn around and walk away to stop from becoming the laughing stock of the station and earning a new nickname.” A salacious grin transforms her face.
“That bad, huh?”
“That good. It’s like you purposefully forgot to do up the top button of your shirt just to flash me the blue lace underneath.”
Her eyes dance with mischief, and without even asking, I know it was all for me. She taps her chin with her index finger. “Hmm, I wonder what name you could have had.”
“Egg white,” I say.
“Okay, that’s not what I expected. Why that?”
“Stiff when well beaten.”
Skye barks out a laugh, and I join her. “What about Cocked and Loaded?”
“Or just Cocked.”
“Quick Draw?” Her lips quirk up and said cock twitches to attention. How is it that I’ve been able to control myself around Skye during the past year, but since that kiss and Skye’s declaration that sex with me could just be sex—no complications needed—I can’t get her out of my head? The genie is out of the bottle, and that stubborn bastard refuses to go back inside.
“And I think that’s a sign we should change the subject,” I say.
“Is my partner getting a little frustrated? I think it’s funny how most guys can’t talk about sex with a girl without certain parts of their bodies jumping to attention.”
Pulling to a stop at a red light, I turn to face her and shoot her a wicked grin, deciding to throw caution to the wind and see how she reacts. “I just need to be in the same room as you. Sometimes…” I say, dropping my voice to a rough whisper, “just the thought of you lying on your bed with your hand between your legs has me harder than a rock and threatening to punch a hole in my pants.”
Her eyes flash with heat, her gaze dropping to my lips. I’m thankful for the car behind us honking its horn and the signal turning green; otherwise, it’s likely I may have risked life and limb just to kiss her again.
That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the fact I’ve broken the mood just a little.
Over the past year, I’ve noticed there are moments when Skye is down on herself without even realizing it. Knowing her brothers and how they are with her, there’s no way that it’s come from her family. It’s as if she uses self-deprecating humor as a defense mechanism when she’s off-kilter or uncomfortable.
“Ambulance one-oh-one, chest pain,” the radio calls out before stating the address, cutting through the strained silence.
Skye enters the location into the GPS before looking over her shoulder and shooting me a grin. “No rest for the wicked, huh?” Women have it easy when it comes to being turned on and hiding it.
“Apparently not. Looks like we’re definitely earning our pay tonight.”
She rolls her eyes. “You say that every shift.”
“Not the day ones.”
“You’re such a dork sometimes.”
“That’s what makes me irresistible,” I muse.
“That and your hips.”
My head jerks back against the leather seat. “My hips?”
“Yeah. You’ve got definition around the hip flexors that makes any hot-blooded woman drool upon sight.”
I quirk a brow and give her a quick sideways glance. “Including you?”
“Oh, I don’t drool.”
“Really?”
She leans my way. Her wicked smirk gives me ideas I shouldn’t have while three hours into a twelve-hour shift. “I get drenched.”
God damn. Now that’s a thought I don’t need bouncing around my brain when I can’t do anything about it.
Would it really be so bad to act on our chemistry? To have a purely physical, platonic, no-feelings-needed relationship with great sex and friendship and nothing else? People have been doing it for centuries. Why shouldn’t we?
“I can hear your brain working overtime from here, Cass.”
“I’m not, you know.”
“You’re not thinking?” she says with a laugh. “You do have your moments, but you’re not a complete imbecile. Scotty has a stranglehold on that particular market.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Poor Scotty.”
“So pretty, yet so damn clueless,” Skye muses.
“Me or him?”
“Oh, definitely him. You’re not pretty.”
“I’m not?” I ask, surprised. I’m no GQ model, but I’d like to think I’m at least attractive. To her, at least.
“Nope.”
“What am I then?”
She quirks a brow. “Are you fishing for compliments, partner?”
“Are you winding me up because you get off on it?” I ask, enjoying this free-flowing, easy banter. It’s not like it was strained or forced before the dam was breached, but there’s a lot to be said for not having to watch what you say and saying whatever the hell you want.
I like that I have that with Skye. I’d also hate to lose it.
“No,” she says, reaching over and running her hand from my knee and up my thigh. “I get off on knowing you want to get off too; however you want that to happen.”
“Fuck, Skye. So not the best time to give me a hard-on. I’ve barely got rid of the last one.”
Thankfully, she pulls back. “Raincheck?” the minx murmurs, and fuck if that doesn’t make my dick pulse.
I don’t trust myself to say something when I’m this wound up. I grit my teeth and focus on the road ahead.
Skye sighs, but I know it’s not out of frustration. “We can do whatever you need to do, Co, but the more you overthink, the less time there is for fun, and I’ve always known there’d be a lot of fun to be had between you and I. The couch action and that kiss just proved I was right.”
Fortunately for me, that’s when we reach our destination, and we switch into work mode.
“To be continued then,” I say, relieved to be out of the ambulance and able to quickly readjust myself to ease the pressure below my belt.
One thing is for sure: Skye seems determined to drive me to the brink.
This isn’t something I’m going to be able to avoid or ignore. There’s going to come a time when I’ll have to make a decision whether to risk our friendship—and my physical well-being—for no strings and a hell of a lot of fun.
I need to know I can have the best friend, the partner, and the sex without the last screwing up the other two.
Because that’s not something I’m willing to risk.
Nothing—not even good sex—will ever be worth that.
I can only hope that she doesn’t tempt me enough that I forget it.
8
Skye
The next night is the first weekend day, Marco, Luca, myself, and Gio all have off together, which means a big family lunch at our parents’ house.
Our sister Valentina is a cosmetologist who opened her own day spa six months ago, so her schedule may not be as crazy as the rest of ours is, but she’s still a busy beaver.
As has always been the way at
home, I let myself in, walking straight into Dad’s sanctuary at the front of the house.
I find the man in question ensconced in his leather recliner chair, the room dark, the flat-screen TV on the wall blaring out an English Premier League game—his sport of choice.
“Hey Papa,” I say, bending down and kissing his cheek. He doesn’t tear his eyes from the screen, but he reaches up and holds me close.
“Hey, baby girl. Five minutes and I promise you’ll have my undivided attention.”
I laugh softly. “It’s okay. I’ll go find Mama. It looks like I’m the first one here.”
“You are.”
“Good. Means I can steal some food before everyone else.”
“There’s my girl,” he says with a hearty chuckle.
“Always will be.”
“Until the right man turns your head and proves himself worthy of you.”
I grin. “Hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it won’t.”
Now he does look up at me. “Any man would be a fool not to snap you up. I saw your mother across the tracks at a train station in Florence and knew I had to have her.”
“Five kids later, you’ve definitely achieved that,” I say with a smirk.
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Always the cheeky one.”
“Wonder where I get that from.”
He holds his hands up. “Definitely not me. Now go snack; I’ll be there soon.”
I leave the room and go in search of Mama, finding her in the kitchen, stirring a big pot on the stove. My stomach growls as the smell of her famous meat sauce fills the air.
“Hey Mama,” I say as I put my purse down on the counter. After moving toward her, I kiss her cheek.
She wipes her hands on the apron around her waist and envelops me in a huge hug. “Skye,” she says warmly, a huge smile transforming her face. It turns into a small frown as her gaze roams my features. “You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, Mama.”
“Then you must not be drinking enough water. You look worn out.”
“I’m okay. I promise,” I say, crossing my heart. “Would you like some help?”