Smoke and Fire_A MFM Firefighter Romance

by Kelli Callahan

  “That bastard is going to prison for a long time.” Chase walked up to me in the hospital and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “Thank you for helping me get the courage to do this.” I leaned back against him.

  “It was all you.” Trent joined our embrace. “We just gave you the support you needed to get here.”

  “Now it’s over.” I leaned back and smiled. “We can go home and figure out where we go from here.”

  “The bedroom.” Trent squeezed my ass and chuckled. “Well okay, I guess we have to see your parents tomorrow.”

  “Hey, we got a hotel room—we’re used to staying up all night.” He smiled and nodded. “No reason to wait until we get back to Chicago.”

  Epilogue

  Kayla

  Eight months later

  “You know you’re not supposed to buy your own birthday presents right?” Trent held up the oval paddle that I unwrapped from my stack of gifts.

  “Well, were you going to buy it?” I winked at him.

  “No, I guess not.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Shame on us for wanting to buy our girl jewelry.”

  “Jewelry?” I looked at the stack. “I don’t see any…”

  “It’s right here.” Chase put his arms around my neck and I saw a small black box in his hand.

  “What is this?” I took the box and pushed it open to reveal a gorgeous diamond solitaire.

  “I know we can’t get married in the traditional sense.” Trent put down the paddle and knelt in front of me.

  “But we still want to make you our wife.” Chase walked around the couch and knelt next to Trent.

  “Will you marry us?” They spoke in unison—so much so that I could tell it was rehearsed.

  “Oh my gosh.” I took the diamond out of the box and smiled. “Of course I’ll marry you—and you.”

  “She said yes!” Trent grinned and turned towards the table. “But now I guess we gotta paddle her.”

  “And here I thought we were doing just fine with our hands.” Chase took the paddle and slapped it against his palm. “Damn, that’s going to sting a little bit.”

  “How else am I going to get a good birthday spanking? You don’t have many years to work with here.” I giggled and winked at them.

  “Oh, but perhaps you’re forgetting there are two of us.” Trent looked at Chase. “That means two birthday spankings, right?”

  “I think it does.” Chase nodded and held up the paddle. “You might regret buying this after all.”

  “Nah, I’ll just keep my panties on.” I grinned from ear to ear.

  “Oh, not a chance.” Chase grabbed me by the wrist and turned me around on the couch.

  Sex had taken the prominent role in our bedroom, but I still liked to have fun with my fantasies. Trent and Chase didn’t seem to mind, and it never got severe enough to leave more than a tender spot when I sat down the next morning. It was exactly what I needed to safely explore the desires that would never go away. The desires would always be a part of me. It might have started as a mild fascination, but it had become more than that. I was lucky enough to have two wonderful men that would take care of me, protect me, and never let it get to the point that I was uncomfortable. Best of all, I was going to be married to both of them. I stared at my ring with a smile as I bent over and Chase pushed my panties down to my knees.

  Happy birthday to me.

  Mr. Twang Sneak Peek

  Accompanying Song:

  “Teardrops on my Guitar” by Taylor Swift

  “Lauren, look!” My best friend held up her phone and pointed at the screen.

  “What the hell, Misty? I told you to take that video down last night!” I glared at her and shook my head angrily after looking at the screen.

  “I was going to, but you’re getting tons of views! Look at some of the comments. This guy thinks you have a voice like an angel!” Misty’s excitement was off the charts which was starting to make me furious.

  “Seriously, you need to take it down!” I grabbed the phone and scrolled through the comments. “I don’t want people making fun of me. I certainly don’t want any of our friends seeing this!”

  “They’re not making fun of you. They love you.” She peeled her phone out of my hand. “Let me leave it up just a little bit longer.”

  “No.” I shook my head back and forth quickly. “I don’t want it online.”

  “Fine…” She muttered and sighed as she tapped her screen with her finger. “It’s down.”

  “Thank you.” A relieved smile formed on the corner of my lips. “You really shouldn’t be posting stuff like that without asking. I was just goofing off and I didn’t want it recorded.”

  “It was so good! The world deserves to hear how awesome my best friend’s songs are.” Misty shrugged and dropped her phone in her purse. “But it’s gone now, so that’s the end of it.”

  “Good, we’re going to be late for class.” I grabbed my stack of books and motioned for her to follow me.

  I enjoyed playing music, but I had no desire to perform for other people. My fingers had been strumming or tapping something since I learned to walk. My parents were aspiring musicians when they met, but once I came along, they had to leave those dreams in the past. Their love of music never left them entirely. They opened an instrument store when I was in elementary school, and while it was never a booming success, it allowed us to enjoy a decent middle-class life.

  Being around so many instruments growing up meant I got to tinker around with anything I found interesting. My mother taught me to sing and play piano at a young age. When I was a little older, my father showed me a few tricks on his fiddle, but I wasn’t very good at it. I was a big fan of country music, and most of the artists I saw on television played guitar, so I started learning it on my own when nothing was going on at the shop. Both of my parents were surprised by how quickly I picked it up, and they gave me an old acoustic one to keep at home in case I wanted to keep practicing.

  My parents didn’t expect me to pursue music seriously, and they actively discouraged it becoming anything more than a hobby. They had been down that road and regretted spending their twenties in dive bars instead of going to college. They didn’t want that life for me. I wrote a few songs after I got fairly good at playing guitar, but none of them were worth sharing. Most of the songs I wrote, like the one Misty recorded, were extremely private. I expressed disappointment and heartbreak with my music. Turning those emotions into songs always helped me move on from them.

  “Uh oh.” Misty stared at her phone after we sat down and waited for our Economics professor to show up for class.

  “What’s that mean?” I looked over at her.

  “I took the video down, but it looks like a few people copied it before I did. They’re posting it on their accounts now.” She held up her phone and sighed. “Once something is on the Internet, it’s impossible to remove it completely.”

  “That’s why you shouldn’t have posted it!” I felt my face turning red as I spoke. “Damn it, Misty. I don’t want people I know seeing that!”

  “I’ll send a message to the people that posted it and ask them to remove it. I’m sorry, Lauren. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She sulked in her seat and started typing on her phone.

  “It’s fine, just get it taken down.” I turned towards the door when our professor walked into the classroom.

  I regretted writing the song in the first place, knowing that it was online for anyone to find. I was alone in my room, belting out a chorus of woes about being dumped by Billy Walsh when Misty walked up the stairs. She decided to record a video of me on her phone and posted the clip on YouTube. I was mortified when I found out. I didn’t call out Billy by name when I was singing the song, but anyone that knew who I had been dating for the last couple of months would be able to connect the dots. It was extremely embarrassing, and I didn’t want Billy to see it. It was bad enough that he saw me cry when he ended the relationship. Hearing about the scars he l
eft on my heart—that would be humiliating.

  “A couple of them already took it down.” Misty leaned over to me once class was over. “Just a few more to go.”

  “This is a nightmare.” I shook my head and exhaled sharply. “You’re lucky we’re best friends or I would totally disown you right now.”

  “Hey, wait a second.” Misty paused in her tracks and stared at her phone. “This guy that just commented…”

  “Oh god, please tell me it’s not him.” I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest when I thought about Billy possibly watching the video.

  “No, his name is Sawyer Young. His profile says he’s some sort of agent and producer in Nashville.” She tilted her head to the side. “He’s asking who you are!”

  “What?” I looked at her phone as she turned the screen towards me.

  “Seriously, look at his profile.” She pointed at the screen. “It shows all of the artists he’s worked with.”

  There were links to videos of various songs that credited him as an agent or producer. I had heard some of the songs and knew most of the artists by name. It was a who’s who of country music legends and rising stars. After scrolling through the list, Misty flipped back to the video that had been copied and reposted. Sawyer Young’s comment was the first one below the video and there were a lot of comments underneath it telling him that he needed to sign me. Reading through the comments was like an out-of-body experience. It made my head spin for a moment, but I finally regained control of my thoughts.

  “No.” I shook my head back and forth. “I don’t want any attention and I don’t want to be recognized. Ask this guy to take the video down!”

  “I’ve already messaged him.” Misty sighed and put her phone back in her purse.

  This is going to turn into a literal nightmare. I can already tell.

  One month later

  “Hey Lauren, if I ask you out on a date, are you going to write a song about me?” A guy laughed as I walked past him in the hallway on the way to my next class.

  “You wish.” I glared at him and felt Misty tug on my arm.

  “Just ignore him—ignore him like the rest of the assholes.” Misty sighed and pulled me away before I could really lash out.

  “This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t posted that stupid video!” I yanked my arm out of her grasp and walked into the classroom on my own.

  The random people online might had thought it was a beautiful song, but once people at college found out about it, I became an object of ridicule. People stared at me, whispered behind my back, and a few were brazen enough to just make fun of me to my face. The entire situation had strained my relationship with Misty, especially after Billy saw it and decided to let everyone know it was about him. He was an asshole to the core and the song made him even worse. I couldn’t believe I had actually been heartbroken enough to sing about him in the first place. The entire ordeal had killed my desire to play music, even when I was alone. It had always been an outlet, but even that was gone in the wake of Misty’s betrayal.

  “People will forget. I’m sure someone else will steal your thunder eventually.” Misty signed as she sat down next to me.

  “I wish they would. At this point I just want to drop out of school and hide under a rock.” I shot her an angry look and shook my head angrily.

  “There’s a whole world of people out there that loved the song. Don’t pay attention to these narrow minded people.” Misty opened her textbook when our professor walked into the classroom.

  Yeah, but none of them are having their song autotuned and ridiculed by people they’ve known their whole life.

  I was happy that it was Friday. That meant two days of being able to shut out the world entirely. I had started living for the weekends. I hoped things would die down in a couple of days once the song got circulated, but an entire month had passed, and I was still hearing the same comments from other students. I really had considered dropping out of college, or at least transferring somewhere else. The only thing still pushing me forward was the fact that my parents wouldn’t be quite so eager to support me financially if I dropped out, and it would be hard to support myself without a college degree. My parents didn’t quite understand what I was going through. In their mind, it was just harmless fun and teasing. They said it was a beautiful song and I should be proud of it, but they hadn’t walked a mile in my shoes to see how much of an impact it truly had on my life.

  “Are you going to come by the shop tomorrow?” My father sat down across from me at the dinner table. “Saturdays have been busy lately and we could really use your help.”

  “I guess so.” I shrugged and stabbed at my food.

  I didn’t really feel like going to the shop, but I couldn’t turn my back on my parents if they needed my help. I got up early the next morning and went to the store with my father. The early mornings mostly consisted of moving around a few pieces of merchandise so the sale items were up front when people walked into the store. Our most popular items were guitars and drums, so the rest of it was put on sale pretty often.

  Once the doors were open, I sat behind the counter while my father worked on inventory in the back. I sold a few instruments in the morning hours and when the crowd thinned out, I started working on my class assignments for the upcoming week. The chime on the door sounded after the store had been empty for almost an hour and I lifted my head to see a well-dressed man walk into the shop.

  “Welcome to Texas Melody. Is there anything I can help you with?” I stared as he walked over and looked at a few of the items we had on sale.

  “Maybe.” He turned towards me and nodded. “I’m looking for Lauren Williams.”

  “That’s… me?” I tilted my head to the side.

  “It is you.” A huge smiled spread across his face. “I thought I was going to have to search every square inch of Texas to find the girl in that video.”

  “What?” I blinked in surprise.

  “My name is Sawyer Young.” He walked over and extended his hand. “How would you like to move to Nashville and become the next big thing in country music?”

  Is this the guy who commented on the video? No freaking way!

  “I’m sorry—what are you talking about?” I took his hand and shook it out of instinct, but I was still rather confused.

  “That song from the video. You wrote it?” He leaned against the counter after shaking my hand.

  “Yeah, I did.” I nodded cautiously.

  “I think it’s time you stopped playing for free on YouTube and shared your gift with the world.” A smile spread across his face again. “I’d love to represent you as your agent and help you produce your first album.”

  “This has to be a joke.” I laughed nervously. “Did someone put you up to this?”

  I didn’t really look closely at his profile picture, but he does look similar to what I saw.

  “Not at all, ma’am.” He shook his head back and forth. “I’m serious.”

  “Uh, Dad? Could you come out here for a minute?” My heart was racing in my chest as I looked towards the back.

  Also by Kelli Callahan:

  Reverse Harem

  Five Masks of Sin

  Small Town Seven

  Seven Roses

  Seven Beasts

  Seven Soulmates

  Seven is my Lucky #

  Club Infinite Fantasy

  Mountain Man

  Mr. Mountain

  Mountain Rough

  Dominant Alpha Males

  Nevada Bad Boys: 4 Book Series

  Mr. B.F.D (Best Friend’s Dad)

  Mr. Dom

  Bad Virgin

  Mr. Teacher

  Mr. Twang

  About the Author

  Kelli writes billionaires, bad boys, and alpha protectors that are hot-as-sin and filthy to the core. If you want to stay up to date with all things Kelli, sign up to her mailings list here.

  Fire_A MFM Firefighter Romance