“Are you going to keep my bed warm for me?” Leo probed, knowing that the thought of her tangled in his sheets would both comfort and arouse him later when he thought about her laying naked on his bed.
“Actually, I need to clean out the fridge at the apartment.” Jazz made a face and wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure my milk expired a month ago and I need to do damage control before things start walking around on their own.”
Leo nodded but pulled her close to whisper in her ear, “But my bed will miss you.”
“Your bed will be okay for one night while I take care of things. Plus, it’s not like you’re even going to be home,” Jazz argued.
“But who will walk the dog?”
Jasmine pulled back, confusion apparent on her face. “You don’t have a dog.”
“True, but I could get one. That would give me the excuse to have you there all the time.” Leo offered with a calculating smile. “You wouldn’t be heartless enough to leave a puppy alone all night long, would you?”
“Geez, Leo. At this rate, I might as well just move in.” Jasmine’s eyes widened at her own words, her mouth making an O of embarrassment.
Leo wanted to pump his fist in the air. He had been trying to find a way to broach the subject of her moving in now for the last week, but had chickened out on more than one occasion. Keeping his expression innocent, he shrugged his shoulders. “That isn’t a bad idea, when is your lease up?”
Jasmine stared at him in shock. The entire room was silent as a group of tough, muscled firefighters eavesdropped like little old ladies in a knitting circle.
“Are you serious?” Jasmine whispered with watery eyes.
Leo looked past her shoulder at the guys leaning closer to hear her words. A few casually looked away before their gazes darted back without shame.
Cupping her face in his hands, he smiled and continued, “I’ve thought about it and it sounds like a good idea to me. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been a better idea in the history of the world.”
Jasmine slapped at his arm, her eyes serious. “Don’t tease.”
“I’m totally serious.” Leo made sure his voice was as solemn as possible with those three words. “I would love to wake up every single morning with you there. I want you to have your own space and not live out of that duffle bag you keep in the corner.”
Jasmine bit her lip before answering him, which of course drove him completely crazy. Waiting for her to answer him was probably the longest twenty seconds of his life.
“Okay, I’ll move in.” At her words, cheering broke out behind her. Jasmine jumped as if she had just remembered they had an audience. When Leo hugged her close, she whispered into his shoulder, “That was pretty ballsy, you know?”
“My woman wouldn’t let me down,” Leo teased, nipping her ear before releasing her.
“You’re crazy you know that?”
“You’ve already dealt with one crazy roommate,” Leo said, referring to Winter. He thought she was great, but also realized she was a bit nuts when it came to certain things. “When can we get this done?”
“Whoa there, trigger. I need to check my lease and then figure out furniture.” Jazz held up her hands as if to slow him down.
“Jazz, I want you with me, and the sooner the better. I’m able to help with the cost of breaking your lease early if we need to. Let me know what I need to do, and we can get this moving along.” Leo smacked her butt, the sound causing his friends to snicker. Friends who he had forgotten were watching them and were now staring at the area he had graced with his hand just moments before.
Glaring over her shoulder, he narrowed his eyes when a couple of the men simply shrugged and smiled at being caught ogling Jazz’s backside. Turning their bodies so his back was to the men caused even more laughter, but he didn’t care.
Fuckers.
That was his ass to look at and spank. If the guys knew what was good for them, they would keep their eyes to themselves or there’d be words.
“There’s so much to do,” Jasmine said to herself, most likely making a list of items to check off, which seemed to be the way her brain worked when tasked with something.
“I’ll help in any way that I can,” Leo said right before the fire bell started pealing. “Babe, we gotta go.”
Jasmine jumped out of the way of the men barreling toward the door.
“Be safe,” Jasmine ordered with a worried glance.
“Always.” Leo jogged out of the room but not before leaving her with something he felt needed to be said. “Love you, sugar.”
He smiled without turning around at her gasp.
That probably wasn’t the best time to tell his woman what she meant to him, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer.
He loved that woman.
Jasmine stayed still, almost frozen in place, long after the sounds of the fire engine faded as the men raced toward their call.
Leo loved her.
Holy shit, he loved her!
Jasmine spun on her heels and squealed, knowing the action made her look like she was a teenager with her first boyfriend, but not caring one damn bit.
She cupped her hands over her mouth to keep in the exuberant laughter that wanted to break free. The sheer happiness that she felt at his admission and the offer to move in was overwhelming. It felt as if her heart was about to pound right out of her chest.
She had so much to do and no idea where to start before she remembered what the obvious first step was. Walking quickly out of the station, Jasmine pulled out her phone.
“Leo asked me to move in,” Jazz half yelled as soon as Winter picked up her call.
“Wait, what?” Winter asked groggily on her end.
“Were you sleeping?” Jasmine pulled the phone away from her face to check the time. “This isn’t the time to be sleeping, Winter! Leo asked me to move in with him.”
“And you said yes, of course,” her best friend said with a yawn.
“Of course.” Jasmine realized how big she was smiling when she saw her reflection in the car window as she opened the door. “I’m going to need help.”
“Let me know what to do,” Winter offered quickly. “This is so exciting.”
Jasmine agreed, finally understanding how Winter had felt when Will asked her to move in shortly after they’d started dating. “I’ll need you to handle your old room, but I think I can get everything else squared away on my own,” Jasmine said. Winter had left her bedroom furniture when she moved out earlier in the year. It had come in handy a few times when Winter had come over for girls’ nights during Will’s long shifts at the station. Now, it was just one more thing she needed to check off her list.
“Done,” Winter answered immediately, probably already having a place in mind for the old furniture.
“Oh, and are you free tonight? I want to have one last girl’s night at the old place and since Leo is on shift the timing is perfect.” Jasmine drove down the street, happy that her Bluetooth had picked up the phone call automatically.
“I’m free. You heading there now?”
“I’m about ten minutes away,” Jasmine replied only paying half attention to what Winter was saying the farther she drove. “Hey, the guys left on a call right before I called you, and now traffic is at a standstill on Sixth Street. Is there anything on the news yet?”
“Let me check. I have to find the remote.” While Jasmine waited, she giggled when she heard Winter cursing up a storm in the background.
“Did you just call Will ‘a ball of taint cheese’?”
“Ummm…maybe,” Winter said, embarrassment heavy in her voice. “But in my defense, I’ve told him to put the remote on the table so it doesn’t slip between the cushions a million times.”
“Is this what I have to look forward to? Lost remotes and making up new insults,” Jasmine teased, finall
y easing out of the traffic jam.
“That and so much more,” Winter said sarcastically.
“Awesome, can’t wait,” Jasmine deadpanned. She furrowed her brow at the evidence of black smoke rolling through the area. “Did you get it on the news yet? There’s a ton of smoke over here and it looks really thick.”
“Yeah, shush for a second. I can’t hear what they’re saying with you yapping in my ear,” Winter mumbled.
There was radio silence for what seemed like ten minutes rather than the thirty second that had actually passed while Jasmine waited.
“Jazz, I need you to get to your apartment and I’m heading over there now.”
There was something in Winter’s voice that made the hair on Jasmine’s neck stand up.
“Winnie?” Jasmine cleared her throat, the feeling of it tightening up making her swallow hard. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll meet you at your apartment. I’m leaving now.” Winter instructed, “Be safe driving and I’ll see you in five.”
Jasmine felt her hands start to sweat on the steering wheel from her death grip. Before she could say anything else, Winter hung up the phone.
Something wasn’t right.
The short drive to her apartment was done in a blur as Jasmine’s mind played over all the different scenarios. She tried to think positive, but her stomach clenched as she pulled into the parking lot.
No, something was wrong. Jasmine wasn’t sure how she knew it, but something was very wrong.
Chapter 24
Jasmine raced up the stairs to her third-floor apartment only to fumble with her keys while trying to unlock the door. Sounding as if someone were breaking in, she wasn’t surprised to hear her neighbor open the door.
“You okay, Jasmine?” came the timid voice of her neighbor.
Without looking up from the lock, Jasmine waved and answered, “Yeah, just couldn’t find the right key,” before opening the door and running for the remote on the coffee table.
The local news channel was showing live footage from the scene of the fire.
“Breaking news tonight starts with a fire off Sixth Street in Larryville’s old warehouse district. Our news crew arrived just in time to witness the collapse of part of the building that used to house Wally’s Wallpaper. Firetrucks are on the scene, but so far, we have not been able to find out if any of the crew was inside when the outside wall fell. Here now, is the witness who called in the fire. Sir, can you tell us what you saw earlier this evening?”
“I was walking to the bus stop and heard a strange popping noise coming from the old Wally’s showroom. When I looked up at the windows, I saw a flickering light on the second floor and decided to call it in just in case.”
“Did you see anybody else in the area before you called?” the reporter asked.
“No, ma’am. This block is usually pretty quiet since most of these stores are closed.”
“Did you see any of the firefighters go into the building before it collapsed?”
“They all piled out of that truck and were moving real quick. Some of them walked the perimeter, but I believe a few of them went into the front right there where the windows used to be.” The witness gestured to the large glass windows that were broken out with smoke billowing thickly through the openings.
Once the man had finished his statement, the news reporter turned back to the camera with a smile that looked tight on her face. The smoke now floating behind her was dense and black. She coughed a few times before clearing her throat and addressing the audience once again.
“As of right now, the fire crew is busy handling the blaze which has already caused one wall to collapse so far. We cannot verify if any firemen were inside the building, but, according to our witness, there may have been a small crew that entered the front of the building. We will stay on the scene and bring you more news as soon as we are able. This is Angelina Franco for channel thirteen news.”
Jasmine sank to the floor in front of the TV. Her legs had turned to jelly.
“Nononononono,” she whispered to herself.
This couldn’t be happening. Maybe it was another station that had answered this call?
Even with that comforting thought, she hit the reverse button on her remote to play the news report over again. This time paying attention to the few firefighters that were caught in frame behind the reporter.
When she recognized a few of the guys from Leo’s shift, her stomach turned.
“Jazz,” Winter yelled, stomping up the outside stairs before opening the door without knocking.
Jasmine looked over at Winter helplessly and finally succumbed to her stomach twisting. Unable to stop herself, she vomited on the rug leaving an acrid taste in her mouth as everything she had eaten for lunch was involuntarily expelled from her gut.
“Fuck!” Winter ran to the kitchen and grabbed the small trashcan. “Here sweetie, it’s okay,” she whispered as she helped hold Jasmine’s hair back from her face as she retched.
When the only thing left was bile, Jasmine sat back with her hand over her mouth.
“I’m sure Leo’s fine, Jazz,” Winter said softly, setting the trashcan down close but not close enough for the smell to bother Jasmine’s still tumbling stomach. She walked quickly to the kitchen and grabbed the carpet spray and a towel.
“Winnie, I’ll clean it up. Just give me a minute,” Jasmine ordered unable to voice her fear for Leo.
“Don’t worry, I got it,” Winter assured her. “You have any Sprite?”
Jasmine stood up slowly from the floor trying not to upset her stomach any more than necessary from fast movements. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.
“Let me check and see. It might calm your stomach a bit,” Winter said soothingly
Winter went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, the sound of her search the only noise in the apartment since the TV was still paused.
Jasmine hit the button on her remote to resume and saw that a couple of the men she knew from the station were bustling behind the camera, focused on what they needed to do.
“Will’s not on shift, is he?” Jasmine asked anxiously, wondering how Winter was staying so calm.
“No, he’s at the lake with his brothers this weekend.” Winter shook her head. “I tried to text him and see if he could get us any info, but I don’t think he has signal when they are out on the boat.”
Jasmine palmed her eyes knowing that she could feel anxious tears not far off. “How do you do this, Winnie?”
“What?” Winter asked as she carefully sat down on the couch cushion next to Jasmine. “How do I handle when Will has a call, or everything in general?”
“Both, all of it, everything,” Jasmine stuttered. “How do you not go crazy?”
Winter sat for a moment just watching her friend before shrugging. “I guess you could say that I have to trust Will. His job is a big part of who he is. I know he would never take an unnecessary risk or do something that would take him away from me on purpose. I just have to trust him that he’s going to come home when it’s all said and done.”
“And you can live with that?” Jasmine asked, her voice disbelieving.
“I can, but the big question is can you?” Winter’s voice was soft yet firm.
“I don’t know—” Jasmine started only to stop when the reporter was back on the screen, this time with the fire chief.
“We did have a couple of my crew inside during the collapse and one man was injured but it doesn’t look serious.”
“Sir, are you able to name the firefighter injured?”
“Not at the moment. We still need to notify his family but as I said…it was not a serious injury and he’s on his way to the hospital as we speak. I’m not going to lie. This was a close call. Even the most experienced firefighters can hit some bad luck when it comes to doing their job, but the men
today were able to assess the potential risk and were able to avoid the downed wall. The injury happened in another area of the building. It looks like we’re going to be here for a while tonight keeping it contained. Other than that, all of my crew is safe and accounted for.”
Jasmine let out a small sigh of relief that whoever was hurt hadn’t been hurt too bad. Regardless, she scanned the men in the background looking for Leo’s familiar walk, but they all looked the same with their bodies loaded down with heavy equipment. The camera was too far away for her to spot Leo.
“Winnie, I don’t know if I can do this,” Jasmine whispered, her heart breaking with the words that seemed to take a small piece of her heart with them.
Winter shook her head, but obviously had no comforting words for Jasmine since she stayed silent.
“Let me try to call Will again,” Winter offered. “Don’t make any rash decisions while you’re upset. You’ll regret it in the long run.”
Jasmine dropped her head back on to the couch with tears tracking hotly down her cheeks. “I mean it Winter, I don’t think I can handle this.”
Palming her eyes, she rubbed her face, the skin feeling raw. When her phone chimed with a text message, she almost shot off the couch trying to get to it.
JJ, your dad saw the news and called me. Is Leo ok?
Jasmine felt her tears start again after reading her mom’s text. In the past few weeks, Jasmine had felt as though she had spoken more with her mom than she had during her entire childhood, mostly because it was actually true. They had conversations that normal mother and daughters had now, but it was even more because the priority had been to get to know one another. Jasmine had realized that they both had been to blame for the way their relationship had ended up, and her mom had been determined to mend the rift. Her mom had taken her shopping, giving Jasmine the opening she needed to show her mom how happy she was with who she was, and how she had turned out. When her mom talked about her weight, which Jasmine knew was going to be an issue while out trying on clothes, she had been more than ready for the come to Jesus meeting that was about to take place.
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