Hood River Rat (Hood River Hoodlums #1) - K Webster Page 0,80
fuck,” I murmur against his lips.
Finally, a win.
“Remember when Cal threw me in the pool fully clothed one summer?” Roux asks, a smile in her voice.
I chuckle. “Jordy broke his nose.”
“He deserved it,” she sasses.
“He did. If Jordy didn’t punch his dumb ass, I would have.”
“You were too busy rescuing me knowing full well I could swim,” Roux tells me.
“Aww,” Hollis teases. “Roan’s a hero.”
“I really did save your ass, brat,” I say to him with a smirk.
We all laugh. Laughing feels good. It’s been a few days since Roux came home and we’re still in shock. With Mom. With Jordy. With all of it.
“I’m going to get a Coke. Want anything?” Roux asks as she stands from the sofa.
“I’m good,” Hollis says and I nod.
She leaves to go into the kitchen. Hollis chooses the moment to crawl up my body and steal a kiss. Kelsey visits a lot lately because it’s the only way she gets to see her son. He and I have been glued to each other after all that’s gone on. It just feels good having someone to lean on.
“How are you doing?” he asks, his lips hovering over mine.
“Better now that Roux’s here.”
“Good.”
He kisses me deeply again and doesn’t pull away in time. Roux groans in exaggeration.
“Gross, Hollis. Stop mauling my brother.”
Hollis slides off me and shrugs. “I can’t help it he’s so hot.”
I laugh and Roux makes a sour face.
“Don’t tell him he’s hot. He’ll act like he’s the shit,” Roux tells him.
“Hey now,” I chide. “Don’t say shit.”
“Why not?” she demands.
“Because shit’s a shitty word, you shithead.”
She snorts. “I’m going to say shit only because you don’t want me to. It’s what you get for tonguing your boyfriend in front of me.”
Hollis cracks up laughing. “Oh, man, you have your hands full, babe. This one is a major brat.” He ruffles her hair, messing it up. “You’ve been hanging out with Charlotte too much. She’s a bad influence.”
Roux swats Hollis’s hand away. “Whatever.”
Hollis curls up against me and continues to pick at Roux by poking at her with his toes. She tries to mean mug him but ends up giggling. I almost feel happy. But in the back of my mind, I think about the cost my happiness came at.
Jordy.
Hollis, sensing my somber mood, stops fucking with Roux and threads his fingers with mine. “It’s going to get better,” he assures me. “I promise.”
My heart lightens a little.
I believe him.
It has to.
Hollis
Six months later…
I yawn, checking my phone for the millionth time. He’s been gone for too long. The news is on, and I anxiously wait for some sort of coverage about tonight’s fire.
Nothing.
Nothing is good. Means there were no fatalities. It’s not breaking news, so they’ll just mention it on the news at ten.
Still, I worry.
One of the not-so-wonderful things about dating a volunteer firefighter.
While I wait for my hot fireman to get his ass home so I’ll stop worrying, I flip through the cable channels. Now that Roan works at the tire factory during the week, he’s pulling in consistent paychecks and can afford things like cable and a car.
A smile tugs at my lips when I think about his truck. This summer, we took it to Hood River more times than I can count just to fuck under the stars. Pretty romantic if you ask me. When we weren’t fucking, he taught me how to swim. I learned pretty damn quick considering the reward was him. Always him. Roux would die if she knew what sort of nefarious deeds we got up to when she was not around.
I wish she were around tonight. She’s spending the night with Charlotte. It makes the garage apartment pretty damn lonely. Mom tells me if I ever came home, I wouldn’t go stir-crazy when Roan was gone. I’m not interested, though. I like being here when he finally does drag in after putting out fires. I give him a proper hero’s welcome.
A car door slams outside and I jolt up in bed, craning my head to listen. Heavy footsteps thud up the stairs and then keys jangle. I fling the blanket off the bed and pad down the hall to greet my man. His exhausted amber eyes seek me out the moment he steps inside.
“Thank God you’re home,” I grumble, rushing over to him.
He hugs me tight, inhaling me. “Easy fire tonight. They think a copy machine overheated at the real estate office and caught fire.” He chuckles. “Mike used it as one of