lives, I’m about to save her daughter, I’ve seen her tits, and she just called me a fucking cow. I think I’ve earned her name.
“Amelia,” she finally admits, though the tone in her voice is telling me she’s still guarded about opening up. It’s almost as though I can feel her wall beginning to slide back into place.
I hear the boys getting ready behind me, and I take that as my cue to get shit sorted. “Well, Amelia,” I say, loving the feel of her name on my tongue. “How about we save your baby?”
With that, I turn to the boys and find them hovering around a panicking Ryan. Chief stands behind her with the grinder and the boys on either side. Her eyes are worried as she can clearly see that something is about to go down.
Amelia squeaks beside me.
“Alright, Pretty Girl,” I tell Ryan, moving forward. “I’m going to help you lay down, alright?”
She nods her little head, and I move in beside her. We want her as far away from the grinder as possible. Not only to protect her from the spark but to minimize how much she can actually see. Believe me, if a little kid sees those sparks coming at them like that, they’re bound to freak out, and freaking out is the last thing we want when electrical tools are being used.
I slowly lower Ryan down to the ground, but with her head stuck between the rails, it takes longer than expected.
As she lay on the ground at our feet, her little eyes flick from side to side, searching for her mom. I glance up at Amelia and see the same terror in her eyes and I don’t give a second thought to what I do next.
“Wait up,” I tell the boys, holding up a finger and indicating to give me a few moments.
I take my phone out of my pocket and pull up my niece’s favorite YouTube channel before jogging across the yard and diving into the fire truck. I fumble around until my fingers curl around the headphones I’d seen in here last week.
I hurry back to Ryan and instantly hand her my phone before helping her get the headphones over her little ears. She’s instantly distracted. I put up the volume on the phone so that she can’t hear a thing before pulling off my jacket and protectively laying it over her. “There,” I say, proud of my handiwork. “It’s like a little movie cinema under there.”
We get started when Amelia’s angelic voice calls out. “Wait, wait, wait,” she says, hurrying forward with her phone in hand. “I know this is shitty timing, and I might look like a bad mom for prolonging this, but if I don’t get a photo, my friend, Zoey, is going to rip me to shreds.”
I can’t help but grin. You’d be surprised. We get asked to do this shit all the time, and the boys are always more than willing to smile for a photo, especially where a pretty lady is concerned.
“Did you say, Zoey?” Jet pipes up, drawing her attention away as the rest of us focus on Ryan.
“Yeah,” she says slowly. “My best friend.”
“You don’t mean Zoey Reed, do you?”
“Yeah, that’s her. Why? How do you know her?”
“No shit,” Jet laughs before turning back to Ax. “That’s the chick I was just telling you about.”
Oh no. The girl he was talking about in the truck is Amelia’s best friend. This dickhead better not fuck things up for me with Amelia. He has a habit of random hook-ups and one night stands because he’s a little … adventurous in the bedroom. He’s got a bit of kink, and because of that, girls tend to shy away from him.
Jet focuses back on Amelia. “I went out on a date with her last night,” he explains. “She mentioned a friend, Amelia. Guess I just put two and two together. But damn, that girl … she’s a fucking firecracker.”
Fuck me. That’s Jet talk for he wants to see her again, which no doubt means he’ll end up breaking that girl’s heart. I can only imagine what that means for me.
“Really?” Amelia asks curiously, her eyes sparkling once again. “She never mentioned a date last night. You must not have been worth mentioning.” I hold back a grin, listening to how she plays with Jet. She’s only just met him but already she can tell how easy he is to tease.