All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,85

car and Oliver climbed in, Kal crouched down. “But you came to my party, and I’m so happy you were there. You know what? When your mom was still keeping the surprise party a secret and told me you weren’t coming to dinner with us, I was so sad.”

His face immediately brightened. “You were?”

“Yeah. I wanted to spend my birthday with you. You’re my best buddy, aren’t you?”

“You bet I am.” Oliver threw his arms around Kal and hugged him, and Hannah’s heart nearly burst with equal feelings of utter joy and abject terror.

It was clear that Oliver loved Kal. But what if things between Kal and her didn’t work out? Oliver would be devastated.

This was what she’d been trying to avoid, why she rarely dated, why she never brought men into Oliver’s life. Instead, it had happened, and she didn’t know what she was going to do about it.

Of course, it was too late now.

Now she just had to hope that she and Kal would continue on the course they were headed, and everything would turn out fine.

But she couldn’t ignore the nagging sensation of worry that lived constantly in the vicinity of her heart.

After hugging her mom and Oliver and waiting until they drove away, she and Kal headed back toward the restaurant.

Halfway there, Kal tugged on her hand. “Wait.”

She stopped and looked up at him. “What?”

“This.” He cupped the side of her neck, wound his other arm around her waist to draw her close and pressed his lips to hers.

He tasted warm and inviting, and she couldn’t help but lean into him, to slide her hands along his arms so she could feel the heat of his skin. His hand snaked along her back and farther down to cup her butt, drawing her against the rigid length of his erection.

And here they were, out in public, making out between parked cars, and all she wanted to do was be alone and naked with him.

She pulled back, trying to catch her breath. “Party guests.”

He laid his forehead against hers. “Damn.” He blew out a breath. “Okay, give me a minute.”

“Want me to quote baseball statistics to you?”

He laughed. “Do you know baseball statistics?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Are you really going to ask me that? Who has the highest batting average of all time?”

Now it was his turn to give her a look. “Easy. Ty Cobb.”

“Longest home run ever hit?”

“Babe Ruth.”

“The longest at bat in history?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. She smirked.

“I suppose you know the answer.”

“San Francisco’s Brandon Belt, against the Angels’ Jaime Barria. Twenty-one pitches. The at bat lasted twelve minutes and forty-five seconds.”

“Damn. And how do you know this shit?”

She shrugged. “I have a thing for statistics.”

“And did Belt get a hit?”

“No, he flied out.”

He shook his head. “The things I’m still learning about you.”

She grinned. “I’m amazing, right? And now your boner is gone, so let’s go inside.”

He laughed and put his arm around her. “You are magic, Hannah.”

She liked the way he said that. She laid her head against his shoulder as they walked. “You just keep remembering that, Kal.”

CHAPTER 25

“HEY, DONOVAN. YOU IN DREAMLAND TODAY OR WHAT?” Phil asked. “I’m waiting on slack for that rope.”

Kal blinked, realizing he was on the job and needed to get his head on straight. “I’m on it.”

He slacked the rope for Phil, who was working in some pretty tight quarters in a pipe where two workers had been stuck after one end caved in. Phil and Meg were currently working the pipe while the rest of the team provided support topside.

“We’ve got one hooked on to the red rope and ready to pull out,” Meg said.

“Roger,” Lieutenant Anderson said. “All right, team. Let’s do this slow and easy.”

Phil had already let the team know that neither of the workers had serious injuries. It was just a matter of pulling them out without causing any injuries—or further damage to the pipe, which could put the workers and their team members in danger.

Phil and Meg had harnessed the workers, so now Kal and Irish were in charge of the red rope, which contained the first worker’s harness. They began to pull, slow and easy, since the pipe was tight. Phil fed them verbal instructions on how the ascent was coming along, since the team above had no visual.

“Okay, a little slower, you’re getting to a tight spot. Now . . . hold.”

Kal and Irish stopped and waited, holding tight to their rope to