Read Online Burn (L.A. Untamed #2) by Ruth Clampett - Free Book Online
Authors: Ruth Clampett
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off.
We work our way down, rung by rung, and I’m almost sorry when I’m finally down on the ground.
I have a weird compulsion not to let the evening end. I turn to Joe.
“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we do a friend’s sleepover in your tiny house? That’d be fun, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure it would be, Trisha, but no, I think you should sleep in your own bed tonight.”
“All right, but now you’ll never know what an awesome cuddler I am.”
“True, but my guess is that you’d never stop talking.”
“Oh, shut up!” I say with a laugh.
He grins. “There you go . . . now we’re even.”
Chapter 7: Happy Betty
If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. ~Katharine Hepburn
The next day at work, Joe, the guys, and I are on grocery shopping duty so we drive one of the fire trucks to the grocery store. We always take the trucks for errands in case we get a call.
Turns out Joe can cook. Holy hell. Just watching him pick out produce, the focused way he squeezes the tomatoes and breathes in the scent of fresh herbs, is enough to fire up more inappropriate thoughts about him.
“What’s for dinner?” I ask.
“I’m thinking lasagna. Can you get the lettuce for the salad? Romaine would be good.”
Scott wanders off to get the ingredients for garlic cheese bread. Alberto is scouting out other items. I realize their exit gives me a chance to talk to Joe.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what?”
“For as far back as I can remember we were on opposite schedules. I’ve been around you less than any of the other guys, and now we not only have the same schedule but we’re assigned to do chores together.”
He just silently stares at me with a box of pasta in each hand.
“What’s that all about?”
“Maybe Chief wants me to watch out for you?” He responds with a tone like he isn’t sure of the answer but is willing to guess.
“Really?”
He nods. “Sure. You’ve been through a lot lately. Maybe having a friend in the squad helps.”
I blink several times. “So I’m like your buddy? Like when you go into a new school and you get teamed up with someone who can show you the ropes?”
“Yeah . . . like that I guess,” he agrees, yet seems unsure. He rubs the back of his neck and scrunches up his eyebrows.
“Oh for fucks sake,” I growl. I toss the heads of lettuce in the cart and storm off. Do they really think I’m that pathetic? I know I’m not at my best lately, but it’s feeling like every time I think I’m moving forward in my life, I discover I’m not getting anywhere.
Still in a huff, I wander out the exit and sit on a bench right next to the Buzz Lightyear Rocket Adventure rocking ride. I’m half-tempted to dig through my pockets for some quarters to ride Buzz to infinity and beyond .
See that, even my innocent thoughts sound perverted these days.
A few minutes later Joe and the guys roll the cart out of the store. They scan the parking lot, and Scott spots me and points me out.
Joe pushes the cart over to Scott and tells him something, before slowly walking over to me.
He jams his hands down into his pockets. “You ready to go?”
I look up at him with wary eyes. “I don’t need a babysitter you know.”
He studies me for a minute silently, and then nods. “Okay.”
Rising, I brush off my ass. Who knows what was on that bench. “Good, as long as we’re clear on that.” I pull my shoulders back and start walking to the truck, while he follows close behind.
I steer clear from Joe the rest of the day, and the following afternoon I’m at home, finally facing the bills that have piled up since my marital Armageddon. When I threw Dickwad out I wasn’t thinking about how the bills would still be coming but now it may be just me covering them. As I start adding things up it becomes clear that I’m in a shitshow of epic proportion.
It occurs to me that since Dickwad cheated, he should pay up. He should’ve thought of the financial
We work our way down, rung by rung, and I’m almost sorry when I’m finally down on the ground.
I have a weird compulsion not to let the evening end. I turn to Joe.
“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we do a friend’s sleepover in your tiny house? That’d be fun, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure it would be, Trisha, but no, I think you should sleep in your own bed tonight.”
“All right, but now you’ll never know what an awesome cuddler I am.”
“True, but my guess is that you’d never stop talking.”
“Oh, shut up!” I say with a laugh.
He grins. “There you go . . . now we’re even.”
Chapter 7: Happy Betty
If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. ~Katharine Hepburn
The next day at work, Joe, the guys, and I are on grocery shopping duty so we drive one of the fire trucks to the grocery store. We always take the trucks for errands in case we get a call.
Turns out Joe can cook. Holy hell. Just watching him pick out produce, the focused way he squeezes the tomatoes and breathes in the scent of fresh herbs, is enough to fire up more inappropriate thoughts about him.
“What’s for dinner?” I ask.
“I’m thinking lasagna. Can you get the lettuce for the salad? Romaine would be good.”
Scott wanders off to get the ingredients for garlic cheese bread. Alberto is scouting out other items. I realize their exit gives me a chance to talk to Joe.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what?”
“For as far back as I can remember we were on opposite schedules. I’ve been around you less than any of the other guys, and now we not only have the same schedule but we’re assigned to do chores together.”
He just silently stares at me with a box of pasta in each hand.
“What’s that all about?”
“Maybe Chief wants me to watch out for you?” He responds with a tone like he isn’t sure of the answer but is willing to guess.
“Really?”
He nods. “Sure. You’ve been through a lot lately. Maybe having a friend in the squad helps.”
I blink several times. “So I’m like your buddy? Like when you go into a new school and you get teamed up with someone who can show you the ropes?”
“Yeah . . . like that I guess,” he agrees, yet seems unsure. He rubs the back of his neck and scrunches up his eyebrows.
“Oh for fucks sake,” I growl. I toss the heads of lettuce in the cart and storm off. Do they really think I’m that pathetic? I know I’m not at my best lately, but it’s feeling like every time I think I’m moving forward in my life, I discover I’m not getting anywhere.
Still in a huff, I wander out the exit and sit on a bench right next to the Buzz Lightyear Rocket Adventure rocking ride. I’m half-tempted to dig through my pockets for some quarters to ride Buzz to infinity and beyond .
See that, even my innocent thoughts sound perverted these days.
A few minutes later Joe and the guys roll the cart out of the store. They scan the parking lot, and Scott spots me and points me out.
Joe pushes the cart over to Scott and tells him something, before slowly walking over to me.
He jams his hands down into his pockets. “You ready to go?”
I look up at him with wary eyes. “I don’t need a babysitter you know.”
He studies me for a minute silently, and then nods. “Okay.”
Rising, I brush off my ass. Who knows what was on that bench. “Good, as long as we’re clear on that.” I pull my shoulders back and start walking to the truck, while he follows close behind.
I steer clear from Joe the rest of the day, and the following afternoon I’m at home, finally facing the bills that have piled up since my marital Armageddon. When I threw Dickwad out I wasn’t thinking about how the bills would still be coming but now it may be just me covering them. As I start adding things up it becomes clear that I’m in a shitshow of epic proportion.
It occurs to me that since Dickwad cheated, he should pay up. He should’ve thought of the financial
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