Firehouse 29 (Flash Fiction)

Amber placed the empty water bottle on the desk. It was the second she’d finished in the last half hour. Neither had helped cool her down. Not when James - presently stuck on truck cleaning duty after losing a bet with Rodriguez - was shirtless and glistening with sweat and suds.

Again she reached for the bottle, only remembering it was empty when air hit her lips.

Since Amber had started as a dispatcher for house 29, ninety percent of her time had been spent unsuccessfully ignoring her crush on the handsome firefighter.

Every sweep of the sponge resulted in his trapezius contracting, and when he stepped up the ladder to reach a particularly high spot… Amber had to clear her throat and look away. Outside of his suit, James preferred soft sweat pants that had been specially made to torture her. How else could she explain the way they stretched taut over his thick thighs or the way they so perfectly cupped his tight-

“Amber? Hello? I said your name, like, five times.”

Amber jumped in her seat, the water bottle tumbling off the desk and rolling over to where Toni, her captain, stood.

“Why so distracted today?”

A flush rose to Amber’s cheeks, her pale complexion doing nothing to hide her embarrassment. “What? Hey! I didn’t see you there. I’ve been busy with the, uh,” she turned back to her book, ‘The Secrets of Sewing’, “Reading…”

Toni’s deep chuckled rumbled. “Yeah, I can see that.” A quirk of her eyebrow towards the truck had Amber’s blush deepening.

“Ugh,” Amber groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “It’s horrible. Can you die from horniness? Because I might die.”

Toni pretended to consider it. “I don’t know, let’s ask.” To Amber’s eternal horror, Toni turned towards James, calling across the vehicle bay, “Hey James! Can you die of, mmph!” It was only the quick hand Amber had clamped across Toni’s mouth that saved the last word from being uttered.

More quickly than she’d like, James’ washboard abs and steel grey eyes had sauntered over. “Die of what? Amber?” His wide smile never failed to disturb the butterflies in her stomach.

He really was going to kill her.

“Amber was just telling me how thirsty she was,” Toni said, with an emphasis on _thirsty._ If she could have gotten redder, Amber was sure she would have.

To her surprise, it was James’ turn to gain a little colour on his cheeks. It looked far more attractive on him. “Oh. Well, hydration is important.”

“Right.” Amber could not be more embarrassed.

“I could help,” James offered, and Amber’s brain buffered like she’d lost reception. The continued shirtlessness was not helping things.

“Help?” She squeaked. Toni had conveniently disappeared.

“Yeah, uh,” James scratched at the back of his neck, and boy, did shyness suit him. “We could go for a drink later?”

“Like a date?”

“Yeah.” From this distance, she could see flecks of blue in his eyes. “I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while, actually.”

“You have?” Amber wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not.

“Absolutely. I thought you knew. Everyone else does.”

That decided it. She was dreaming. “No.” Amber watched in despair as his smile fell. “I mean, yes, I’d love to go out with you.” It came out in a rush.

“Great.” His smile returned, and the butterflies burst into fireworks. “I’ll see you tonight then.” Winking, he returned to the truck, a definite swagger in his step.

He’s definitely going to kill me. But it’ll be a sweet, sweet death.