Safe From the Fire Read Online Free Page A

Matt made his sister nervous, and Adam
realized with a pang that she hadn’t needed a defense mechanism until the
people in her life started letting her down.
    Until
I started letting her down.
    “I
know it’s been awhile, but it’s not like any of those losers you dated in
college were anything special.  Granted, he’s not all dark and Satan-worshippy
like that one guy, what was his name?  Marco?  Polo?”
    “Drako,”
Grace gritted out, “And yes, that was a mistake.  But that doesn’t mean that
Matt Harris and I have anything in common, Adam.”
    “How
do you know unless you go out with him?”
    “Why
are you so interested in my love life?”
    Adam
shrugged and flopped down on the bed.
    “Shit,
Grace, I just want you to be happy.”
    “I
am happy,” Grace said uncertainly, and Adam let it slide.
    Grace
sighed.
    “Look,
why don’t you stay here and get settled.  I have to get back to work.  There’s
a new club opening tonight just off Main Street – ”
    “An
actual club?  In Bright’s Ferry?”
    “That’s
what I hear,” said Grace with a smile, “Anyway, I thought we could check it out
if you’re interested.  Should be some good bands.”
    Adam
grinned.  His sister’s passion for garage bands was unchanged.  No matter how
terrible the music, she liked sticking up for the little guy or girl and
supporting anyone who was passionate about their art.
    “Sounds
like a plan,” he said.
     
    UNDER
NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, MATT would have been ashamed to have Rafael find him
punching the shit out of one of the hundred-pound grain sacks they used for
training behind the fire station later that afternoon.  He’d considered using a
rescue dummy, but that seemed too much like hitting a real person.  There was a
perfectly good punching bag inside, but Matt wanted some privacy to let off the
anger and frustration he’d been holding in like a grenade waiting to explode.
    His
dark-haired friend raised an eyebrow as he came around the corner to see him on
his knees, pummeling the innocent sack into the ground, curses streaming from
his lips.
    Matt
barely noticed him.  He had jerked off his shirt and sweat rivulets ran through
the dusting of grain that coated his skin and dusted his hair.  The air was
hazy – at some point the bag had split, and a cloud of grain dust rose, crazy
motes swirling around him.
    “Matt?”
    Rafael
placed a hand on his shoulder and nearly got a fist in the face as Matt whirled
around, rage in his eyes.
    “Whoa,
Matt.  I think you won,” he exclaimed, hands up, stumbling back.
    Matt
jerked back, horrified, and then slumped to his knees, taking stock of the
ripped sack and the puddle of grain.  His knuckles had split as well, Matt
noticed absently.
    “Sorry,
man,” he muttered, catching his breath as the anger ebbed out of him.
    “What
brought this on?  Tell Mama everything,” Rafael coaxed, soothing.
    “I
asked Grace out.”
    Rafael’s
eyes widened.
    “No
shit?”
    “Full
of shit is more like it.  As in me.  She turned me down.”
    “That’s
insane.  Did she say why?”
    “Does
it matter why?  Maybe there is no why.”
    Rafael
reached down to offer his friend a hand up.
    “I’ve
got three sisters, man,” he said, “Trust me, there’s always a why.  If it were
me, I’d ask her.”
    Matt
reached for the broom against the wall to start cleaning up his mess.
    “If
it were you, I think Brian would probably be pissed that you didn’t tell him
you were secretly straight.”
    Rafael
grinned and moved to help him clean up.  He’d been in a steady relationship
with the local butcher for the last five years.  Of course, the guy looked more
like a cover model than a man who spent half his day up to his elbows in cow
parts.
    Fifteen
minutes later, they walked into the rec room and four pairs of curious eyes
took in his disheveled appearance and split knuckles.  Veteran firefighters
Gordon March and Syd McCull didn’t comment, but went back to their chess