Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“I mean… I’m fine with it. Sir.” He drags a hand down his face like he wishes he could disappear into the engine bay floor.
Whispers ripple:
“This is gonna be good.” “Think they dated?” “Look at Ramirez’s face, dude—obviously.”
My cheeks heat.
I don’t blush easily.
Apparently I do now.
Cole continues talking, but the words melt into background noise because Axel shifts slightly, just enough that his gaze flickers back to me.
Only for a moment.
Only long enough to feel like someone brushed a live wire down my spine.
Then he looks away again.
Roll call ends. Crews disperse. The storm outside grows louder, wind howling against the metal doors.
And Axel walks straight toward me.
His steps are heavy. Purposeful. Controlled. But I can see the tension in every line of him, tightening his shoulders, his jaw, his fists.
I brace myself without meaning to.
He stops inches away—closer than any coworker should stand to another. Close enough that I feel the heat of him through my winter jacket. Close enough that the clean scent of cedar and smoke rolls over me and I have to dig my nails into my palms to stay steady.
He opens his mouth.
Closes it.
Opens it again.
Nothing comes out.
I swallow, forcing my voice to work. “Hi, Axel.”
He flinches at the sound of his name in my voice.
His eyes snap to mine. Dark. Intense. Studying every inch of my face like he’s memorizing it.
“Savannah.” My name comes out low. Rough. Like gravel dragged through fire. “You’re… here.”
“I am.” My voice wavers despite every effort to control it. “Didn’t expect to see you either.”
His jaw ticks. “No. I—” He drags in a breath. “I didn’t.”
The wind rattles the garage door. Snow whirls past the high windows.
He stares at me like I’m a mirage that might disappear if he blinks too long.
Then the captain calls for him.
He doesn’t move.
For a beat, it feels like he might say something—anything—something dangerous and cracking and years overdue.
But he only whispers:
“You look different.”
“So do you.”
Something flickers in his eyes. Something hot and pained and full of things neither of us is ready for.
Before he can speak again, Captain Cole shouts, “Ramirez! Let’s move!”
Axel tears his eyes from mine like it physically hurts.
“Be right there,” he calls back, voice strained.
He swallows once, hard.
Then takes a single step backward—just one—like distance is the only thing keeping him from breaking.
He turns away.
But at the last second, he glances over his shoulder.
And that look—raw, undone, stunned—is enough to make my breath vanish.
He disappears into the bay.
I stand frozen.
The storm winds outside roar louder. Snow hammers the roof. Voices echo in the distance.
But all I hear is the pounding of my own heart.
All I feel is the ghost of a boy I once loved… trapped inside the body of the man he became.
He didn’t say a word about the past.
Neither did I.
But both of us felt it.
Every ember.
Every burn.
Every memory we tried to bury.
And if the way he looked at me is any indication…
Those ashes are about to ignite.
Chapter Two
Axel
Savannah Brooks is thirty feet away, and I swear I can’t get a full breath into my lungs.
It’s pathetic.
I’ve carried people out of burning buildings with half a second to spare. I’ve crawled through infernos with beams falling around me, holding my breath until my ribs screamed. I’ve handled explosions, drownings, trauma calls—hell, even two separate encounters with a pissed-off mountain lion.
But Savannah walking across the firehouse behind the captain?
Yeah. That knocks me flat.
I keep my distance because it’s the only thing I can do without making a fool of myself. I pretend to check the gear on Engine Nine for the fourth damn time, but my eyes keep dragging toward her like I’m magnetized.
She moves through the space like she belongs here—maybe she always did. Calm. Collected. Eyes taking in every detail.
She used to do that. Even as a kid. Spot everything.
Now? She's sharper than a scalpel. More controlled. More… grown.
God help me.
She glances up mid-tour, and her gaze snags mine across the bay again. It hits like a live wire. Direct. Clear. Sharp enough to strip my breath.
I wrench my attention back to the hose couplings.
“Ramirez.”
I don’t have to turn to know it’s Captain. Or that Savannah is standing next to him.
I steel my voice. “Yes, sir?”
“We’re going over the med cabinets. Brooks’ll need access codes for the ambulance. Show her the panel and run a supply check with her.”
My pulse spikes. “Now?”
Cole gives me a look like I’ve lost my damn mind. “Unless you’ve suddenly forgotten how to do your job.”
Right. “No, sir.”
Savannah steps closer. Too close. The scent of her is the same but not the same—vanilla, something warm, something clean, something that slams me straight back to sixteen and destroys me at the same time.
She doesn’t look nervous.
Of course she doesn’t. She never was the one who froze under pressure.
She folds her arms behind her back, professional and polite, and says, “Lead the way, Ramirez.”