Spark & Blaze (A Guns & Hoses Novel) by Brenda Cothern Page B

fucking Tig, dammit , about coming out that caused him to have crazy dreams.
    Tig’s suggestion that being out wasn’t that scary wasn’t meant to make Brett feel like less of a man for staying in the closet. No, Brett knew Tig was just trying to give him an idea of what it felt like on the other side of that closet door. The fact that Tig offered not only himself, but Flame, to talk to if Brett needed someone who understood his situation told Brett that Tig was sincere.
    That offer made Brett think about Flame. Up until about a year ago, his co-worker hid in his own closet and he was pretty sure Tig did too. It wasn’t until the station gossip about Brostowski claiming to be in love with Flame while the two were in Guns & Hoses did anyone begin to question Flame or Brostowski’s orientation. Even after that, and when Flame’s straight or gay status was confirmed when he sat at his boyfriend’s hospital bedside, there was surprisingly no fallout at the station house.
    Brett stepped out of his shower and for a moment imagined what that kind of acceptance would feel like. Well, he tried to imagine because in all honesty he couldn’t see himself being out and accepted like Flame was around the station.
    He knew, rationally, that whether he was accepted by his fellow firefighters or not, it had nothing to do with them and everything to do with him.
    Brett ignored the irritated look Jinxy gave him because he was up and moving way too early as far as she was concerned.
    “Don’t look at me like that girl,” Brett told her before he pulled clothes out of his dresser. “You have the bed all to yourself.” Brett sat on the edge of the bed and put on his running sneakers. He stood and turned to Jinxy. “See you in a bit, girl.”
    Brett didn’t bother to pet her before he left because he knew he would more than likely get a paw swiped at him since he disrupted her sleep with his tossing and turning.
    After he locked up his house, Brett stretched on his front porch to loosen up his muscles before his run. The sun was just cresting the horizon when Brett started to run down his street. His body was finally relaxed when he fell into his runners haze, but unfortunately his mind still spun with thoughts about his dreams, conversation with Tig, and worst of all, Carmichael.
     

     
    Evan completed his morning run to the gym, his workout, and his run home. It was the routine he had fallen into for his days off. It was a routine that not only kept him in shape, but also energized him. Sadly though, his jog to and from the gym and his workout in between only ate up a little more than four hours of his time on his days off.
    Straightening up his house and doing laundry when it was needed to be done, didn’t eat up much of his time either. More than once he thought he needed a hobby other than shooting pool.
    Evan had just stepped out of his shower when his phone dinged to let him know he had another text message. His excitement that the message was from Flame or Brostowski with another invitation to hang out had Evan grabbing up his phone quickly.
    He swiped the screen and hit his message icon. His excitement crashed when he saw that the message was from another unknown number. An unknown number that was different from the last two unknown numbers that had sent him strange texts. Still, that didn’t stop him from opening the message.
    The morning sun enhances the beauty that shines from within you .
    This shit was just getting weird. Even though the text messages were from different unknown numbers each time, the shit was weird. So weird, that Evan finally decided to reply.
    You have the wrong number .
    Evan hit send and thought that would be the end of it. He tossed his phone on the counter and was walking toward his bathroom when he heard the phone ding again. Evan ignored the sound that was probably from the sender texting him an apology.
    He dressed before he made himself an early dinner. He frowned when his phone beeped