“What do you mean?” Preston narrowed his eyes at me and the expression on his face immediately twisted into a look of concern. “You know he doesn’t really love you, right?”
“I—are you sure?” I blinked in surprise.
“No. If you want to fuck, we can do that, but that’s all this is—that’s all it’s ever been.” There was a coldness to Preston that had never been directed at me, and his tone was rather harsh.
“But…” My words trailed off for a second. “Hudson said…”
“Hudson was confused.” Preston folded his arms across his chest. “He just got caught up in the heat of the moment.”
“He said that?” I felt my legs trembling as I processed Preston’s words—they cut into me like a knife.
“Yes.” Preston nodded quickly. “You can go ask him yourself if you want.”
“He—really said he was just confused?” I felt my lip quivering.
“Yes. We love fucking you—but that’s all we love.” Preston’s eyes narrowed further, and his nose twitched. “Did you really think two guys that shared you were going to decide you had a magic pussy and want to turn that into a relationship?”
“No…” I looked down at the floor. “I guess not.”
This was a huge fucking mistake. I should have never come here.
“Go to California, fuck every guy you meet. I don’t give a damn what you do. If you ever come back to Andalusia, I’ll bend you over a table for a quick fuck, but that’s all I’ll want from you. If you’re not going to take off your panties, then this conversation is over.” Preston motioned towards the door. “Either take off your clothes or hit the road.”
I couldn’t even respond. Preston was so cruel—so cold. That wasn’t the guy I had spent my summer with. It couldn’t be. I was a fucking fool. My knees were shaking, and my legs were about to give out. I should have left things where were—and let Hudson’s moment of weakness be my last memory of the Anderson brothers. Instead, something that had meant so much turned into a nightmare before my eyes. The breath was sucked out of my lungs. My heart shattered into a million pieces. I grabbed the pieces in my hands as I ran towards the door. I made it to my car, catching myself before the spinning in my head made me fall to the ground. I looked over my shoulder at the house that held so many memories—memories that were good ones before Preston soured them. The door opened, and Hudson walked outside. He stared at me for a moment, but I wasn’t brave enough to let him destroy me too. Preston said all there was to say.
This fucking town. I’ll never come back. I’ll never let myself believe in a fantasy again—now I know that there’s more cruelty in the world than I ever imagined.
9
Preston
Present day
“We’ve got another call.” I ran towards the locker room and motioned to Hudson. “It’s a real fire this time—there are people inside.”
“Shit, really?” He ran up beside me. “Where is it?”
“It’s the Bed & Breakfast downtown. The fire started in the kitchen and there are a few quests trapped upstairs.” I ran towards the truck with my hat in my hand.
There were no arguments about who was driving, or what we would do when we got to the location of the fire. We were trained to save lives, even if we didn’t get an opportunity to do it very often. It wasn’t going to be the two of us responding, it was all hands on deck. I hopped into the passenger seat, Hudson hopped in the driver’s seat, and the other five firefighters on duty climbed up on the truck. When we got to the scene of the fire, it was chaos. The workers at the Bed & Breakfast ran up to our truck and started screaming about the people trapped inside. I put on my mask and started towards the Bed & Breakfast with Hudson behind me. The smoke was thick already and the fire was at the base of the stairs. The Bed & Breakfast was old, and the wood might as well have been kindling for the inferno.
“I’ll go upstairs.” I motioned toward the fire.
“No!” Hudson grabbed my arm. “We need to get the fire put out before we try—it’s too dangerous.”
“I’ll be okay.” I pulled away from him and charged towards the stairs.
There was solace in danger. I didn’t have a death wish, but I would give my life for someone else if that was what it took. The people that loved them didn’t deserve to lose the ones they cared about. I felt the heat scorching my skin when I got to the bottom of the stairs, but I pushed through it. My coat wasn’t going to burst into flames, but there was only so much it could do when I was literally wading through fire. The window next to me shattered and water started to cover the stairs as I walked. At least I didn’t have to worry about the fire spreading while I was upstairs. The smoke cleared out some as I got to the top floor, but I could hear screaming. It sounded like a child, which made my stomach clench. The fire hadn’t reached the top floor, but that didn’t mean someone didn’t get hurt stumbling around in the smoke.
Fucking hell. Where are they?
Between the roar of the blaze below me and the helmet, I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the sound. I started running to the doors, driving the point of my ax into the wood, and checking to see if anyone was inside. I finally found the room I was looking for and saw a woman lying on the floor with a little girl kneeling beside her. The little girl was screaming for her mother to wake up, and I saw burn marks on the woman’s arms. She had tried to get through the fire and gotten hurt in the process. She also had a wound on her head, which suggested she had fallen. I scooped her up and grabbed the kid. I don’t think the little girl understood what was going on because she started kicking and screaming, but I didn’t have time to explain. I ran back to the stairs and saw that the fire hadn’t spread thanks to the water, but it was worse at the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t run through the flames with both of them in my arms.
“Preston!” I heard Hudson’s voice and looked down to see him on the edge of the stairs. “Lower her down!”
“Right.” I nodded quickly and shifted my weight.
Dropping someone over the railing was a risk, especially if she had a head injury, but I didn’t have a choice. I also couldn’t do it safely with the little girl going berserk in my arms. I tried to calm her down, but once she saw that I was trying to sling her over the railing of the staircase, she started to freak out even more. Hudson motioned for me to drop her, and before I had a chance, the railing crumbled. I nearly lost my footing entirely, balancing on the balls of my feet as I contemplated life and death in an instant. I had to drop the girl. Hudson had to catch her. There was no other alternative. I released my grip and she clawed at my arm as she fell. I was afraid to even look down but let out a sigh of relief when I saw her land safely in Hudson’s arms. He bolted towards the door and one of the other firefighters we worked with motioned for me to lower the woman. She was unconscious so it was a lot easier to hold her by the wrists and release her safely into his waiting arms—it was the best I could do under the circumstances.