Marco
It’s been two months since I got caught up in that house fire and one month since the investigation concluded. As Cap had warned him, Lieutenant Nick Pierce was fired. I declined to press criminal charges against him and the last anyone heard was that he’d left Chicago, destination unknown. The general consensus was that he wouldn’t be missed. One thing is for sure—I definitely felt better attending a call-out with Engine 22 and knowing I could trust Alex, their new lieutenant, to have my back and my guys’ backs if needed.
The other thing that happened since then has been a bit of living situation switcheroo. Given the option of staying or going, Gio opted to stay and live in my house by himself. He said he might end up getting a roommate at some stage, but in the meantime, he’s happy to have his own space without—in his words—”walking into the living room and cock-blocking my brother.”
The other change was Hayley moving out of Renee’s duplex and in with Grams. To her credit, Grams tried to protest and say that she didn’t need a babysitter, but she admitted to Renee that she felt a little better knowing that Hayley would be there just in case anything happened. Although, they did both agree to not encroach on each other’s social lives, which included Hayley not bringing men home, and Grams promising not to cause any trouble when her ‘girls’ came to visit from out of state.
And today, after months and months of training, Firehouse 101 is facing Firehouse 22 and other teams in the Tough Mudder, with the winning crew earning bragging rights, and all money raised going to the winner’s chosen charity. In this case, we’ve agreed that if either house wins, Big Brothers Big Sisters will receive the donation regardless.
“You ready for this?” Renee asks as we walk hand in hand toward the start area.
“Hell, yeah. We’re determined to come out on top, and we’ve got a secret weapon up our sleeves that we didn’t have last year.”
“Oh, really? And who’s that? Don’t say Scotty, because I won’t believe you,” she says with a laugh.
I shake my head. “Don’t count him out. He’s stubborn and for all his faults, he never leaves a man behind. Which is good for a team event like this, he’ll make sure we all get through an obstacle before moving on.”
“Maybe I misjudged the guy,” she says, as we make a beeline to where our crew are all standing around in a circle.
I give her hand a squeeze. “Scotty Jones is a lot of things, but he’s one of the most loyal and dependable men I know.”
“Maybe Hayley should’ve given him a chance after all.”
“Oh, no. Your sister would spit him out and eat him for breakfast. The best thing she could’ve done was blow him off after their one-night stand.”
“Um . . . it might’ve been two one-night stands.”
I turn and stare at her. “No wonder he thought he was in with a chance. She led him on a bit.”
She winces guiltily. “Yeah. Hayls has a habit of moving past anything and anyone that could be good for her, mainly because she has this image in her head of the perfect man and she’s vowed to never give up until she finds him.”
“And until then?”
“She’s happy living life on the single-and-always-ready-to-mingle train.”
I chuckle, Renee joining in when her words sink in. She gives me a gentle elbow bump. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Princess, any time you want to get off on my train, just say the word and hop onboard.”
“Oh my god. That was terrible.”
I grab hold of her head and touch my lips to her temple. “And yet I guarantee you’re thinking about jumping me, aren’t ya?”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And yet, I’m the lucky S.O.B. who gets you all to myself.”
She beams up at me. “Yep. But only if you win today. If you lose to 22, then I’m thinking you’ll be far too tired for any post-race celebrations tonight.”
“Just you watch, princess.”
“I will. Speaking of that, I should let you go. I see our little Firehouse 101 cheerleading crew over there, ready and waiting.”
I look over and spot my family, Grams, Hayley, Skye, Cohen’s brothers and their families, and Ezra and Gilly. “I’ll walk you over,” I say, changing direction..
After greeting everyone and giving Mama, Grams, Hayley, and Skye a kiss and a hug, I move to Ezra and Gilly, shaking Ezra’s hand. “This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you two here.”
“We met with Renee earlier in the week to sign the sale documents for the apartment and Wicker Park place, and she mentioned you and Cohen were doing this today, so we figured we’d come along too.”
“Awesome. Thanks. I’m surprised Renee didn’t hit you up for a donation too,” I say, stepping away from the main group.
Ezra laughs. “Don’t worry, she did. But it’s all for a good cause, and better yet, tax-deductible.”
Gilly rolls her eyes. “Ignore my husband. He’d donate regardless.”
“Ez here probably wants to see me fall on my ass and get a mouthful of mud.”
“That’s just an added bonus,” he replies with a smirk.
“I was actually meaning to catch up with you for a beer soon,” I say.
He quirks a brow. “You need some plans drawn up?”
“Not at all—it’s more to ask a favor. Your sister, Delilah. How is she doing?”
“Good . . .” he answers slowly, obviously wondering why I’m asking. I stand beside him and hook an arm over his shoulders, pointing over toward my crew and where Rhodes and Jake are standing.
“See the tall guy over there with the teenager standing next to him?”
“Yeah?”
I turn back to look him in the eye, Gilly’s lips slowly curve up, and if ever I doubted the existence of women’s intuition, I don’t now. “That’s Rhodes, my best friend, and his son, Jake. He lost his wife five years ago and it’s just been him and Jake since then, and it seems that he’s finally open to the idea of dating again and has been sneakily watching episodes of a certain YouTube cooking channel.”
“Okay. So he watches Dee’s videos. Is he a bit of a fan?” Gilly says, almost sounding giddy. “Because I’m sure we can arrange a meeting or something. We’ve got Skye and Cohen’s BBQ coming up in a few weeks. I can just invite her along. If she’s not working or filming, she’s spending time with my nephew, Harvey.”
“That sounds like a good start,” I say, earning a confused frown from Ezra but Gilly is all smiles, her eyes twinkling with mischief and understanding.
She winks at me. “I see what you’re doing, Marco, and I approve. It seems like matchmaking runs in the Rossi family.”
I hold my hands up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mrs. Baker. But if you want to help me the same way you helped Skye get Renee to give me a chance, I’m not going to say no.”
“We’ll talk. Okay?” she replies.
Ezra just laughs and shakes his head, wrapping an arm around his wife. “I don’t wanna know. I’ll let you two play cupid. All I care about is that he treats her right and makes her happy.”
“He’s one of the best men and fathers I know.”
Ezra reaches out and shakes my hand. “That’s what I needed to hear.” He gestures behind me. “I think you better get over there. The race is about to start.”
“Shit. Okay. We’ll catch up afterward,” I say, looking around and finding Renee talking to Grams. I quickly walk to her and lean down to give her a kiss.
“Good luck, Lieutenant,” she says, bringing her mouth to my ear. “If you win, I’ll let you do anything, anywhere, anytime.”
I pull back and grin at her. “You’re on, princess.” Then I jog over to the crew to warm up and make sure we’re all stretched and ready to go.
When we hear the five-minute warning, we move to the start line, shake hands with the members of Firehouse 22, and wait for the starter’s gun.
For the record, it was neck and neck between 22 and 101 right up until the last obstacle—the Texas Hold’em—where team members have to pair up and shuffle along a see-sawing triangle platform that moves and shakes back and forth with even the smallest of jerks. It came down to the last pairing of Jake and myself, with Engine 22 edging ahead halfway through. But with our little cheerleading team yelling and cheering for us on the sidelines, and our crew egging us on and screaming at us to ‘move our asses’ and ‘hurry the hell up,’ Jake and I pushed and pulled, growled and grunted, and with our muscles burning and our legs aching, we rallied right till the end. Our hands gripped together and we lifted them high in the air as we collapsed across the finish line with a five-second margin over our just-as-tired rivals.
I’m barely back on my feet when I see a flash of movement coming at me, and I just have time to brace myself before Renee jumps up into my arms, not giving a single shit that I’m wet and covered in mud from head to toe. Then she grabs my face in her hands and slams her mouth down on mine for a hard, long, deep kiss for the ages.
“You ready to go home, Lieutenant?” she asks breathlessly when we finally pull apart.
“I am now that you’ve got a promise to follow through with.”
“Aww, you sure you’re not too tired?” she asks, her lips quirking into a deceptive smile.
I squeeze her ass and hold her to me as we walk our way over to the stage where the prize-giving is going to be held. “As soon as we get our trophy, I’m taking you home. I’ll never be too tired to lay back and watch you do all the work, princess. It’s time for you to sit on your throne.”
Up next – Rhodes and Delilah’s story in Life Changer where we’ll see the single, divorced mom and our favorite widowed, single dad get another chance at getting their own happy ever after. Keep reading for a sneak peek.