Sudden Response (EMS #1)(59)

He cleared his throat and thankfully they got the message. They sent Joe a look before changing the conversation. Teddy was a pig, but he knew better than treat any of the females that worked at the station like shit. Every man here would be all over him if he made any of them uncomfortable, well on purpose anyway. The guy seemed to make everyone uncomfortable.

Joe tried to open the driver's side door, but it was locked. When she groaned in annoyance after peaking through the window he knew the keys weren't locked inside. Great. They were going to be down a truck until whoever worked the truck last night hauled their ass back here with the keys or Bill came in and unlocked the backups.

"Guess we have to call dispatch to see if they can track down a set of keys for us," Joe said resignedly, shifting her backpack over her shoulder.

Greg shook his head as he held up the keys for the ambulance. "There's no need. I got them right here."

"Did you check the truck out?" Joe asked, holding her hand out for the keys, but Greg either didn't see her or ignored her as he put them back in his pocket.

"That's the crew's job to do at night. It's a waste of time to check it out in the beginning of the shift," he said with a shrug, moving to turn his back on Joe.

"It's part of the job, Greg. We need to check the truck out before we go into service. Hand me the keys, please," she said tightly and he knew she was just barely reigning in her temper.

He simply shook his head. "The truck's all set," he said dismissively.

Before Joe could take another calming breath he was in the little bastard's face. "She's your training officer. When she asks you to do something you better f**king do it. I don't give a flying f**k who your uncle is. If you don't pass our standards you will not be working in this station. Understand?" he asked as he held his hand out for the keys.

Grounding his jaw, Greg reached into his pocket and handed the keys over. He shot a look to Teddy who of course kept his mouth shut. If he thought that Teddy was going to put himself out for him he was mistaken.

He tossed Joe the keys as he gestured to the ambulance. "Get in there and start checking out the truck."

With a glare in his direction Greg moved his ass and he knew he was going to have to double check everything afterwards. The man hadn't been here a month and he was already adopting Teddy's work ethic. As Joe walked past him she muttered a few unkind words about his ego, but he let it go since he knew she was just pissed off that he had to handle the prick for her.

By the time he bought her breakfast, and apparently since it was his fault that she couldn't grab a bite to eat before they left for work this morning he was treating, she'd forgive him. He supposed since he loved her that he could spoil her a little. O'Malley's bakery ran a two for one deal on coffee rolls every Tuesday so he supposed he'd get her one.

"Is it true what I heard about you and Joe?" Teddy asked.

"Depends on what you heard," he said, climbing in the back of the ambulance and double checking the oxygen levels.

"I heard lots of things, but I was referring to you finally manning up and going for it."

"We're together. Is there a problem with that?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Nah, I'm just shocked that Joe became that desperate that's all," Teddy said, sounding amused and he had to wonder how many times today he was going to hear that.

"I'm not desperate!" Joe yelled from the front of the truck. The admission pleased him until she added, "I was drunk."

"I'm not buying you breakfast for that, smart ass!"

"You really are a cheap bastard," he thought he heard her say, but decided to ignore it and the bastard laughing at him.

Chapter 26

"Let me get that for you, Joe," Greg said, reaching past her to pay the cashier when Eric stepped in front of him, forcing the man back and making Joe wish that she banged out today.

Their shift only began two hours ago but already she wanted to bitch slap them both. Not a good sign when she still had fourteen more hours to go before her shift ended. She really wasn't sure she'd be able to tolerate this little pissing contest for that long.

In Eric's defense, Greg really did seem to be going out of his way to piss him off. It was pretty obvious to her at least that Greg hadn't appreciated being put in his place and was trying to use her to piss Eric off. Every five minutes he seemed to be hitting on her, but only when Eric was around. The only thing it was accomplishing was giving her a headache.

She really didn't need this. All she wanted to do was work. If he wanted to be trained then she'd do that too, but his attitude clearly stated that he wasn't here to learn. He was too damn cocky to realize that he didn't have what it took to do this job and instead of admitting that and asking for help he was too busy pretending that he knew what he was doing.

Eric handed over the money for their order and grabbed the bakery bag and cardboard tray with their drinks and gestured towards the door. "Get your food and meet us in the truck," he said, not bothering to look Greg's way as they headed towards the door.

She held the door open for Eric and caught a glimpse of Greg glaring at Eric's back. Yup, this was just getting better and better. After twelve years she really should be used to this testosterone charged environment and for the most part she was. She just wasn't in the mood for it today.