Beautiful Burn (The Maddox Brothers, #4)(44)

He put down the phone and shook his head.

“Did you say Trav?”

“Travis,” he said, deflated. “My baby brother.”

“Everything all right?” I asked.

“Uh … yeah. I think so,” he said, lost in thought. “He just got married.”

“Really? That’s great, right?”

“Yeah … Abby is … she’s amazing. He’s crazy in love with her. I’m just surprised. They’ve been split up.”

“Oh. That’s um … that’s kind of weird.”

“They’re like that. I guess there was a fire at the college where I graduated. It’s in my hometown.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“It was pretty bad. Broke out in a basement, and a lot of people were trapped.”

“In a basement?”

“Uh … that college is sort of known for underground floating fight rings.”

“Underground what?”

“It’s kind of like a betting ring. Two guys are set up to fight. No one knows where until an hour before. The coordinator calls the fighters, their guys call ten people, then they call five, on and on.”

“Then what?”

He shrugged. “Then they fight. People bet. It’s a shit ton of money.”

“How do you know so much about it?”

“I started it. Taylor and me with the coordinator, Adam.”

The look in Tyler’s eyes when I’d bet on him at my house the first night we met now made sense. “So was Travis there?”

Tyler’s expression fell, and he looked at me for several seconds before answering. “He eloped to Vegas.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Tyler said, rubbing the back of his neck. “More OJ?”

“No, I’m good. We should probably head in.”

Tyler paid the check, and then held my hand to the truck like it was the most natural thing in the world. When he dropped me off at the MountainEar, the air between us felt heavy and awkward. It was that should we or shouldn’t we kiss moment and what does it mean if we do?

I reached for the handle.

“Hang on a sec,” Tyler said, reaching for me. He slid his fingers between mine, and then lifted my hand to his lips.

“Thanks for staying with me last night,” I said.

“I’m glad I was there to run off your uninvited guest.”

“Me, too.”

He took my phone, tapping in numbers and then letters. “If he bothers you again,” Tyler said, the crease between his brows deepening. “Call me. But just … you know … call me, anyway.”

I stepped out of the truck and waved to him as he pulled away. He bumped up the volume on his radio, and I could hear the bass thumping until he turned onto the highway toward the hotshot dorms.

The door chimed as I walked in to the office. “Morning,” I said, waving to Jojo on my way to my desk.

Not only was Wick’s door was closed, but a stunning bouquet of butter-yellow and vivid violet roses reached out from a simple glass vase. I circled my desk, crossing one arm across my waist, touching my lips with my fingers, trying not to let my entire face erupt into a smile. Flowers, romance, and theatrics were last on my list of things I wanted from Tyler, but I sat down, soaking in how absolutely giddy it made me.

Jojo poked her head in the doorway. “Who are they from?”

I leaned forward once more to confirm and lifted my hands, letting them hit my thighs. “I couldn’t find a card.”

“No card? Do you have a guess?” she asked, sauntering into the room and planting her backside on the love seat. “Maybe the guy who just dropped you off?”

I reached down to turn on my desktop, taking a few seconds to get the ridiculous expression off my face before sitting upright. “Maybe.”

Jojo crossed her arms, looking quite smug. “I thought this might happen, with you spending so much time at the station. I just didn’t realize it would happen so soon.”

“Nothing is happening. We’re friends.”

“Clearly,” Jojo said with a smirk. “You look like you’ve lost weight. Did they feed you?”

“Barely.”

She stood. “I brought donuts to celebrate your first day back. They’re in the break room.”

“You’re a saint, but I’ve already had breakfast. I’ll eat some for lunch.”

“I have a lot to do today. Are you doing that write-up for me?”

“As best I can. Remember, I’m not a writer. I’ll just write what I know, and you can turn it into a story.”

“Yeah, yeah … I heard you the first time,” she said, disappearing around the corner.

I opened a new document and stared at the blank page for a while before my gaze wandered to the bouquet. I’d been sent flowers before, mostly from my father, but thought had been put into this bouquet. The colors were straight from my room, the roses meaning more than just ‘thanks for last night.’ Maybe I was reading too far into it, but Tyler wasn’t one to make dishonest gestures.

I shook it off, focusing on Jojo’s request. I recounted my first day, the basics like the names of the tools, what they looked like, and the crew’s funny nicknames. They all respected one another, but, in my opinion, looked up to Tyler. He settled arguments, led them on the mountain, and they respected the decisions he made when Jubal wasn’t around to make them. I talked about fuel breaks and mineral soil and vegetation. Packs, supplies, flight weight, and ten codes. I included my limited knowledge on slutter, fire towers, coordinates, and weather. Then I added stories like the one about the best helo pilot Tyler had ever worked with—an Aussie redhead named Holly who could back in her Huey and swing it around at the last minute to get them on the side of the mountain so they didn’t have to hike so far in—and the time Tyler ate a fat, juicy grub worm for two hundred dollars.