Normally, it’d be one week here and one at our place, but for the sake of the assignment we’re staying on shift for two weeks.”
“Your place?”
“The four of us live together outside of work as well. We bought a house together by the lake about nine years ago. All went to high school and the academy together, too.”
Aaron braced an arm on a support pillar, leaning towards her. “We do everything together.” His voice was low and gruff, his eyes challenging. She froze like a deer in the headlights, not sure how to respond. Did he really mean what she thought he meant? The thought of sharing a bed with four men should disgust a modern woman like Tammy. But it didn’t. Envisioning these virile men releasing their sexual frustration out on her body made her anxious and her pussy wet.
Darius mocked punched him. “Get the fuck out of here.” Aaron laughed, revealing a gorgeous white smile. She could feel the connection between the two men, the camaraderie. They were just playing around, regular, down-to-earth guys. Maybe this wouldn’t be as uncomfortable as she expected it to be as long as she could stifle her own wanton desires. Their playful banter lowered her guard and she was thankful Aaron wasn’t serious...or was she?
Conall came spiraling down the fire pole in the corner. So it was functional. He was a big guy with broad shoulders, reminding her of a Viking with his unkempt blond hair and strong features. “Welcome to Station 23,” he said in his deep baritone.
She smiled politely. “Thank you. So firefighters really do have a pole.” Tammy tried her best to fit in even though her heart was racing being surrounded by so much testosterone.
There were snickers in the background. It took her a good minute to realize why. Her face must have darkened to an unflattering red. She felt flush and embarrassed. “I guarantee you we all have a pole, long and hard.”
“You’re scaring her, Aaron. Knock it off,” said Darius. She’d already ascertained that Aaron was the flirt in the bunch, and Darius the natural leader. There were mostly women at the Heartland Tribute , so she wasn’t used to men’s crude behavior. She’d have to learn to brush off the sexual innuendo if she were to survive here for two weeks. No matter how it affected her, she had to keep focused on business.
“Do you have any statistics about fires in the city?”
Conall motioned her to sit on one of the sofas. “We can worry about that later. You just got here. We have to get to know our new roommate, no?” There was an empty takeout container on the coffee table, along with the sports section of the newspaper and a couple cell phones.
Tammy sat down and did another visual sweep of the room from her new angle. “What do you usually do when you’re not on a call?” She was wondering how her own days would be spent living in the fire hall for two weeks.
“It’s nice and quiet now, but there always seems to be somewhere we need to be, even if not an emergency. Kids pulling the fire alarm at school, car accidents, false alarms. Last week we had a little old lady call us because her toaster wouldn’t work,” said Conall.
She laughed at that. “And the whole cat-in-tree deal?”
“Exactly.”
“Do you always have to be dressed and ready to go?”
They all wore navy-blue T-shirts which hugged their muscled backs and shoulders. The insignia of the Station was on their left pecs in gold. They had the classic navy pants with the reflective strip on the sides. There really was something to be said about a man in uniform. Especially a group of men in uniform.
“Always,” said Darius. “Just the other day we sat down to a great homemade meal and had to leave it on the table when a call came in. It’s life in the fast lane around here.”
She imagined it would be hard for men like them to settle down and raise a family. A woman would feel cheated with all the time they spent at the station. Tammy could relate to a