“You have to get out! The ladder is outside the window, GO!”
“No! I won’t leave her! She unconscious. I’ll pull her out—“cough, cough”—if you can lift this damn thing.”
Gabe could tell the man was serious about not leaving without the woman. He figured it must be his wife or someone he loved.
To have someone love you that much, you would never be left behind. He longed for just that.
He put both hands under the edge of the cabinet while the other man dropped the pole and grabbed onto the woman’s arms. With one great heave the cabinet was raised. The man screamed in pain but managed to pull the woman out before falling to the ground himself and coughing violently.
Gabe quickly lifted the woman into his arms and carried her to the window, handing her off to Lee before turning to pick up the last survivor who was still coughing on the floor. Gabe removed his oxygen mask and placed it over the man’s face before stepping onto the ladder and heading down to the waiting EMTs. Now that they were away from the smoke, Gabe looked down at the man in his arms to find stunning moss-green eyes staring up at him. Wow… just wow.
Desperate for something to clear away the sucker punch that one look had delivered, Gabe could only come up with the other woman in the fire. “Your wife is going to be okay. We got her out thanks to your help.”
Gabe gently placed the man down on the waiting gurney as one of the EMTs removed the oxygen mask Gabe had given him and replaced it with one from a tank in their rig. Gabe noticed more burns on the man’s hands and chest as well as bleeding across his abdomen.
The green-eyed man quickly pushed the mask away from his face. “Wife?”
“Building’s clear, Gabe. Now we just need to keep it contained,” Lee stated through Gabe’s headset.
“Copy, on my way.”
“Wife?” the man asked again, looking adorably confused.
“Yes, the lady under the cabinet is already being transported to the hospital,” Gabe replied, doing his best to not look into those beautiful eyes or at the tempting bottom lip that was currently between the other man’s teeth. The man looked confused for a moment, and then his face lit up in happiness and it was like the clouds parted with just that one look. Where the hell did that cliché come from?
“Janice! She’s safe?”
“Yes, she’s on her way to the hospital. You can meet her there when you’re transported.” Gabe began to back a few feet away; he had to get back to the fire and stop staring at the poor man. Damn, I’ve been alone too long when I’m lusting after a married, heterosexual man.
It wasn’t easy for Gabe to find the right partner being a gay firefighter. Sure, easy sex was always available, but he wanted a commitment. Men may think it’s hot to date a fireman, but they soon found the hours he worked and the dangers he faced to be too much and would eventually leave.
“Wait, wife? Janice? No… I’m gay. She’s my friend….” The man began coughing so violently he was gagging over the side of the gurney.
“We’re outta here, Gabe,” Royce, his friend and one of the EMTs, stated as he replaced the oxygen mask.
Gabe ran back over just as they were about to load the gurney into the back of the ambulance. “Wait, what’s your name?”
“Johnny Jeffrey.”
Gabe and Royce shared a look before Royce gave a slight nod and smiled. Then the doors were closed and the ambulance sped away, leaving Gabe and the rest of the firefighters to battle the blaze into the late afternoon. Royce would keep an eye on the guy for Gabe as best he could. After all, the man did save his young cousin’s life, and he couldn’t just ignore these instant feelings of attraction, could he?
