How to Date a Dragon

“Only for a few minutes. Brandee finally made me believe that Nick wouldn’t let anything happen to me… and I had to come up for wine.”

Bliss chuckled because she’d have done anything for a glass of wine last night. She stared again at the total destruction in front of them. Fat chance of getting one here.

“So… do you remember what set off Ruxandra?” Bliss had been hoping and praying that Anthony was able to hypnotize her roommate before they were interrupted. So far Angie hadn’t said anything about the damning “diary” or dragons, or indicated that Bliss might have lost her mind.

“It’s funny, but I really don’t. I was about to ask Anthony something… and I can’t even remember what it was now. Ruxandra screamed about us staring into each other’s eyes like she thought we were lovers. It must have been her usual paranoia about Anthony hooking up with one of his staff.”

Hiding the relieved smile that must have made a brief appearance on her face, Bliss shook her head. “That’s one thing I won’t miss.”

Angie looked at her, surprised. “You mean there’s something you will miss about this place?”

“Of course there is!” Bliss put her arm around her roommate’s shoulder. “I’ll miss you, for sure. You’ve been the best, most considerate roommate I’ve ever had.”

Angie laid her head on Bliss’s shoulder. “Awww… you’re just saying that.”

“Not at all. It’s true.” Other things she would miss were more nebulous. She’d miss the friendly camaraderie of the regulars, Sophie’s White Russians, Claudia… but most of all, she’d miss her independence.

“So, where will you go now?” Angie asked.

Bliss groaned. “The only place I can afford that won’t resent my presence after a day or two. My parents’ house.”

Angie gasped and stared at her with an expression of horrified sympathy. “Oh, no. I know how much you hate it there. Couldn’t you move in with Drake?”

Bliss would have loved that, but picturing the two of them in that one cramped room was impossible. “I stayed there last night, but he was at the station. It’s too early in our relationship to be on top of each other—well, you know what I mean…”

Angie laughed. Bliss was glad to hear her laugh about something, even if it was her own Freudian slip. “Anyway, that’s one good way to kill a romance.”

“I suppose.” Then as if something just occurred to her, Angie gasped. “The competition! Are you still able to participate? I mean, they were coming the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. I called the producer this morning. They’ll meet with me at my parents’ house, and I’ll just have to insist my mother behave herself.”

“What are you afraid she’ll do?”

Bliss pinched the bridge of her nose. “She’ll announce that I’m single and probably look right into the camera and claim any man would be lucky to have a woman who can cook and clean like she taught me.”

Angie covered her mouth and tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a smile.

Bliss didn’t give her a chance to pursue that conversation further. “You should have heard the glee in the producer’s voice when I told her I had been in not one, but two fires and had to recreate all my designs.”

“I guess that’ll make for good TV.”

“Exactly. I don’t know why I expected she’d react differently, but she never asked, ‘Wow, are you hurt?’ or ‘Is there anything we can do to help?’ You know what she said?”

“What?”

“She said, ‘Holy shit, the viewers will love that!’ Apparently I’m already the fan favorite, but when the show with the finalists and their families airs, and everyone hears about the catastrophes I had…” Bliss rolled her eyes.

“Hey, you should get something out of all this.” Angie rubbed Bliss’s back. “Did you call your mother to tell her you’re coming home?”

Remembering how her mother reacted the last time she’d heard her precious daughter had barely escaped death, Bliss sighed. “No.”

“I have my cell phone if you want to use it.”

“Thanks, but no. I figured I’d be better off telling her in person this time. As long as she can see me standing, walking, and talking, she might react a little better than last time. And that’s just a maybe.”

“I’m sure she’ll be relieved to know you’re all right.”

Bliss snorted. “Yeah, after she rails at the ceiling, asking God what I’ve done to deserve this. Then, assuming I know the answer to that, she’ll insist I go to confession and follow whatever edict the priest gives me to save my tarnished soul.”

“Or maybe she’ll just pray for you.”

Bliss chuckled. “You don’t know my mother.”

* * *

Drake sat in the chair opposite Chief Tate’s desk. What did I do now?

When the chief finally walked into his office, he didn’t even sit down. “You’re going to the EAP, Drake.”

“The Employee Assistance Program? Why?”

“Because I think you should.”

“I don’t need…”

Chief Tate held up one hand to silence him. “I didn’t say you had a choice.”

“But I’m fine.” Drake turned his chair to face him. “I don’t understand. I had on my protective gear, I’m not coughing…”

“I’m not sending you for smoke inhalation… although that might be a good thing to look at and see if it’s clouding your brain.”

“Huh?”

“I could order you to get a psych eval. I could say you have a death wish and are not only endangering your own life, but the lives of other firefighters.”

Drake shot to his feet. “What?”

The chief folded his arms and set his jaw, as if accepting Drake’s challenge. “You’re going. It’ll look better if you ask for the appointment yourself and talk to someone confidentially. I need to know if you have a death wish. If not, I’ll be glad to keep you on.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“From what I’ve seen and heard over the past few weeks, you’ve been taking too many chances and tempting fate. I thought you were in the bar when it collapsed, and that’s when I made my decision.”

“You thought you’d send my dead body for a psych eval?”

“No, dimwit. I promised myself if you got out alive, I’d send you for some kind of help before you wound up dead… and God knows how many more I might lose, trying to rescue you. I hate attending firefighters’ funerals.”

“That makes two of us.”

Drake didn’t like what he was hearing, but he had to admit the chief had cause. Anyone paying attention would eventually realize he was always the first one in and the last one out. It might look bad to those who didn’t know he was fireproof… in other words, everyone.

“Chief,” Drake tried to relax. “I understand how it might look, but I assure you I’m very happy with my life. I don’t have a death wish.”

“Fine. Tell it to the shrink, or whoever the EAP hooks you up with. If he thinks you need help, you’ll do what he tells you. Understood?”

Drake rubbed his eyes and muttered, “I don’t believe this.”

“Oh, you can believe it, all right.”

“You’re not committing me or anything… There’s still a chance the EAP will send me home with a warning to be more careful, isn’t there?”

The chief shrugged. “I have no idea what he’ll decide, but whatever that is, you’ll do it.”

Drake felt like a two-year-old who’d been scolded for running with scissors. “So when do I need to