I left in pursuit of Ethan, who was easy to find. He lay on top of the fire truck, hands behind his head. He could have easily been a model with the pose he held, and I keenly watched him for a moment. He didn’t move a muscle. “I hope you’re not sleeping,” I hollered up to him.
He jerked and looked down at me with a lazy smile. “Never. I’m on duty.” I knew I woke him.
“Hm, I’m sure. Why are all of you sleeping?” I asked. The other times I came for dinner, they were all enjoying their time together. Usually they played cards or kept one another company.
He stretched and sat up, climbing down the ladder in a way that told me he had done it a hundred times before. His white T-shirt beneath overalls appeared crumpled. “We’ve responded to two highway crashes and a spreading outdoor fire today. One of the crashes turned into a pileup that took hours to clean up. Garrett’s been here all night, and because of the chaos he didn’t get to leave. Everyone else came in early. It’s been a shit show today.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “So, everyone’s going to be hungry.”
“Starving,” he corrected.
I smiled as he neared. I grabbed his rough, calloused hand and kissed the knuckles. He smiled and followed as I led him into the break room silently. “It’s a good thing the chili is already cooked and ready to eat,” I told him before we entered the break room.
“Wait for me,” a woman shouted. Sylvia came rushing around the corner, looking at her phone. “Six o’clock on the dot,” she said proudly.
I smiled. “Here for dinner?” I asked.
She scoffed. “I’m here to help cook dinner. And I’m going to bring Garrett home as soon as he’s done eating because he’s been up for twenty-four hours and he is not driving home.”
She followed us into the break room where all the men were sitting up and stretching silently. “It’s a good thing that dinner’s ready,” I told her, lifting the lid of the crockpot. “Come get it while it’s still warm,” I told everyone. I hoped to avoid another interrupted dinner by making it early and bringing it, so I tested my theory as the men all gathered their hardy portions and sat on the couch.
Ethan and Garrett pulled up chairs for Sylvia and me before grabbing their own food. “This is some bomb ass chili,” Nehemiah said as he further stuffed his face.
“Careful, you’re showing your age,” Scott said with a grin.
“I’m only showing that I’m not old like you nerds.”
I snickered. “Nehemiah, how old are you?” I asked. He couldn’t have been older than twenty-one.
“Nineteen.” I was shocked. I had no idea that he was ten years younger than Ethan and me—likely twenty years younger than Scott.
I nodded and took another bite of chili. Sylvia broke the silence. “I have fun news,” she said to the room. Everyone gave their full attention to her. “They town is trying to raise money for the woman’s shelter, and you all know how last year they auctioned off a lot of donations? Well, this year they had a better idea, but they want me to run it by all of you. Listen,” she said dramatically. “It will raise so much money, and…”
“Trust me, dear. Everyone is listening,” Garrett cut her off.
She scowled. “They want to auction off the local firefighters and young police officers for a date,” she squealed.
Garrett looked at her funny. “Over half of us are married or in a relationship. Me included. To you.”
“Those are just details. It’s just a date. It doesn’t have to be romantic,” she claimed, avoiding eye contact. “I mean, you’ll all be shirtless, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
My eyes shot to Ethan, who looked intently at his chili. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I proposed. “What if someone gets the wrong idea? A bunch of shirtless men parading around doesn’t seem too safe.”
Sylvia outright laughed. “I promise, they can take care of themselves. Plus, there will be a photographer there, and they want to do a spread in the magazine. Please, please, please,” she pleaded. “I told the mayor I’d convince you.”
I choked up a piece of ground beef. “The mayor is supporting this?” I asked.
“Of course, he is. Who wouldn’t want to see the most eligible bachelors in Brunswick marching around without a shirt?”
“A middle aged, straight man, probably,” I said, referring to the mayor. I glanced toward Ethan once again. I knew Sylvia was aware of his discomfort, but why was nobody else considering him?
“I’m in. I don’t have a girl at home,” Benji said, getting up and reaching for the spoon to serve himself another scoop of chili.
“That makes one out of five,” I told Sylvia. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Scott sighed. “I’m sure my old lady would be fine with this as long as she can bid away our money, too.”
Nehemiah grinned ear to ear. “I’m in,” he said. “But I’ll run for a hell of a lot more than you old men.”
Garrett shook his head. “Well my wife already volunteered me.”
I stared at Ethan, who was the last to remain silent. We all continued eating the chili, and the other men started a side conversation, wondering how much they’d be worth to the public. Would they get to be in the newspaper shirtless? Did they get to pick their favorite bidder? They were all hyped, but Ethan didn’t say a word.
He finally looked up. “I’m not doing it,” he said.
Everyone went silent. “Why not, dude?” Benji asked immediately. “You’re not fat like Scott.”
“Shut the hell up, Benji,” Scott said, glaring at him. Benji was easily double the weight of Scott, so he had
