SCORCHED: A Firefighter Stepbrother Romance Thriller by Evelyn Graves Read Free Book Online Page A

told him that at night I
grew wings and moonlighted as the Tooth Fairy. “Shit, I thought you were an
only child.”

 
    “We
haven’t talked in a while.” Before he could say anything else, I added, “Look,
man, I don’t want to get into it.”

 
    Garfield
went quiet for a minute, and I thought it was over. Then he frowned and I
sighed. Dude was like a dog with a bone. “But I know I’ve seen her somewhere
before. It’s starting to fuckin ’ drive me nuts, y’know ?”

 
    All
right. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

 
    “I
don’t know where the hell you would have seen her before, Garfield. I didn’t
even know she still lived in the city. I didn’t exactly leave under the best
circumstances, and if it’s all right with you, I’d really like to fuckin ’ drop it, all right?”

 
    “But, I
mean, if you didn’t bring her around, then I must have seen her somewhere else.”
Fuck-face McGee must’ve been drunk, because usually all I had to do around the
station was tell someone to shut the fuck up, and they did it. They all knew
better. “Does she go to the gym, or something?”

 
    “For
fuck’s sakes, Garfield, I don’t fuckin ’ know. This is
the first time I’ve even talked to her in years. ”

 
    “She go to school? I’m takin ’ some
courses at the community college. Maybe I’ve seen her there.”

 
    “What’s
a retard like you doin ’ taking college courses?” Stoggins interrupted, and I heard a few of the other guys chuckle. “Shit, man. If that girl’s
in college, she’s damn well outta your league. Plus she’s Gunner’s
sister. She’s off-limits. Leave it alone.”

 
    I cast
a thankful glance in Stoggins ’ direction and Garfield
sighed, looking at the ground. I didn’t understand why this was bugging him so
much. But the more he thought about it, the more agitated and determined he
seemed to place just where he’d seen Tanya before.

 
    “Where
does she work?” he asked, looking up from a few moments of contemplation.

 
    “I
don’t know,” I sighed, rubbing my face. “I think she’s a waitress. Maybe the
last time you were stuffin ’ your fat face, she’s the
one who served your food.”

 
    “That’s startin ’ to ring a bell, yeah.” He nodded, tapping his
foot. Christ, I could practically hear the gears turning. If he thought about
this much harder, he was gonna set off our smoke alarms. “I just can’t place her at any of my usual haunts.
Shit, I feel like I’ve seen her a lot ,
thought. I just don’t know where. You know what place she waitresses at?”

 
    “Garfield,
drop it, man,” Stoggins warned.

 
    “Some
club,” I told him through my teeth. “Downtown. That’s all I got. Now fuckin ’ give it up before
I . . . ”

 
    Garfield’s
face flushed for a moment, then went white as a sheet.
No sooner had I mentioned it being a club than our conversation ground to a halt.

 
    “Oh,”
he said, his tone a mix of realization and dread.
“I . . . Okay, Gunner. Whatever you say, man.”

 
    I
narrowed my eyes. I didn’t like the way that sounded one bit.

 
    “What
the hell does ‘oh’ mean, Garfield?”

 
    “Nothing,
dude, let’s just forget it.”

 
    “No, I want
to know what the hell ‘oh’ means. Spit it out.”

 
    He
sighed, running a hand over his slicked-back hair. His eyes darted around, his
weight shifting in the cheap lawn chair he’d plotted his ass into. I could feel
my heart rate rising as my annoyance with this whole conversation reached a
boiling point.

 
    “There’s
the club I go to every once in a while downtown— y’know ,
someplace I go to unwind. Well, it’s the only time I ever go downtown,
honestly, and . . . ” He sighed, wiping his forehead as
sweat began to glisten on his skin. “It’s not exactly the most savory of places,
if you catch my drift.”

 
    “Get to
it, Garfield,” I snapped, my voice rising high enough to start getting