Chapter 1     To say that Chase van Casten was nervous was the understatement of the century. Okay, maybe nervous excitement was a better description. He felt as though he was going to jump out of his skin at any moment, even though all he was doing was wiping down the fire engine for what seemed like the eighth time. Waiting around sucked. Everyone was all coiled energy, just waiting to be called into action. “You need to stop looking like you’ll bolt out of here any second,” Hayden said as he inspected Chase’s work. “Why do you think we take such good care of our equipment?” “So it’s ready when we need it,” Chase answered, feeling like he was regurgitating from a textbook. “That’s part of it. But keeping our equipment in working order doesn’t mean we need to wash and polish it every day. Hell, sometimes it’s a wonder the truck isn’t totally waterlogged. Its real purpose is to keep us busy and give us something to do that isn’t sitting around looking at the clock, waiting for the next call. It will come. They always do.” “Yeah. I went on one yesterday out to the highway because there was an accident. But all I did was sit around waiting in case something happened.” He had hoped there would be some action, something he needed to do, but in the end they’d returned to the station once it became clear the cars weren’t going to burst into flames. “It was kind of boring,” he whispered. Hayden looked upward for a second and then laughed. “Being a firefighter is long hours with nothing to do followed by a few minutes of heart-pounding excitement where we need to be calm and collected.” He patted Chase on the shoulder, standing tall before stretching, his shirt riding up. Chase turned away and tried not to react to the strip of warm flesh. Scuttlebutt traveled pretty quickly through the station, and Chase already knew that the other gay firefighter at the station was well and truly taken. Not that he was interested in any sort of relationship. His last one had ended about as badly as possible, and Chase had determined that mindless sex with no commitment or emotional entanglement was the way to go. After all, he was young, strong, and he liked to think good-looking. He was starting to make friends in town, and there were places he could go to meet guys for a good time. That was all he needed. “Where did you go?” Hayden asked. Chase pulled his attention back to what he was doing. “Nowhere. Just thinking about shit.” “That can be dangerous, you know.” Hayden’s tone was teasing. Chase finished what he was doing and was putting away the cleaning supplies when the alarm went off. Instantly the quiet was shattered, not just by sound, but activity. Chase jumped into his fire suit and joined the others on the engine before it pulled out of the garage and raced through the streets. This was what a bat out of hell felt like. The truck rocked with each turn, and the air swirled around the open section of the cab as he watched where they’d been. “Two-alarm house fire,” Hayden said. “This is not going to be pretty. You know your job, so do it right away.” Chase nodded. He had to get the hoses out and hooked up. They had practiced the routine many times. As soon as the truck stopped in front of the house with black smoke pouring out of every front window and the roof, his feet hit the ground. He sprang into action, pulling out hoses and hooking them into a line. Then Hayden attached it to the hydrant, and Chase began spraying water through the upper windows, sending up a cloud of steam. “It’s burning really hot,” Chase said to himself. They had communication through their helmets. Guys scurried behind him, the captain gathering information while Chase concentrated on his job. He moved the stream of water to the second window, sending up more steam.