Sudden Response

Chapter 1

“Fresh meat,” Eric said, reading the homemade sign drawn on the back of an old pizza box with a chuckle as he pulled on the light-blue uniform shirt over his white tee-shirt. “You must be Greg.”

The man currently tied to a backboard began nodding frantically as Eric took in the boys’ recent work. They had Greg strapped to a backboard in nothing but his boxers. His mouth was taped shut with a piece of two-inch white medical tape. Someone, probably Johnson, drew a happy face on his stomach. To top it off, they’d leaned Greg back against the chain-link fence with the sign taped across his hips for the entire world to see.

Eric put his bag down on the sidewalk and worked on fixing his uniform as he said, “I’m really sorry about this, Greg. I meant to get here sooner, but I got held up.”

Greg tried to shrug it off against his restraints.

“I gotta tell you that I’m a little embarrassed to work with these guys,” Eric said, sighing heavily as he gestured lazily in Greg’s direction, who nodded in understanding.

“I tell the boys if they’re going to do something, do it right the first time. We take a lot of pride in our work around here, but this,” Eric said, shaking his head in disgust with a heavy sigh as he grabbed a can of spray paint from his bag and shook it, “has amateur written all over it. I’m sorry, Greg, but I have a reputation to protect.”

With that, Eric spray-painted Greg’s brown hair a lovely shade of green.

After a few minutes, Eric stepped back to examine his work. “Better, but not quite what I’m looking for,” he murmured only to follow that up with a heavy sigh as he retrieved a red marker from his bag and set to work.

“There, that’s much better,” Eric said with an approving nod a moment later as he stepped back to examine his work. The green hair and full, pouty red lips definitely worked for him.

With that, Eric picked up his bag and gave Greg a smile. “Welcome to the 707,” Eric said as he walked away, leaving Greg behind to enjoy a lovely afternoon.

“What’s up, Eric?” Aaron asked as Eric stepped inside the old fire station.

“Not much,” Eric said absently as he made his way upstairs to find the rest of the overnight crew watching the game.

“Eric!” they shouted in unison when they saw him.

“Gentlemen, I see that you greeted my third rider,” Eric said with a heavy sigh and a sad shake of his head. “Very disappointing work.”

Ethan winced as he ran a hand over his bald head. “We had to rush it. The game was coming on.”

Eric looked at the large flatscreen television where the Yankees were playing Boston at Fenway. “My apologies, gentlemen,” he drawled as he made his way to the sleeping quarters in the back. He headed to the last room on the right and threw his bag on the first bed, noting that the other bed was empty, letting him know that his partner for the overnight shift wasn’t here yet. He didn’t bother making up his bunk since the last fucking thing that he wanted to do was to spend more time with the asshole.

He wasn’t supposed to be working tonight, but the lieutenant called him a few hours ago and asked if he could come in and train a third rider. Since his social life had turned shit sometime in the last year, he’d jumped at the chance to earn some extra money for medic school.

“Eric, you have a call!” Jeff yelled as Eric made his way back to the rec room, absently noting the guys were now watching him instead of the game. Wondering what they were up to, he headed to the counter where Jeff stood, grinning hugely as he placed his hand over the phone.

“It’s a woman. God, she sounds sexy as hell!” Jeff whispered with a wink as he handed the phone to Eric.

“This is Eric,” he said, having absolutely no idea who would be calling him at work.

“Hi, sweetie!” came the warm welcome that had Eric biting back a sigh as he looked back at the men and promptly gave them a one-finger salute that had them laughing their asses off.

“Hey, Mom, what’s going on?” Eric asked as he leaned back against the counter.

“I’m calling to make sure that you’re coming tomorrow night for dinner. Your brother will be here with his new girlfriend.”

“I’ll be there,” Eric said, praying like hell that this wasn’t another one of his mother’s matchmaking attempts. According to his mother, it didn’t matter that he was a grown man, she had a responsibility to make sure he was happy, and of course, that meant finding him a wife.

“I wanted to tell you about this lovely girl that I met at the grocery store yesterday.”

“Oh, Christ, Mom, you didn’t,” Eric said, feeling a headache coming on.

She, of course, ignored him and continued. “She’s pretty, single, young, and did I mention head cashier?”

“Mom, call her and cancel. I’m not interested.”

“I don’t see why I should. I offered the poor girl a homemade meal and I intend to keep that promise. Now, since you’ll be here anyway, you can help keep her company.”

“I might have to pick up another shift tomorrow night, Mom,” Eric said, already knowing that wouldn’t fly with his mother.

“I’ll expect you by six. Oh, and make sure you let Joe know,” she said, sounding really fucking pleased before she abruptly hung up on him.

“So, who was she trying to set you up with this time?” Jeff asked, sounding really fucking amused.

“A cashier,” Eric said, hanging up the phone.

“At least it wasn’t her gynecologist again,” Jeff said, chuckling as he headed back to the living room as Eric did his best to block out the memory of his mother discussing her pap smear over pot roast.

“Anyone seen Teddy?” Eric asked, wondering where his partner for the night was. If he hadn’t been bored out of his fucking mind, he never would have taken this shift.

Being an EMT was probably the best job he’d ever had. The hours were good, better than good, the pay was decent, and every day was something new, but getting stuck with an asshole was the one thing that guaranteed the shift dragged the entire night.

Working with someone in what really came down to a box on wheels could either be a hell of a good time or have you regretting your decision not to call in sick when you had the chance. There was truly nothing like getting stuck working with someone who didn’t bathe, doused themselves in a gallon of cheap perfume, or was just an outright asshole or a complete bitch hell-bent on fucking you over. More than once, he’d found himself standing outside the rig, counting down the minutes until his shift was over.

He was luckier than most since his regular partner was also his best friend. They’d been best friends since they were eight. Joe was a hell of a partner. Never complained, always had a ready smile, and was easy to get along with. He’d really lucked out with Joe. Teddy, on the other hand, was a Class A prick. The guy had more write-ups than the entire squad put together, but thanks to the union, they couldn’t fire him. Besides being an arrogant asshole, the guy didn’t know what the hell he was doing. It made him wonder why he’d agreed to come in tonight.

“Don’t get all choked up, but Teddy banged out an hour ago,” Jeff said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“No shit?” Eric asked, hoping that Jeff wasn’t fucking with him.

“I shit you not. Seems he pissed someone off and ended up spending the night in the emergency room,” Jeff said, chuckling.

“Who am I working with tonight instead?” Eric asked as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Not sure. Bill’s been on the phone for the past hour trying to find someone to come in to cover his shift,” Jeff said, leaning back against the counter.

“If one of you gentlemen would be so kind as to go release my third rider and tell him to clean up, I’ll check out the rig,” Eric said, sighing with relief.

“Do we have to?” came the question that had him chuckling as he made his way to the board to grab the keys for ambulance seventy-nine, only to find the hook empty. Hoping the last crew left the keys in the truck, Eric headed into the ambulance bay. He walked past the first line of ambulances and sighed with relief when he spotted ambulance seventy-nine in the back corner with its back doors wide open.

Whoever his partner was for the night was already in the ambulance checking it out. He walked over to the truck only to bite back a groan when he spotted his partner bending over to check the bottom cabinet. He ran his eyes over the familiar figure, taking in everything from the long honey-blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail to the perfect heart-shaped ass that was pointed his way.

Christ, he couldn’t think of a better way to start the night off. It was too damn bad that there wasn’t a chance in hell that he would ever find out just how good those curves felt beneath him.

“I thought the restraining order stated that you couldn’t come within a hundred yards of me?” Eric asked, smiling as he joined the incredibly beautiful woman that just made his night a hell of a lot better.

*-*-*-*

Joe bit back a smile when she heard the familiar deep voice that never failed to make everything better. Eric was the only man who could make her smile even as he pissed her off.

It had always been that way.

She still remembered the first time they met. It had been her first day in another new school. Her mother, who’d decided that this time was going to be different, decided to shove her in a dress that was too small for her, barely reached her knees, was covered in wilted lace, and was the ugliest dress that she’d ever seen. During recess, she tried to hide from the rest of the kids, but that only managed to draw more attention. When one little boy came over and shoved a handful of worms down her dress, she made sure that he ate every single one of them.

An hour later, they were sitting outside the principal’s office, covered in mud and pissed at Tyler Mathews for tattling on them. They’d made a pact then and there to make Tyler pay and they’d been best friends ever since. Their friendship had survived the cootie stage and continued on into middle school, high school, and then EMT training. Most people, including Eric’s mother, thought they would eventually end up married one day. It had taken some time, but they’d eventually accepted the fact that they would never be anything more than best friends.

Over the years, she’d lost track of the number of women who got pissed over their relationship. Most of them tried giving Eric an ultimatum because they couldn’t handle that his best friend was a woman. He never batted an eye when he dumped them flat on their asses seconds later. Hell, he even broke up with his fiancée three years ago after she tried forcing him to cut her out of his life.

There had only been a few men who’d tried that crap with her, but they’d quickly learned that Eric was the most important man in her life. That problem had been the cause of many breakups over the years. It’s not like they’d purposely tried to push people away, but sometimes, it was hard for other people to handle their relationship. She’d never understood their problem. If anything, it should make them feel more comfortable that they were both loyal. Plus, and let’s be honest here, if they’d wanted to be together, they would have done it a long time ago.

She felt the back of the ambulance dip as Eric climbed in behind her. “I can appreciate a woman who’s willing to turn her nose up at a judicial order to be with me,” he said in that incredibly sexy voice that she loved, even as she rolled her eyes.

Joe turned around as she smoothly shoved several bags of expired saline in his arms. “You know a piece of paper will never stand in the way of our love,” she said with a heartfelt sigh.

“I see you missed me,” Eric said, chuckling as he shifted the saline bags in his arms.

She nodded solemnly. “I did. I really did. When Bill called and begged me to come in even though we just got off a twenty-four-hour shift this morning, I jumped at the chance. You know that I can never stay away from you. You’re just so darn cute,” Joe said with a helpless shrug.

“I’m studly, baby. Get it right,” Eric said, sighing heavily as though it was a burden to remind her yet again.

Joe placed her hands on her hips and nodded. “You’re absolutely right. What was I thinking?”

“It’s okay. I forgive you,” Eric said as he jumped out of the back of the ambulance and made his way to the trashcan to dump the bags of expired saline.

They were going to have to post something to remind the crews to double-check supplies when they picked them up at the hospital, Joe thought as she watched Eric grab a bottle of sanitizer and some rags before heading back to the truck. She grabbed her checklist off the bench seat only to have him toss a rag at her. She didn’t bother looking up from her paperwork as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Did I mention that we have a third rider today?” Eric asked as he sprayed the stretcher and began wiping it down.

“Great,” Joe said, stretching out the word as she mentally prepared herself for the long night ahead. “Looks like I get to play babysitter for the entire shift.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be much of a problem. He looked capable,” Eric said, shrugging it off only to glare when she said, “I wasn’t talking about him.”