A short story I wrote as a donation to a fundraising anthology. I’m not sure if the antho is still going forward, but if it doesn’t, I think I’ll take this one and bump up the wordcount on it. It’s cute, and there’s potential for a lot more cuteness, with an awkward firefighter and his paramedic love interest.

Seth walked in. The flutter in Cody’s stomach turned into full blown nervous twitches and he turned his back on the man to hide his reaction. He’d always thought he was straight, until two months ago. Until the day Seth, with his blond hair and lean, compact frame had transferred to Cody’s station. Now, every time he saw the man, his body bluntly informed him that he wasn’t nearly as straight as he’d thought.

“Morning, gentlemen. How was your night?” Seth’s voice sent shivers up Cody’s spine. He pressed his lips together to avoid answering, since he was pretty sure he’d say something stupid, and pretended to wipe down the already spotless countertop.

Gene threw him a frustrated glance and answered Seth. “Typical Tuesday. Quiet for us, and all the usual suspects for the not-a-docs.”

“Nothing wrong with not being a doctor,” Seth replied. Cody could hear the humor in his voice. “Who wants to spend that much money to be an old fuddy-duddy, right, Cody?” He’d moved closer. Seth smelled like shampoo and a little fabric softener. It made Cody’s nerves sing, in both a good and a bad way. He wanted to pull the smaller man close and just breath him in, but the idea of coming out in a room full of firefighters, when he wasn’t even sure this wasn’t just a phase, made his knees weak.

The silence stretched, until Cody croaked out, “Yeah, right.” He turned and brushed past Seth. “Shift’s over. Let’s go get that anniversary present.” He was out the door with his backpack in record speed, cursing himself for being an awkward son of a bitch.

That was a bit longer than I realized it when I copied it…