— R A E —

The first few minutes went by as normal. I sat on a bench off to the side while waiting for him to finish just in case he needed anything. It was actually quite relaxing with the sound of the splashing water and caress of the warm steam hanging in the air. And it was only slightly distracting to have a sexy naked man standing not far away separated only by a curtain.

I snap back to attention as I hear footsteps in the hall outside the bathroom. Sure enough, the door swings open a moment later and a rigid-looking, middle-aged man walks through. The man is still in uniform, but it looks a little different than the other uniforms I'd seen so far.

He misses a step when he finally sees me.

"What the hell are you doing in here, young lady?" His voice booms in the tiled restroom.

"Uhh..." I start. I'm at a loss for words yet again today. I know this has to look very weird for me to just be sitting in here, but I didn't really think through what I would do if anyone came in.

This must be how a deer in the headlights feels. I swear I think my soul just left my body.

"Chief?" Ajax calls from the shower, "Is that you?"

"...Ajax?" The chief replies, still confused.

"Chief, it's not what it looks like, I swear! I cut my arm pretty bad during my shift, and Rae here volunteered to help me bandage it up. I'm just showering off first to clean it before she can bandage it, but I swear that's all there is to it!"

The Chief paused then to look back at me, and again to Ajax in the shower, seeming to consider.

Considering how to murder us I presume. Gulp.

"Ajax, you know this is the men's restroom, right?" he asks.

"Yessir... I'm sorry, we didn't have much of a choice sir, I couldn't..."

"And you know the visitor rules, right?"

"Yessir, no visitors after 9pm, and strictly no overnight guests."

"Good," states the Chief. A pregnant pause fills the silence until he sighs, "it's only 7:30, and knowing that you've never caused any problems before I'll take your word for it this time. For now, I'll pretend like this didn't happen, and I'll come back for my shower in 15 minutes. You'd both better be out of here by then, understood?"

"Yessir, of course! Thank you, Sir!"

I let go of a giant breath I didn't realize I was holding. Holy shit! I thought for sure the Chief was going to chew us out!

I was about to thank him when he suddenly stops and leans toward me to speak quietly.

"Do. Not. Tell him what I'm about to tell you..." he pauses and looks at me for emphasis. When I nod he goes on.

"Ajax is one of my best men. I've known him most of his life and worked with his father before that. I like to think of him as something like a son to me. He has a completely clean record here, never even so much as a hair out of line. Frankly, I think he takes his job way too seriously, and he's probably the only man here I haven't caught with someone at least once.

"If what you say is true, and you're really only here to patch him up, so be it... But if it's not true, I suppose I can turn a blind eye this once, as long as he has some fun. The kid deserves it. Deal?"

The Chief gave me a surprisingly kind smile as I agreed and thanked him before he left.

So Ajax is a stiff, huh? He could've fooled me with that teasing smile, I would've figured he had admirers lining up down the block. Mason did mention that Ajax doesn't get out too much, so I guess that would make sense. But he seems like a catch! Handsome, funny, I know I can't take my eyes off him. He really hasn't had any company recently..? He's been kind of flirty, unless it's just my imagination. But both the Chief and Mason are trying to get him to lighten up, and I'll admit I do kind of enjoy his company.

We stopped at a supply closet after leaving the shower to pick up a first aid kit. Ajax had another paper towel held against his arm, so I had to hold the kit as well as his clothes. I had no idea where we were headed but I followed closely behind Ajax to our next destination, trying, and failing to keep my eyes to myself. It didn't help that he was only wearing a towel hanging low on his waist.

How am I supposed to focus my eyes when I can see nearly all of his Greek God-like body? Even his nice ass was obvious, still covered in the towel.

It was a bit of a shock when he stepped out of the shower with only that small white towel wrapped around his waist. I had assumed he was going to put his clothes back on before coming out, but no. I vaguely heard him say that he didn't want to put his dirty clothes back on, but I'll admit I was a bit distracted at the time.

"Remind me again why you're not wearing clothes?" I ask him as we head up a flight of stairs.

I hear a long sigh before, "I told you, I just cleaned the cut. I don't want to get it messed up again by trying to put that dirty shirt back on. I've got clean clothes in my room I'll change into after bandaging my arm."

"Right. Is that where we are headed, your room?"

"Yep, I already mentioned that too, remember?"

"Right."

The upstairs seems a bit smaller than the first floor, with only one door-lined hallway. I assume these must be the dorm rooms they stay in while on duty, and just as Ajax had said there was a set of restrooms here as well.

Whereas the downstairs hallway and restroom were nearly deserted, as we moved upstairs we begin to encounter more firemen. They all wear similar cargo-style pants and the same navy blue t-shirt that Ajax was wearing before his shower.

Well, most of them are wearing the pants and shirt. A few emerge from this upper restroom wearing only a towel just like Ajax. So I guess that's a pretty common occurrence here. Judging by the looks I keep receiving they are probably used to it being mostly men. I'm kind of curious if they have any women at their station but I haven't seen any.

Ajax and I receive a few Hey there's and Well, look at you's but surprisingly nothing much more than that.

When we reach a door with the number 9 on it, Ajax lets us in.

"Your room I'm assuming?"

"Good guess, Sherlock."

His room is fairly small, but not tiny. Boring white walls and tan carpet, furnished with a desk and chair, a stand and tv, built-in closet, two twin beds, and two nightstands between them. He actually keeps it pretty neat but I can see a lot of his belongings sitting out here and there. Pretty standard I suppose, very similar to my old college dorm.

Surprisingly, only one of the twin beds, pushed against the far wall, has a mattress and sheets. The second bed was only a lonely frame.

"Do you guys have roommates?" I ask.

"Most of us do, yes. We all stay here while on duty, and we have an assigned room with a roommate. They go back to their own homes during their days off.

"Mason and I are exceptions though. We actually live here full time; we don't have a separate home, this is our home. We live here instead because it's just cheaper and easier. The rent's taken automatically, and we have a full kitchen downstairs.

"So, because we are the only two here full time, the Chief tries not to pair us with a roommate so that we can have our own rooms. We've had a few temporary roommates when they ran out of other options, but nobody permanent. It works out pretty well."

"Huh, that makes sense I guess. It's a pretty nice arrangement for you." I respond, "that explains why you have a second bed, but why is there no mattress?"

"They just needed it for another room. I heard one of the mattresses got torn somehow and we didn't have any spares. It's not like I was using it, so they just took it."

"Ahh, makes sense."

I head over to his desk and set down the first aid kit.

"Yeah, most of the time- oh!" He had started to walk towards me but abruptly stops walking, "aaaand my towels slipping...!"

He's still holding the paper towel to his arm and doesn't have any free hands to grab the towel around his waist. Trying to use his elbow to hold it works to no avail, and the towel is still coming undone...

Thinking fast, I take a giant leap towards him, arms outstretched. My hands make harsh contact with his hips, but it's a second too late and the towel slips past my fingers to hit the floor.

Wide-eyed, I'm staring exactly where the towel had just been at his waist. It happened too fast, I didn't have the time to look away.

Shit, I was not expecting to see this much of him this quickly. Or at all, I amend.

Wait.

What?

Where there should have been skin, there was black material.

His underwear! He was wearing his underwear! He must have had them on under his towel! I carried his clothes up here, but it's not like I thought to look for his underwear, in fact, that was probably the last thing I would've wanted to find.

"HA!" He barks. "Oh god, you're face is too good! I wish I could take a picture!"

I was still standing there, the two of us merely a foot apart, with my hands on his hips. I was now staring at his broad chest, pure confusion and horror written on my face. In fact, I'm sure my face was quite picture-worthy.

"You ass! Why in the fucking hell didn't you tell me you had something on under there??" I spat.

"Well, I didn't really think it would matter if I told you or not." He said, still a grin in his tone. "Just be glad I thought ahead or this could've turned out even more interesting."

I huff. Yes, it would have been interesting indeed.

Remembering where my hands are, I pry them off his warm skin and take a step back. Too late, I realize glancing up at him was a mistake, laughter bubbling up as I catch his fiendish grin.

Not just giggles, but rolling, hand-on-belly laughs erupt from the both of us for the second time today, and it's a good minute or two before we finally calm down.

"Are you going to put clothes on, or do you plan on being half naked forever?" I ask as sweetly as I can.

He must get the message because he sets the paper towel to the side to pick up the towel and re-wrap it around his waist. "Not yet I'm afraid. The quicker you bandage, the quicker I can get dressed. The towel will have to do for now."

And so he sits in the desk chair, still clad in only that towel while I begin to bandage his arm. Definitely not distracting at all. His naked body as a distraction is becoming a common problem it seems.

"So I assume Ajax is not your real name...?" I ask, fumbling with the Neosporin.

"Definitely not. My name is Alex, or Alexander if you're feeling fancy. The guys here all started to call me Ajax instead because I'm the only one around here who actually cleans. You know, like the cleaning powder, 'Ajax'? They thought they were being clever since it's similar to 'Alex'."

He held his arm up, so I could apply some of the cream to his scrape.

"What do you mean, your the only one that cleans?" With a grin, I add, "Are you a clean-freak or something?"

"No. Well... not exactly... We have a cleaning schedule for the kitchen, bathrooms, and other common areas that get cleaned once a week. But I'm the only one who actually does it... and since the others are such pigs, the place can get pretty nasty, so I generally just take it upon myself to do it on my own. I find it oddly satisfying."

Putting a bandage on his arm is tough when I'm so nervous, but I'm managing.

"So basically, yes, you're a clean freak," I tease to keep my mind off his nearness.

It earns me a breathy laugh from him, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a smile as he says, "Sure, I guess if you consider not wanting to live in a pig-sty from 20 other men a clean-freak"

"Do you mind the name 'Ajax' or do you prefer 'Alex'?"

"Ah, well I guess I've just gotten used to 'Ajax'. It bothered me at first but now it's more... endearing, I suppose? 'Alex' is fine though too, so whatever you want to call me."

"Alright... so... 'Cupcake'?"

A knock at his door interrupts us, and Ajax calls for them to come in. The door opens to reveal Mason and Kat standing in the doorway, the latter fiercely eyeing Ajax in his skivvies.

She looks pointedly at me as she purrs, "Your telling me you haven't jumped on that yet?"

Fuck. I open my mouth to retort but nothing comes out. She did not just say that, did she? Yes, yes she did say that. My eyes widen in embarrassment as I continue to watch her eyeing Ajax. I avoid looking at him, I don't even want to know what he thought of that.

Mason doesn't even look surprised, he just adds, "If you think he looks big, you should see what's under the towel..."

"Ohmygod," I murmur, as Ajax practically chokes next to me. He clears his throat as I glance at him, only to see his exasperated face mirroring my own.

"They're two peas in a pod, aren't they?" I grind through clenched teeth, mostly to him.

"Mason and I are going to watch a movie in his room, you guys want to join us?" Kat asks. "We can watch a scary movie, Rae I know you love those."

I'm still recovering from the blow, but now she's caught my attention. "I do indeed... but it's already almost 8, and didn't the Chief say no visitors after 9?"

Ajax confirms with a nod, but Kat puts on her best puppy face, "Please?" she begs, "the movie will be done by 10, it's only an hour past the cutoff."

Well, to be fair, the Chief did give me permission, and I'm a sucker for scary movies. But... I look at Ajax to see what he's thinking. I don't want to impose or get them in trouble.

"It's fine with me," he shrugs, "I'm stuck here anyway so I might as well watch a movie."

"Fine" I concede.

"Great!" says Kat, "when you guys are done, come to Mason's room. We'll pick out a movie while waiting."

✦ ✧ ✦

[A/N]

Yo, just a quick PS: I had to do some format changes to the rest of the book, so almost all of the comments are no longer attached to their original paragraphs. Ugh. So if your a newer reader and your like "Why's there no comments? The comments make no sense? Etc." ...that's why...

It kinda, definitely sucks but hey, at least they didn't completely disappear!

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