This story is a work of fiction. The characters are based on real people in my life, as well as real locations and events. Names have been changed to protect not only my identity but those of my friends and partners. This story will have multiple chapters, focusing on a couple different people, with each relationship being a separate “book”. I hope you enjoy!

It was a quiet night at the firehouse, though I wouldn’t dare say it, because everyone knows the minute you say the “q-word”, all hell is bound to break loose. It was a Tuesday, which normally would mean I was off the next day and could enjoy my rest for a little longer. For some reason though, my dickhead boss decided to schedule me for a 12 hour shift that Wednesday…starting at 0700. On my way to bed, I ran into my friend Kelsey. I knew she had to leave the station around the same time I did, because she was a stay at home mom, and her husband left for work around 0730.

“Heading to bed too, Kels?”

“Hey Jake! Yeah, gotta get back to the kids…and I guess the husband too,” she replied, with a hint of annoyance at the mention of her husband. Kelsey loved her kids, and didn’t hate her husband, but often times she would come to me to vent. It turns out he bounced from job to job often, so much in fact that they weren’t ever able to afford a place of their own, so they still lived with his parents. I suppressed a chuckle.

“Not too stoked for that, eh?”

She shook her head and chuckled.

“You know how it goes Jakey. Same shit, different day.”

I nodded in agreeance, and she started back down the hallway towards the bunks, but then I remembered what I wanted to ask her in the first place.

“Oh hey, Kelsey!”

She turned back towards me, and I thought I saw a flash of something in her eyes, but I figured it was just the lack of sleep getting to me, and ignored it.

“Hey, I have to work tomorrow morning, would you mind making sure I’m awake on your way out? I don’t want to sleep through my alarms”, I explained. I must have showed my annoyance at that fact because she laughed and nodded knowingly. I vented to her many times about my work issues.

“Sure thing sweetie, but don’t be surprised when I tickle your balls because you’re still sleeping!”

I nearly choked, but played it off as best I could, and laughed.

“Well I guess I have to ignore my alarms then! Thanks Kels, I owe you one. Night!”

She giggled and went to her bunkroom, directly across the hall from my own. As I walked into my room, I flicked the lights on, and went over to my locker to pull my bed sheets out. I couldn’t help but think about what Kelsey had just said! My girlfriend and I hadn’t had sex in a while. There was nothing wrong with our relationship, we were just both so busy that we were exhausted by the time we went to sleep. My mind started to wander as I made my bed. I’d always thought Kelsey was attractive, but had never really thought of her in aw sexual way…until now. Kelsey was about 35, but you really wouldn’t know it by looking at her. She was about 5’4″, and wasn’t skinny but she wasn’t overweight, either. She had nice curves that she kept under wraps in her station uniform, but her pants accentuated her ass in just the right way. As I finished laying my blankets down, I started to wonder even more. What was she really hiding underneath that uniform? I started imagining her slipping into my bunk in the middle of the night, slowly stripping as she…

KNOCK KNOCK

I nearly jumped out of my skin! Looking down, I realized I had started stroking my now hard cock subconsciously, and quickly I called out.

“Uh, just a sec!”

I smoothed down my erection as much as I possibly could, and opened the door, being careful to keep my bottom half behind the door itself.

“Hey Jakey, did I interrupt something?”

She smirked, that look that normally I thought was adorable, but now it struck me with nothing but paranoia. Did she know? Could she tell? No. She couldn’t possibly..could she?

“Oh hey Kels! No, just getting my bed ready, I hate fitted sheets” I said, hoping I was convincing enough.

“Ugh. Yeah I hear ya. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something. Does your room ever get really cold at night?”

I sighed internally, relieved.

“No, not really, though I do have a temp control in here.” I gestured to the wall, right next to where she was leaning.

“What?!” she exclaimed. “That’s horseshit, my room is always cold as shit and I don’t have one of those!”

I kept back a chuckle.

“Well, if you get too cold, you can always come find me,” I said. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I-I-I mean, I have an extra blanket!” I stammered, my face going red. She laughed and punched my shoulder gently.

“Well, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Jakey. Night!”

And with thag, she disappeared back the way she came, and I heard her door shut. What the fuck was I thinking? Surely she knew now, if she didn’t before. I was attracted to her. I climbed into bed, kicking myself for saying that. I set my alarms and went to bed. The next morning, my alarm woke me from my slumber. We hadn’t had any calls during the night, and I was grateful for that. On my way to the bathroom, I ran into Kelsey. She passed me by with a simple “morning” and continued on her way. I kicked myself again. You idiot, you messed things up! I hurriedly got ready for work and headed out to my car, at this point just ready to get the day over with. Pulling out of the lot, I got a text. It was from Kelsey!

“Hey Jakey. Sorry I was such a grump this morning. Hubby and I had an argument last night. See ya next week!”

I smiled wide. Maybe things weren’t messed up after all.

TO BE CONTINUED