Jules Navarro came to Station 9 to get off a city engine and out from under a lieutenant who wanted him quiet. Captain Malcolm Okoye does not do quiet. He is bigger, older, silver at the temples, and he has been watching the new man repack the crosslay since day two.
After a canyon brush fire, the rest of the house goes home. The bay door stays up on the chief's order. The alley is empty until it isn't. What starts on the concrete beside Engine 9 is explicit, filthy, and nowhere in the log: a size difference Jules asked for, a captain who makes him look at the open door while he takes it, and the risk of a white SUV rolling past at the worst possible moment.
The bunk door stays cracked. The transfer paperwork is still on the desk. Jules is done pretending he transferred for the scenery. He wants the engine, the open bay, and the man who already handles him like the line is his.
