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not. I just…he’s a lot like you. That way.
It’s just sex to him.”
    “A little casual sex would do you a world of good, Nolan.”
    “Maybe so. And maybe a little romance would do you a world
of good.”
    “Me? Romance? I don’t think so.”
    “Why?”
    Lucy was quiet for a moment. “You know why.”
    Nolan did. Her first relationship, back when they were in
high school, had ended spectacularly badly and scared her deeply. She’d never
gotten over it. Sex was good, in Lucy’s book. Relationships were bad.
    He wondered, not for the first time, what pain in John’s
past left him hopping from bed to bed.
    “You’re pissed,” he observed, “because I have six-month-old
shrimp in my freezer, and you’re still hung up on something that happened years
and years ago.”
    “Yeah, well. You’re braver than me.”
    “I’m not.”
    “You are.”
    Nolan rolled closer to kiss her forehead. “I hope someday
you meet the guy that convinces you that you are.”
    “Or girl,” Lucy corrected gently.
    “Or girl. And someday maybe I’ll meet another guy. But for
right now, it’s enough that I can commit to buying a new TV set.”
    “Yeah.” Lucy snuggled closer.
    They were quiet again, and Nolan thought she was asleep when
Lucy spoke up. “So, can I jump him?”
    “Who?”
    “Your partner.”
    “Oh.” He considered for a split instant. If he asked her not
to, she would do it—or rather, not do it—without question. “Yeah, sure. It’d
probably do him good. He’s in a little slump.”
    “You sure?” Lucy insisted.
    Nolan shrugged in the dark. “If you meet him and you hit it
off, go for it.”
    “You’re sure?” she asked again.
    “I’m sure, Lucy. I mean, I don’t want all the details. I do
have to work with the man every day. But as a concept, it’s fine with me.
Really.”
    She nodded. “Eh, I’ll probably think he’s a wanker anyhow.”
    “Maybe so. Get some sleep, Lucy.”
    “Night, Nolan.”
    He felt her body relax as she drifted toward sleep almost
right away. But he stayed awake, staring at the ceiling, feeling Lucy’s warmth
beside him. He wondered if he should change his answer. She would understand.
And maybe she was right, anyhow. Maybe she and John wouldn’t get along at all.
    He was kidding himself. They’d be all over each other.
    He wanted that, he realized in surprise. They were his two
best friends in the world. If he couldn’t be making love to either of them,
then they should be making love to each other. It only made sense. John would
be happy. Lucy would be happy. And he would be…
    His heart was broken, still, and it would be a long time
before he would be happy again. If he ever was. But he could still enjoy their
happiness.
    He’d given Lucy the right answer, and he wasn’t going to
change it.

Chapter Four
     
    Crane’s cell phone rang while they were restocking from a
run from the skate park—broken arm, broken leg, boy’s helmet had probably
prevented a fractured skull. He went down the hall to talk, returned looking a
little worried. “Hey, John, I need a favor.”
    “Anything,” John answered at once, and then amended, “as
long as it doesn’t involve manual labor.”
    “I need you to take Lucy out to dinner tonight.”
    “Who? What?”
    “Lucy. My old girlfriend.”
    “Oh yeah, the one who made you gay.”
    Nolan rolled his eyes. “I promised I’d take her to dinner.
But the chief managed to crash the station’s computer again and he wants me to
look at it.”
    “Tell him to fix it himself. Or call tech support.”
    “Yeah, right.” Nolan tipped his head impatiently. They both
knew what would happen if Chief Waldron tried to fix the computer on his own.
He was only slightly worse with technology than John himself.
    The computer at the firehouse wasn’t critical equipment—it
wasn’t the dispatch computer that had the problems. It was the one in the dorm
that the firemen used for personal surfing, which usually meant porn