Through Smoke: The Troubled Heroes Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

wings.  That impressed Michael.  While she wasn’t exactly his date , he couldn’t help but compare her to other women he had been out with.  Most of them ordered a crouton and a glass of water and called that there meal.  She wasn’t afraid to dig in and get her hands dirty.  Of course, he needed to treat this like he was hanging out with one of the guys. Nowhere had they labeled this a date. It was two coworkers hanging out. He had a hard time not thinking of it that way though.  She was different.  He couldn’t quite describe it but he knew she was definitely more than one of the guys.
    “Did you enjoy your day off?”  She licked her index finger clean and grabbed another wing.
    Shrugging, he took the last sip of his beer and ordered another one as the waitress strolled by.  “Didn’t do much.  Went for a run, cleaned up my place. How about you? How’s your family?”  Not only did the place have excellent food and good service, but Michael was enjoying the music too.  He felt relaxed, something he hadn’t experienced in awhile. 
    Eva shook her head side-to-side and smirked. “Typical Italian get together. I got those stereotypical brothers and uncles who think they are straight out of the movie Goodfellas .  They strut around the place and we pig out on our mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. Eventually one of them says something to piss another one off and then it’s time to leave.  Happens every time.” She told the story with a smile on her face and somehow Michael knew that despite the fact that her family did that, she still enjoyed seeing them. He wished his family was close like that.
    “Well, from what I’ve heard anyway, most families are like that.” He balled up a napkin and tossed it from hand to hand.
    “Your family too?” She started on her second beer and swayed to the song playing over the jukebox.  “I find that hard to believe.  You seem like you have a wonderful family.”
    Michael didn’t want to turn the subject to him so he searched for a way to change it.  “Eh, I guess we’ve all got some form of a dysfunctional family.  Your family always live on Staten Island?”
    She shook her head no.  “We started out in Jersey. Dad came over here for a job and we moved to Hell’s Kitchen. They moved out to the island a few years back to try and get away from the neighborhood.  I stayed for the job.  My brothers live i n Manhattan too.  Always up to no good.  They’re all bark and no bite though.  It’s almost like people hear our last name and just assume we’re all part of the Italian mob or something.  I find it quite funny.”
    As she spoke Michael found it hard to stop staring.  He was enjoying the fact that she was doing most of the talking.  He didn’t really want to talk about his personal life anyway.  The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off and he knew if he started in on Casey and how he never goes to see his mother except for holidays , she would think he was crappy, especially since it was obvious on how family oriented she was . 
    Even though he had worked with her for so long, he really didn’t know anything too personal about her. While he wasn’t one to ask too many questions, he felt compelled to find out more.  “What made you want to be a paramedic?”
    She took a pull off of her drink.  “You’re going to think I’m stupid.”
    “No I won’t.”  He let out a low laugh. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I bet it isn’t stupid.”
    She paused again, as if she were picking her words wisely.  “When I was a kid I was always fascinated when other kids would get hurt. Like on the playground, when someone fell and was bleeding, I was always the kid who helped and took them to the nurse.  I was the kid who stayed to watch.  My brothers even said I was crazy because I always looked when I got shots and read medical charts and things.”  Eva leaned back in her chair.  “With brothers like