Chapter 2: Chapter 2
He shouted to the men in the mess hall, who answered with cheers of their own. He passed through the locker room without pause and ran directly into the bathroom, unmindful of the additional dampness from the showers—his clothes were already soaked through. He didn’t stop yelling his news until he noticed just who was in the shower. Several men Aaron didn’t really know, and one he knew very, very well. Xander Wescott.
Icy blue eyes peered through the water running down his sculptured face. In many ways, Xander looked exactly like he had when he’d run around with Aaron’s older brother in high school. His light blond hair was still cropped short, and his lashes still looked too long to belong to a guy. The past ten years had erased the softer lines of his jaw, though, now stubbled with a day’s growth of beard, and bulked Xander out in other places. A light coating of hair dusted his heavily muscled chest. Washboard abs tapered down to powerful thighs. Turned sideways under the spray, he gave Aaron a good peek at the hard curve of his ass, too.
For a second, Aaron forgot what it was he was so excited about.
Shouts of “Hallelujah!” and “About fucking time!” rang through the communal showers. Xander smiled at him as he scrubbed some of the soap off of his body.
“We’re not going to have to do something stupid like make nice for the news crews, are we?” He ducked his head under the spray without looking away. “Because I’d rather go back down to the frontline and do another double shift than face them.”
Aaron licked his oddly dry lips. “I think you’ll be fine as long as you hide in here. I don’t think any of them are bold enough to hunt you down in the shower.”
Xander snorted. “Not like the New York reporters then. They don’t give a fuck where you are or who you’re doing it to as long as they get their sound bite.”
“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever go to New York.” Aaron finally averted his eyes from Xander’s body. The last thing he needed was to be caught staring at another man in the showers. Even if it felt like he had spent most of his life staring at Xander. “I guess I better stop standing around in my clothes like an idiot.”
Most of the others had vanished in light of the excellent news. Only one other man remained, and he was already hurriedly rinsing away the lather from his body. Xander gestured toward the nearly empty space, his crooked smile back on his face.
“Got plenty of water now, all for ourselves. If you hurry up and get showered, maybe we can get out of here and get a beer. We haven’t had a chance for you to catch me up on everything I’ve missed since I moved away.”
Xander and Aaron had been assigned to the same shift for the past week, which meant Aaron should have been accustomed to showering, eating, and sleeping in Xander’s presence. Only he had pointedly avoided doing those very things, especially showering and sleeping anywhere near Xander
“You don’t have to wait for me, since you’re nearly done.”
He could have sworn he saw Xander wink before turning his back on Aaron. “I’ll wait. Something tells me I better keep an eye out on you.”
Aaron couldn’t very well argue with him. With no other choice, he turned his back to Xander and pulled the tight, wet shirt over his head. The material wanted to cling to his skin, and he had to struggle to free his arms. His pants were a different matter, the jeans heavy with water. Ultimately, he had to resort to leaning against the wall to get them off, and only when the pants reached his ankles did he realize his boots were still on.
Aaron wondered if he could possibly look more ridiculous if he tried.
He looked up in time to see Xander watching him, unabashed amusement lighting his face. They were alone now, the voices of the other men drifting from the locker room and below. Aaron didn’t remember the other guy leaving.
“I really didn’t think I’d have to bail you out so soon,” Xander teased. Ignoring his own nudity, he knelt in front of Aaron and grasped his ankle, his strong fingers working over the soaking knots in the laces. “No wonder you guys called all of us in.”
Aaron automatically put his hand on Xander’s shoulder to steady himself. “Please don’t let the fact that I’m a doofus reflect poorly on the proud Cedar City volunteer firemen.” Xander helped him ease his foot from the boot, then focused on the other set of laces. “Though I guess you already know I’m a doofus.”
“You certainly followed me and Eddie around enough to prove that.” The second boot joined the first, followed by his jeans. Xander straightened and stepped back into his spray. “Though you’re not exactly a scrawny little kid anymore, are you?”
“No. They wouldn’t let me sign up until I got some muscles,” Aaron said, keeping his gaze focused on the wall over Xander’s shoulder as he stepped under the adjoining showerhead.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone