Branded: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

can I say? I’m a fan of the trumpet.” I shrug, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her around to stand with me.
I turn back around with Isabelle at my side, but my eyes search for a certain brunette who, much to my dismay, is nowhere to be seen.
Sawyer
“Damn, you all really do big things around here for this, don’t you?” I add some soap into my hands and wash them under warm water in the bathroom.
“We love our festivals, especially of the Harvest variety,” Olivia says from the stall behind me.
She was the very first friend I made since moving to Sunnyville earlier this year. We both teach English at Sunnyville High, and having her around has made this transition easier than I could have imagined.
I stayed in Los Angeles as long as I could, and arguably longer than I should have, until I just needed a change.
New place. New job. New people. New me.
“I like it. I didn’t know if I would really love the small-town vibe after so long in the big city but I have to say, it’s growing on me.” I pull out my cell phone and scroll through social media while I wait for her to finish.
“You fit in well here, and I mean, it also helps you’re a dime piece and really cool and easy to talk to, with a personality for days.” She opens the stall door and comes to the sink to wash her hands. “Actually, come to think of it, I should hate you. No one should have that much going in their favor. Did you make a deal with the devil?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding me right now? Do you see yourself with your beautiful, curly blonde hair and perfect skin? It’s disgusting,” I tease her.
“You’re right.” She fluffs her hair in the mirror. “We are pretty bad bitches, huh?”
Being the youngest teachers in the school, me being twenty-eight and Olivia being twenty-six, has put us in a position of having to perform extra well because when you are young, capable, and a woman, the older men and women in your field tend to feel a certain type of way toward you.
So we banded together, promised to have each other’s back always. I’ve only known her for nine months, but it’s like I’ve known her my entire life.
“Well, this bad bitch has a hankering for some of that fried bacon stuff I smelled on the way in. Let’s go get some of that.”
“I like the way you think. We’ll get some.” She slips her sunglasses back onto her face. “Let’s roll.”
I reach for the bathroom door to open it, but to my surprise, it pushes forward on its own, causing me to startle a bit and step back.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” the pretty redhead on the other side says when she sees we were on our way out as she was coming in.
“No, no, that’s all right,” I tell her. “It happens.”
She gives us a small wave and heads back into a stall.
I adjust my crossbody bag on my chest, looking down for just a moment to make sure it’s hanging the way I want when I collide into a solid brick of man.
“Shit! Fuck!” he exclaims loudly, as I ricochet off his body and stumble back, nearly falling.
It takes a moment to register what the issue is, but I soon see he must have been holding two drinks in his hands, because they are now on the ground and the contents are all over his shirt.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck those are hot,” he says again, jumping up and down, tugging his shirt out away from his body.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I didn’t even see you,” I tell him, stepping closer. “Let me pay to get the stains out.”
“No, no. That’s okay. It’s an old tee. It was just hot. No harm, no foul.” He finally looks up and our eyes meet, and he stumbles back a bit, kind of like I did, but an unseen force caused his movement.
“Are you sure? That looks like hot chocolate. That will absolutely stain.”
He is, without a doubt, one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my entire life, at least in person. He is taller than me by at least a foot, and considering I’m five foot three, he towers over me. His shoulders are broad with arms extending from them that aren’t huge, but they are clearly strong, considering the way the sleeves of his tee cling and stretch over them, and don’t even get me started on the face. Wow.
He shakes his head, sending whichever thought that was there speeding away and a smile takes its place.
“I’m positive. It’s no big deal at all.”
“At least let me buy you another drink. It’s the least I could do.”
“You look familiar,” Olivia, who has been unusually quiet, pipes in. “Where do I know you from?”
“Maybe I just have one of those faces,” he answers her but his eyes are squarely on me, and it sends a delicious chill up my body that I haven’t felt in so long.
“No, I definitely know you from somewhere.” She scrolls through her phone for a second, like it’s going to have all the answers, and then she exclaims loudly. “Ah ha! You’re June!”
“He’s what?” I ask, confused.
“June. In the Sunnyville Fire Department Calendar. He’s the month of June.” She flips her phone around to show the man in front of us dressed in a pair of fireman pants and nothing else.
Of course, he’s a firefighter, because the universe likes to mess with me.
“Uh,” he rubs the back of his neck in what I can only assume is embarrassment, “yeah, that’s me. I’m Isaac Black.” He holds out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you…” The question lingers, implying we should introduce ourselves.
“Sawyer.” I slide my hand into his. His grip is strong and firm. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Olivia,” she