One Night Stand

Chapter 10

"What do you mean?" Cabello asked trying to sound innocent.
Gray didn't buy it for a second, "Antonio is over there by Nicole. Can you honestly tell me you didn't know she would be here?"
Cabello looked at Gray and knew she couldn't get away with lying completely so she mostly told the truth, "Okay I knew it was a possibility cause Antonio and Laura were meeting Rachel and her husband here. But I didn't know for sure if Nicole would be here or not."
Thornely chimed in, "Is she the new person on truck you were telling me about? You know I meant to ask you hun if Nicole was related to Rachel."
"How much did you tell him Cabello?" Gray quickly hissed.
Thornely held his hands up, "She tole me there was a woman on truck named Nicole Davin so I kinda figured from what she said I this was the same woman."
Gray sighed, "Sorry John it's just, umm... there's a slight history between Nicole and I."
Thornely smiled and pointed, "Well it must be a good history cause she's waving at us with a smile on her face."
Gray turned and saw exactly what Thornely had described.
Cabello then asked, "Why were you gonna ask about Nicole being related to Rachel?"
He shrugged, "I've known Rachel since she was a rookie. Back then she was Rachel Davin and I knew she came from a family of mostly firefighters so it occurred to me that they might be related."
Gray's mood was unreadable as she said, "Well enough chit chat, let's move along with this little set up." She took two steps then turned back to Cabello, "You know you're lucky I love you so much, right?"
Cabello laughed, "Come on Gray, this will be fun. And if it's not, we can just get drunk and laugh about this failed attempt at resolution."
"Yeah we'll see how this goes." Gray replied rolling her eyes. "Though let's recall what happened the last time I was drinking and met Nicole in a bar. That was the beginning steps of this now kind of awkward situation." Gray finished sarcastically.
Thornely's eyes went wide at Gray's comment, but he recovered quickly and laughed before asking. "Was that a fun night?"
"Yes it was but that's not the point. Now things are weird between us, that's the point." Gray replied. "Let's just say this is a weird situation and I'm not sure how I ended up in it."
"She's not stalking or harassing you is she Gray?" Thornely asked with a bit of concern in his voice.
"Why does everyone jump right to the stalking thing?" Gray said then shook her head. "No I don't know why she is in Chicago now or why she is at 51." When she noticed the confused look on his face she continued, "It's complicated John so don't worry. Just buy me a drink cause I think I'll need a few tonight."

When Nicole had seen Cabello, Gray and the man she assumed was Thornely she made a split decision. Obviously Cabello and Rachel were forcing her and Gray to socialize. She could fight it by leaving but why not play along and make the best of the situation so she smiled and waved at the trio.
She thought about her time so far at 51. After the shock of seeing Gray on her first day had worn off Nicole had thought about the night she met the fiery blond. She had immediately found Gray attractive and was happy to find that Gray was also a likable person. They had a rough start at their second meeting but Nicole decided then and there she would look past Rafferty's questioning and give a friendship with Gray a chance.
Cabello approached Nicole and gave her a hug. "I didn't know you'd be here Nicole."
"You may not have known for sure but you hoped Rachel would convince me to be here." Nicole whispered into Cabello's ear playfully.
Cabello had a blush on her cheeks when the embrace ended. She then tried to play good friend and hostess. "Obviously you know Gray from work."
Nicole leaned in to hug Gray and whispered. "I know we were both set up on this one."
'Yeah." Was all Gray could manage as a response. The close proximity to Nicole fogged her brain a bit.
After them embrace ended Cabello continued with the introductions, "And this is John Thornely...."
"The actual lieutenant of truck." Nicole finished as she held out her hand. When he returned the handshake she said, "It's nice to finally meet you."
"You too Nicole," He said with a smile. "I've hear a lot about how things have been for you with Driver in charge."
Nicole smiled and shrugged, "Well you have to deal with the situation you're given whether you like it or not."
Thornely laughed then said, "Valid point. But I guarantee things will be different now so I hope you're ready to prove you know your shit to everyone."
Nicole's smile grew, "Absolutely! I'm tired of being made to look like a useless girl when I'm actually a damn good firefighter."
    Thornely smiled back, "Good to know cause on scene I don't willing give up my people unless necessary."
    "Well, I won't let you down." Nicole replied.
    "Good." Thornely replied with a nod. "But tonight is about celebrating and having fun, not talking shop."
    Nicole added, "Well between you coming back and your girl entering the academy there seems to be a lot to celebrate." She said hoping he agreed. She knew enough guys who were not always supportive of women going into.the academy, especially their girlfriends and she hoped Thornely wasn't one of them.
    "Absolutely!" He said with a proud smile. He then raised his glass of sodas towards her as she did the same with her beer and they clinked glasses.

    Nicole was answering a text from Morris, she hadn't noticed that the couples of their group had gone to dance leaving just her and Gray at the bar.
    "Texting a potential hookup?" Gray asked jokingly.
    "Hardly." Nicole said then looked at Gray and couldn't help but smile and tease her a little, "Why? Are you jealous?"
    Gray shook her head, "Hardly. Just making conversation since it's just you and I left at the bar."
    Nicole looked around then said, "Sorry I wasn't paying attention. Morris just texted me asking if I was coming to Halligan's any time soon."
    "You and Morris seem to be pretty chummy." Gray commented.
    Nicole shrugged, "I guess we bonded over being on Driver's shit list. I've also found he's pretty fun to hang out with too."
    Gray laughed, "Does Morris realize he has no chance with you?"
    "Yes, he knows I'm gay." Nicole admitted then quickly and quietly added, "But he doesn't know that we hooked up."
    "I didn't ask." Gray replied.
    "I know but I didn't know how you felt about people at 51 knowing our history." Nicole admitted.
    Gray laughed, "What, the guys knowing that I hooked up with the hottest girl in the house? I think that would help my image in their eyes given my shitty choices in the past."
    "Well they might just jump to the same assumptions that Rafferty did and that would make me look kinda crazy. Probably not much of a step up from previous women." Nicole replied.
    "I'm sorry Kyle gave you the third degree. I didn't ask him to but he's like the protective big brother I never asked for sometimes." Gray explained. "I know you have your reasons for being here now and I have a feeling they have nothing to do with me."
    Nicole nodded then replied, "I do have my reasons and no offense but they don't. Oddly enough we met the weekend before a couple events changed my life completely. Those events caused my move from Milwaukee and ironically brought me to your firehouse."
    "Look I don't expect anything to happen between us because you're here now." Gray said.
    A few moments of silence followed before Nicole spoke, "I know. You haven't pushed or reached out since I was shitty to you and I'm sorry about that. I was wrong to judge you because of Rafferty's comments. Given the situation you guys had every right to be suspicious."
    "It's okay Nicole. You don't really know me or Kyle so I get why you were pissed. I should have tried harder to explain." Gray said. "And again, for the record, I never asked Kyle to talk to you. I was planning on talking to you myself when I got over the shock of seeing you standing next to Bailey, he just got to you first."
    Nicole sighed and said, "Can we kind of start over?"
    "How so?" Gray asked, curious to see where this was going.
    "Well we seemed to get along before we ended up in bed together. How about we try being friends?" Nicole suggested.
    Gray paused for a moment before she responded. She knew her answer but for some reason she wanted Nicole to sweat it out a bit. Finally she answered, "I think that's a great idea."
    Nicole smiled, "Really?"
    Gray shrugged, "Well I still think you're fucking hot but I'm good with being friends."
    "You're not so bad yourself Gray." Nicole admitted. Though given Gray's flirty tone she added, "But for now all I can offer is friendship."
    Gray smiled and decided to test the waters a bit, "With the potential of friends with benefits?"
    Nicole couldn't help but smile and immediately respond, "Benefits are always good, especially when a beautiful woman is concerned."
    Gray raised her eyebrow and replied, "You consider me a beautiful woman?"
    "Honestly I'd be blind if I didn't Gray." Nicole said playfully. "But remember no strings."
    Gray nodded, "It's okay. Friends, even friends with benefits are better than serious commitments."
    Nicole smiled, "A woman after my own heart."
    Gray shook her head and replied in a seductive tone, "No honest I'm not after your heart, I'm after your body."
    Gray's comment seemed to shake Nicole back to reality. Somehow she had gone from trying to be friends with Gray to flirting with the blond. Nicole knew she needed to decide how to proceed but no thinking would happen if they kept drinking and flirting. If they continued as they were, most likely they would end up in bed together by the end of the night.
    Before Nicole could say anything more to Gray, Thornely and Cabello joined the conversation.
    Cabello said, "Gray, we should head to Halligan's soon."
    "Alright." Gray said still looking at Nicole. "You want to go over to Halligan's with us?"
    Nicole shrugged, "Why not. I'm supposed to meet Morris over there anyways and I'm sure the rest of the party could be convinced to join us." She suggested knowing there was probably safety in numbers because she wasn't sure yet how to deal with the flirty Gray she had in front of her.
    After gathering everyone together they all agreed to head to Halligan's.