Usually after s*x, Sean felt on top of the world. Clear-headed, carefree, ready to launch into the next thing. But driving back to Evie’s house, a whole different category of thoughts kept dive-bombing his brain.
Why did he and Evie have to get onto the topic of his family? It always made him edgy. It brought up all kinds of weird feelings. Not grief, so much. That had faded with time.
In Boulder, or any of the various hotshot or smoke-jumping bases where he’d worked, no one connected him with his family. The Marcus name meant nothing beyond what Sean gave to it. To his fellow firefighters, “Sean Marcus” meant skill, drive, intensity, good firefighter, smart risk-taker, reliable. To women, it meant short-term s*x, hopefully good s*x. It meant a fun time, some laughs, no strings, no expec
