He Sees You When You're Sleeping

by Alta Hensley

The girl is going to cause me to stroke out.

She broke the firefighter code. Never. Disable. An. Alarm.

I’m here to protect her, not . . . not have an inconvenient boner.

The line between protector and predator has never felt so blurry.

The game has shifted, the rules rewritten. And I’m not sure if I’m the protector anymore, or just another moth drawn to Chloe’s flame.

I know, I want to say. I want to admit that I was the one working the scene that night. That I was the firefighter who pulled her parents’ bodies from the wreckage. That I held her shaking hand as I got her into the ambulance. That I went to the hospital after my shift to check on her and have watched over ever since.

“Until our next fantasy.”

Where is her friend? Why would she leave and head home alone? Does she not know what the buddy system is?!

Oh hey, Chloe. Guess what? I’ve been stalking you for years. Yeah, no big deal. I’m not a psychopath. Promise. But anyway, wanna date now?

A kink love triangle for the holidays? Yes, that’s what I’ve found myself in. My own fault, of course.

“I think having a fireman’s hose inside you is exciting enough,”

Find me a fireman. I want to be a badge bunny or a hose hoe. Sign me up!”

To Jack. Thank you for watching over me this Christmas. Love, Scrooge.

“Of course. I couldn’t let Christmas pass without giving the Scrooge something so her heart can grow.”

I’m watching her still. Watching her walk away from me.

“He’s not in love with me. He’s obsessed. There’s a difference.” “I want the insane asylum kind of love.”

What am I doing? This is insane. I’m stalking my stalker.

It’s in imposter coffee shop.

“I don’t want you on the outside looking in. I want you to come inside.”