Finding His Unicorn Read online

  Finding His Unicorn

  Alexa Riley

  Contents

  Finding His Unicorn

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Holding His Forever

  Chapter 1

  Read Me Romance

  Stalk the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Author Alexa Riley LLC. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to [email protected]

  http://alexariley.com/

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Edited by Aquila Editing

  Finding His Unicorn

  To the corndog in California.

  Chapter One

  Rosabelle

  “Didn't you get a D in that engineering class you took?” I ask Rie as she plays with the tail of my unicorn costume. I knew she tried out the class her freshman year of college because she’ll try anything.

  “It was a D plus, so it counts as passing.” She says that, but the look on her face doesn't agree with her as she goes back to messing with the end of the tail. “I think I got it.”

  She yanks on the tail a little too hard and I feel it tug at the backside of my costume. I almost fall over from the action but she helps catch me before I can face plant onto our living room floor.

  “I think you should wear flats,” she teases, fighting a laugh.

  “Crap. I didn't think about shoes! What kind of shoes do unicorns wear?” I glance around the living room like they could magically appear. “I don’t have hooves lying around.”

  “Thank God because that would be weird.” Rie makes a grossed-out face that isn't helping right now. How could I have forgotten about shoes? I’m dressed to the nines with everything else for this costume. We worked on it all day yesterday so it would be perfect.

  “I’m serious. I want to do this right so everyone at the office will like me,” I plead with her.

  My new job hasn't been so easy. I don’t know why a few of the front office girls don’t like me. I try to spark up conversations with them, but most won't give me the time of day. When I walk into a room they all stop talking like whatever they were saying was about me. There’s this clique and I haven’t gotten into it. It’s worse than high school and I thought those days were behind me.

  “I was sure your snickerdoodle cookies would work.” Rie shakes her head, not understanding.

  That was a bust, too. I make the best snickerdoodles in the world, or at least that’s what people tell me. I baked all night to take them in for the office breakroom. The women informed me how many calories were loaded into my yummy treats and no one touched them. You’d think I worked in the beauty industry or something and not in a call center. I spend my day redirecting calls to the right departments, and although it’s a boring job it pays well. I guess that’s what really matters when you need to pay your bills.

  I go toward my room in search of shoes. “Watch it!” Rie shouts as she jumps out of the way so I don’t hit her with my tail.

  “Sorry,” I mumble. This costume might have been a bad idea. I’ve heard of company picnics but I’ve never heard of a company costume picnic. I don’t know how I came up with the idea of dressing up like a unicorn but it sounded easy enough. Unicorns aren’t real so there was some wiggle room to do whatever I wanted.

  I thought a bodysuit with a tutu would be perfect. Throw some glitter in there with fun makeup and a unicorn horn headband and bam! Then Rie got the bright idea that I should have a tail and I was down with that. She said she could make it for me, but she didn’t tell me it would shoot glitter. I mean, that sounds pretty cool but way over my head.

  “These?” I turn around to look at her and she’s holding a pair of pink Converse. What the hell? They’re pink and I won’t kill myself wearing them like the purple heels I was eyeing. I got them at a thrift store two months ago but haven’t had the moxie to wear them yet.

  “Good call.” I take them from her and pull them on.

  “Okay. So you just need to push this button whenever you want the glitter to come out,” she says as I finish tying my shoes to look up at her. She’s holding out a small remote and my eyes widen. “Don’t push it now. Cleaning up glitter is a mess.”

  “Maybe I shouldn't use it then.” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. I don’t want to get in trouble for shooting glitter everywhere. I want everyone to like me.

  “Stop that. You’ll mess up your lipstick.” She points to my mouth and I let go of my lip. “You’re going to be outside so it will blow away.” She waves her hand dismissively and I take the remote from her.

  She tucks a curly lock behind her ear that we colored to match my costume. I think about how weird it is to see her dressed up. I should be used to it because she does this every Sunday.

  “You sure you can’t come?” I ask.

  Rie is better at this kind of stuff than I am. She can make friends in seconds while I can be awkward and tend to get nervous and ramble on about nothing. Either that or I spill every detail of my life and overshare.

  “You know my dad.” Rie rolls her blue eyes. It’s Sunday and she’s never allowed to miss dinner with her dad. It’s just the two of them and I’ve even gone a few times. They don’t really talk to each other and it’s always somewhere super fancy. I call Rie the black sheep of her family, but can you be the black sheep if there’s only two of you?

  “Yeah, I know.” I let out a long sigh.

  I get it and I can't say much. Her father owns the apartment building we live in. We only have to pay for the utilities. I guess you’d say we’re under his thumb somewhat, and although we could find a new place, this one is nice. I’m saving my money in the meantime but I’m not sure what for. I think it’s supposed to be college, but nothing is piquing my interest. I’m drifting and it’s unsettling. It’s probably why I’m trying to fit in so much at my new job.

  I’m lucky to have Rie as a best friend. I practically ran from my parents’ house when I turned eighteen and Rie did the same. The only stipulation for her was she had to go to college. Her father is footing the bill but isn’t too happy that she’s leaning toward art as her major. She has time to pick what she wants since right now most of her coursework is basic classes she will need no matter what she chooses.

  I, on the other hand, don’t have someone to pay for school, and my drive to do it is super sucking right now. Rie thinks I need time to breathe and be free from my parents. My home life was chaotic. Eighteen years living with my parents and I still don’t understand them. At times they’re loving and other times they are just crazy.

  I turn to look at myself in the mirror and realize I look like a cute hot mess.

  “You don’t think it’s too sexy?” I ask, because I’ve never worn a bodysuit be
fore. Unlike the ladies at work, I eat the snickerdoodles and fill out all my womanly curves. I think the bodysuit shows them off in all the right places. Rie helped me pick it out and she always has a good eye for what will look good on me.

  “No. Besides, people dress like big old sluts at costume parties.” She winks at me in the mirror.

  I turn to the side to look at my tail. “This is pretty cool.” I give a little wiggle to make it shake back and forth.

  “You look awesome, Rosa. You’re going to kill it. Is there a costume competition?” Rie smooths out her dress and double checks she doesn’t have any wrinkles.

  “I don’t think so.” I try and think back to what Tiffany told me and I don’t recall anything about a competition. Only to dress up and bring a dish.

  “Well, if there is one you’re so winning.” She smacks my ass, making me scream.

  “That bodysuit is thinner than I thought,” she laughs, looking at her hand that just assaulted my butt. “Do you have underwear on?”

  I shake my head. “It showed! It’s not like anyone will know I don’t.” No one is going to be trying to get their hands in my bodysuit. I straighten out my soft blue tutu.

  “If you say so. Come on, I’ll drop you off on my way to see good old Dad.” I follow her out of my room and she stops to put on her fancy heels. The way Rie dresses up to see her father is so night and day to who she really is. She’s always in yoga pants and giant sweaters or shirts that are covered in paint. Unless it’s the summer, then she tends to just wear a sports bra.

  “I’ll come by the picnic afterward,” she tries to reassure me when she sees my forlorn expression. “I’ll put some bitches in their place.” I laugh.

  My sad look isn’t about going to the picnic alone or them not liking me. It’s for Rie pretending to be someone she isn’t every week.

  “If I hold out that long. I might melt.” I open the door to our apartment and the heat hits me instantly. I hope this place has shade or something.

  “You forgot this.” Rie grabs the fruit plate I prepared for the picnic. Lesson learned, no cookies. But you can bet your booty I’m bringing some cream cheese dip to go with this fruit.

  Chapter Two

  Blaze

  “You’re buying this time,” Chief laughs as he slaps me on the shoulder and we walk into McCarthy’s bar.

  “I think your old age is getting to you, Chief. I believe it’s your turn.”

  The fire chief rolls his eyes and I smile. He’s only five years older than me but we’ve been friends a long time and he’s the chief of our department.

  “I can’t remember. Do they let rookies at the bar here?”

  “Rookie?” I call out as we lean against the bar and I raise my fingers for two beers.

  The bartender raises his chin and slides the beers down the long wooden plank. Chief and I grab them.

  Just as I bring the bottle to my lips, the walkie-talkie at my side sounds. I reach down and bring it up to my ear as Chief shakes his head.

  “We’re not on call, Blaze.”

  Regardless, I listen in for the address to see how far away it is. After a second I look at him and his face falls as he sets down his beer.

  “It’s over in the park, on Smith and Second. That’s us,” I say, pulling some cash out and leaving it on the bar. “Let’s go.”

  “You just don’t know when to quit,” Chief grumbles as I tell the dispatcher over the radio that we’re taking it.

  I’m a part-time firefighter in a small suburb of Chicago, but I usually work full-time hours. It’s not that they need the help, I just like the distraction. When I was in college I lost both my parents in a car crash and I dropped out. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do now that I didn’t have them or their support. I’d thought I wanted to be a banker or something like that and majored in business, but after the shock of losing them, I realized that life is short.

  Luckily my parents had life insurance and it took care of me. I’ve never had to worry about money, but I’ve always been really careful with it. I never wanted to waste the gift I was given, so when I sat back and thought about what I wanted to do, I realized that helping people was what was in my heart.

  I had a buddy from high school that reached out to me after I lost my parents and made me go to the gym with him. We started working out every day, and the more I did it, the better I felt. It was at the gym where I would watch the firefighters work out and sometimes I’d see them in the middle of a rep and their radios would go off and they’d have to jet out. They’d hop in their trucks and hit the sirens and I remember standing there watching them leave thinking I should go help too. It truly was a calling inside of me. My need to go into the burning building and rescue someone overrode my need to sit back and watch.

  I went through the training and Chief was one of my instructors. We ended up getting along and he said he saw a lot of promise in me. The department didn’t have a full-time spot, but I let Chief know that I didn’t want to take the full-time pay away from a firefighter that needed it. Part-time was just fine by me, and late-night hours too. I don’t like being alone and most nights I sleep at the firehouse even if I’m off.

  Maybe my parents knew one day I’d end up in this job and that’s why they named me Blaze. Everyone thinks it’s a nickname, but I don’t mind it. I was born to do this job, and I work hard at it. I don’t have a lot in my life besides the crew I work with, and it’s okay with me.

  Some people might think it’s lonely but I’ve gotten used to it. The guys at the station are my family and I really don’t have time for much else. I can’t remember the last time I looked at a woman and felt even a hint of a spark. So what’s the point of wasting my time with women if they mean nothing? I remember how much my parents loved each other, and I won’t settle for anything less than that. Until I find the one, I just plan on working and doing what I can to save lives.

  “What was the call for?” Chief asks as we hop in the truck and hit the sirens.

  “A non-emergency, but they’re sending an ambulance,” I tell him as I cut through a red light and head south.

  There are different levels of emergencies we can be sent to cover, and thankfully since we don’t have our gear this one doesn’t require much. We just need to show up and assist any medical personnel and check for fire safety.

  “Good. Maybe we can get back to McCarthy’s before my beer gets hot.”

  I shake my head as I make the turn and see a giant crowd in the park. “What the hell?” I say to myself when I see something that looks like a unicorn.

  Chapter Three

  Rosabelle

  “Oh God,” I whisper to myself when I see no one else is dressed up for the office picnic.

  Most of the men are in shorts and polos and the girls are all in summer dresses and heels. I’m not sure how they’re walking in the grass with them on.

  I don't just stand out, I have a freaking spotlight on me. People keep turning to look at me wondering what the heck I’m doing. I’m not sure if I should run and hide or stick it out. I think the girls want me to run away in embarrassment, and truthfully that’s what I really want to do. I don’t understand what I’ve done to these women to make them dislike me so much. To go as far as making up a lie that this was a costume party to try to embarrass me. I should have known better. I’m always too naïve and trusting when it comes to people. I should have gone with my gut because they’ve been so rude to me from the beginning. Why would this be any different?

  “Are you here to perform or something?” Mike from Accounting asks me as his eyes roam over my outfit.

  “I’m Rosa. From the front desk,” I remind him. I see the man every morning when he comes in to work. I guess because I dress in clothes that cover myself he hasn't taken the time to notice me. I want to roll my eyes at him, but I’m the one in the middle of a park in a unicorn costume. I don't have room for judgment right now.

  “Rosa.” He repeats my name as he pulls his beer away from his
mouth to run his eyes over me again. The first time was enough to make my skin scrawl.

  I think Rie was wrong about this outfit. It isn't leaving much to the imagination, and Mike is making sure to take in every inch of me. This bodysuit was a bad idea, plus it’s hot. I thought the white would help keep the sun from beating down on me but it’s not.

  “Didn’t recognize you with the color in your hair.” So he says, but his eyes never come to my face, let alone my hair. “They paying you to put on a show or something?” He doesn’t wait for a response from me as he keeps on talking. “I had no clue this was under those boxy suits you wear.” He licks his lips before taking another pull from his beer.

  I glance over toward the girls I share an office with, who are glaring at me. What the hell? I should be the one making faces. They’re dressed up in cute rompers while I have a freaking tail! I don’t know which is worse, the giggles from moments ago or the look of death they’re giving me now. It must have something to do with Mike talking to me.

  I try to take a step back from Mike because he’s slowly inching in closer. When his hand reaches up to touch my hair, I smack it out of instinct. I don’t want a random person touching me.

  “I was just going to see what’s in it.” He acts like I’m the weird one.

  “It’s just some spray-in dye with glitter,” I answer as I take another step back from the man and almost trip over my tail.

  I should call it a day. I came to make friends but now Mike is the only person talking to me and he’s the last person I want to talk to. I know way more about him than I should since the girls like to talk and most of that talk is about him. He gets around the office and the ladies fight over him. I don’t get it.