Free Ignite (Legacy) by Rebecca Yarros Page B

fully dressed as he stood there with his arms crossed. He glanced down and then back up, sighing. “Play around later, little brother. We have shit to do today. We’re meeting with Knox in half an hour.”
    “Half an hour?” Avery squealed and ran for the bathroom, dragging her small suitcase in with her.
    “You seriously couldn’t give me another hour?” I asked him as she shut the door.
    “Consider this payback for cock-blocking me with Sarah Ganston.”
    “I was fourteen!” I yelled as he walked away.
    “Nothing personal,” he said, repeating my exact words when I’d been sent to find him for breaking curfew.
    I dressed in clean clothes and then waited for Avery. We might have a full day planned, but the only thing on my agenda tonight was her.

    * * *
    “ T his is amazing ,” Avery whispered as we looked around the Legacy crew’s clubhouse as they affectionately called it.
    “Bash pulled out all the stops,” Knox said as he gestured to the main room of the complex that boasted floor-to-ceiling windows and a kick-ass view of the mountains. “He wanted to make sure the Legacy crew had everything it needed.”
    “What about people?” Bishop asked, his eyes taking in the row of glassed-in offices on one side and the huge dining tables along the other.
    The complex was massive. Double kitchens, eating areas, offices, a great room, gym, and enough rooms in the downstairs walkout level to sleep every member of the proposed twenty-two member team.
    “Not going to lie, we’re short,” Knox admitted. “But both Emerson and Bash are working on it, and we’ve called every firefighting Legacy kid. So far they’ve all said that they’re coming home, but we’ll find out tomorrow.”
    “What’s tomorrow?” Avery asked, lacing her fingers with mine.
    “The council meeting,” Knox answered. “We have to present them with the crew. If we have the numbers, we’ll take the Legacy name.”
    “If we don’t?” I asked.
    “Ever known Bash to fail?” Knox replied.
    “Ever known any of us to?” I countered.
    “Exactly.”
    I could almost feel Avery rolling her eyes. “Okay, well let’s say hell freezes over and your unfailing masculinity isn’t quite enough. What then?”
    Knox grinned at her. “I like you.”
    “Don’t,” I said.
    Avery looked between him and me. “Are all your friends this good looking here? Because if so, then maybe Colorado really is a good idea…”
    My mouth hung agape for a second while she smiled up at me. “Maybe commuting from Alaska is a good idea.”
    Knox laughed. “If we don’t have the numbers then we’ll still establish the team, it just won’t be under the same banner.”
    “Your dad’s,” Avery said.
    “Right.”
    “Either way, we’re in,” Bishop answered. “Even if we don’t have the Legacy name, this is still their crew. Their mountain.”
    “Good to know,” Knox said. “Now let’s get to the fun part. Follow me.”
    He walked ahead, leading us to one of the offices with a map of Legacy on the wall. “You okay?” Avery asked quietly as we followed.
    “Yeah.”
    “You’re all tense.”
    I tried to relax—and failed. “The only reason I’m willing to leave Alaska and risk losing you is that it’s Dad’s team. It’s the one they wouldn’t let us restart years ago, and if we have that chance now…”
    “You have to take it,” she finished, looking up at me with understanding and a soft smile. “I get it. I respect you even more for it.”
    “But if it’s not the real Legacy team, then what am I doing?”
    She squeezed my hand. “Wait and see how it goes tomorrow, and then answer that question. For now…” She trailed off, looking where Bishop stood next to Knox at the map.
    “What?” I asked.
    “Can we just pretend for a couple of days?”
    “Pretend what?” My free hand cupped her face, tilting it so she wouldn’t look away.
    “Pretend that this is a given? That I’ll come here with you for sure?” A slight hint of