Ryan leaned one shoulder against the fridge. “Trust. She’s trying to figure out if loving you means eventually losing you allover again.”
Silence settled heavily across the kitchen after that.
Ryan was right. The real problem had never been distance or career ambition. It was fear.
Johanna was terrified that no matter how deeply Blaze loved her, part of him would always belong to the next dream waiting somewhere beyond Sheraton Beach.
And the brutal truth was that he’d spent years giving her every reason to believe that.
Blaze leaned forward slowly, forearms braced against his knees while tension burned through him hard enough to make sitting still impossible.
The problem was, he didn’t know how to convince Johanna that something inside him had changed.
Because for the first time in his life, Blaze Carter wasn’t chasing the next thing. The answer had been standing in front of him all along.
Johanna.
Chapter16
Three days later, Johanna was still avoiding Blaze, although not entirely on purpose. Well, okay, maybe partially on purpose.
But mostly she needed space to think, and in theory that sounded mature and emotionally responsible. In practice, her need for “space” mostly looked like ignoring missed calls, responding to his texts with short messages and polite punctuation, sneaking out of work through side exits, and pretending her chest didn’t tighten every time Blaze’s name lit up her phone.
Honestly, it was exhausting.
By Friday evening, Johanna sat inside Clarence’s Fish & Chicken staring down at a basket of fries while her friends and Paige openly analyzed her emotional downfall like a panel of relationship experts determined to save her from herself.
The Friday night dinner crowd buzzed loudly around them beneath hanging pendant lights and old-school R&B drifting softly through the overhead speakers. The scent of fried fish, cayenne seasoning, buttered rolls, and sweet tea filled the packed restaurant while laughter echoed from nearby tables.
Clarence’s stayed busy for two reasons: the food was legendary, and the gossip came free with every order. Sheraton Beach residents treated the restaurant like unofficial town hall, which meant absolutely nobody minded their business.
MacKenzie popped a fry into her mouth while narrowing her eyes across the booth at Johanna.
“So let me understand this correctly.”
Johanna already hated that tone. “Mac—”
“No.” She pointed dramatically with a chicken wing. “Because I’m really trying to follow the logic here. Blaze loves you, flew you to Baltimore, practically looks five minutes awayfrom going caveman every time you blink at him, and now you acting like that man joined witness protection because Seattle’s recruiting him.”
Paige nearly choked laughing beside her.
Johanna glared at both of them. “Y’all are being extremely unsupportive.”
Leigh sipped her sweet tea calmly. “No, I think we’re trying to determine whether fear has made you lose your mind.”
Johanna groaned and leaned back against the booth cushions.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told y’all anything.”
MacKenzie leaned forward immediately. “You absolutely should’ve told us because now we can explain how ridiculous you sound.”
Johanna blinked slowly. “Wow.”
Paige pointed toward her without hesitation. “And before you get defensive, you’ve been looking down at your phone every seven minutes.”
“I have not.”
“Johanna,” Leigh said calmly, “your phone is literally face-up beside your ranch dressing.”
