“You gonna fight for her,” he asked finally, “or just sit in here looking emotionally constipated?”
Blaze glared at him. “Can you stop talking like a therapy podcast?”
“I’m serious.”
Blaze exhaled heavily. “I turned down Seattle.”
Ryan blinked.
“Wait. You already turned it down?”
“Yep.”
Ryan stared at him. “Before the lunch?”
“Two days before.”
The admission settled heavily between them.
Blaze had already made his decision. The lieutenant position. The bigger department. The opportunity he'd spent years believing he wanted.
He'd walked away because Seattle stopped being a good opportunity when somewhere between the bachelor auction, Baltimore, and waking up beside Johanna, he'd realized something.
None of it mattered if she wasn't part of it.
He'd already chosen her.
The only person who didn't know it yet was Johanna.
Ryan's expression softened.
“Well, that's important information, genius.”
Blaze huffed a humorless laugh. “Tell that to Jo.”
Ryan took a long sip of orange juice. “Well,” he said with a shrug, “you can start by understanding this isn't just about Seattle.”
Blaze looked up immediately.
“That woman thinks loving you means eventually losing you.”
Hearing the truth out loud made Blaze sit completely still. Because that was exactly what this whole situation came down to. Johanna wasn't afraid of Seattle. She was afraid of history repeating itself.
Afraid she'd hand him her heart again only to wake up one day and discover his dreams had outgrown her.
Blaze stared toward the rain-streaked bay doors. “I never wanted her feeling like that.”
Ryan gave him a long look. “Intentions and impact ain't the same thing.”
Damn.
Before Blaze could answer, alarms suddenly exploded through the station loud enough to shake the walls.
Every firefighter instinct inside him activated immediately.
Both men moved at once.
Thoughts of Johanna disappeared beneath adrenaline and muscle memory while dispatch crackled through the speakers overhead.
