More laughter followed.
Blaze grabbed the coffee pot and filled a mug, trying and failing, to ignore the grin stretching across Ryan’s face.
Nothing worked around firefighters.
Especially after a public spectacle.
And the bachelor auction had provided enough entertainment to keep these idiots satisfied for months.
Michael leaned against the counter and folded his arms.
“So...”
Blaze took a long sip of coffee.
“So what?”
Ryan shut the refrigerator and pointed a bottle of orange juice at him.
“You really gonna stand there and pretend you didn’t stop breathing when Jo’s number popped up as the winning bidder?”
The room exploded again.
Blaze kept his expression carefully neutral.
Unfortunately, that only made things worse.
“Oh, he’s gone,” Michael wheezed.
“Gone,” somebody shouted from the hallway.
“Finished,” another voice added.
Blaze shook his head. “Every last one of y’all need a hobby.”
Ryan laughed. “Don’t do that. We witnessed history last night.”
History.
That was certainly one way to describe watching the only woman he'd ever truly loved win a date with him in front of half the state of Delaware.
Even now, he wasn't entirely sure how it had happened.
One second he'd been standing beneath stage lights while the auctioneer read through his firefighter résumé like he was a prize bull at a county fair.
The next, Johanna's number flashed across the screen.
Everything inside him had gone still.
Not because he was embarrassed or shocked. But because after all these years, seeing her name connected to his again had felt dangerously right.
Ryan studied him over the rim of his juice bottle.
“You still love her.”
It wasn't even a question.
The kitchen quieted.
