Page 13 of Only You and Me

“Christ, Shay. You’re going to have to put yourself back out there if you want to have any chance of sparks again. A crowded bar dance floor probably isn’t the place you’re going to feel something. You should have gone on a date or two with him. If you keep this up, you’re never going to have sex again,” Emily lectures.

“I’ve had sex since Tom!” Shayna whisper yells, defending herself.

“Twice in five long years, Shay. You’re twenty-seven years old and smoking hot. You should get lots of action.” Emily’s voice is scolding and I’m happy the focus is off me for a few minutes.

“Well, sex with Tom was… sweet and loving. He was attentive,” Shayna says, quietly. “With the other two guys, it was sloppy and kind of… gross.”

“Sweetie, I think you’ve been having sex with the wrong guys, because that is not how sex is supposed to be. Hot and dirty, sometimes, but not sweaty and gross,” I tell her.

Before Shayna can respond, Finn Bannon steps up to our table.

“I have to agree with your friends. If sloppy and gross is the kind of sex you’re having, you’re definitely having it with the wrong people.”

Finn is one of our rookie firefighters, having only started with us in September. He’s on B shift with Fitz and Jack, but he’s already building a reputation as a great medic and firefighter. From how he stared at Shayna all night on New Year’s Eve, I suspect he has a thing for her. So, this should prove interesting.

“Oh my God, Finn! Keep your voice down,” Shayna says. Her face is as crimson as a beet. “Also, it’s none of your business who I have sex with or what kind of sex I have,” she hisses.

“We could make it my business, darlin’. I could show you what you’re missing,” he says, smirking at her.

Hmm. This is a side of Finn I haven’t gotten to see. If I were Shayna, I think I’d find it kinda hot…

“God, you’re an arrogant ass.”

“It’s not arrogant if it’s true, Shayna.” His voice is smooth, and he says it closer to her ear now, but I can still hear him.

Emily and I are both sitting back in our chairs, sipping our drinks and watching the show. Just as a pissed off Shayna opens her mouth to respond, someone makes an announcement over the speakers that it’s time to head to the stage for the upcoming auction. Damn, this was getting good.

“That’s us, Finn. Let’s go,” I say. I stand up and wait for him.

“I’m up fourth, in case you want to bid,” Finn says to Shayna. He winks at her and heads toward the stage with me.

“Wow, Finn. I wasn’t aware you had such game with the ladies,” I tease. I’m surprised to see his cheeks pink.

“Not all the ladies. She just… I don’t know. She’s under my skin a bit, Captain. But don’t tell her, please.”

“Oh, I think she might already know.” I chuckle. “But don’t worry, I won’t say anything. And when we’re not at the station, call me Trina. I’m pretty sure you might be the next addition to our friend group.”

Finn’s jaw drops but we’re at the stage now, so I ignore it and walk up to Janie, a nurse from the ER. She’s the emcee tonight, and she’s pretty damn sassy, so I’m guessing it’ll be amusing. Jack’s fiancée, Annie, is tasked with keeping us all organized and making sure we get up to the stage on time.

Once it’s time to start, I watch from the side as Reynolds is the first bachelor up. He brings in a few hundred dollars for the cause. Now it’s my turn. Well, if any of my coworkers didn’t see what I was wearing before, they will now. I straighten my shoulders and decide to ‘own it’ like Emily instructed me to do when we first got here.

I can immediately hear the hooting and hollering from Shayna and Emily, and a whistle coming from the area where a group of our firefighters and their dates are sitting. I throw a teasing glare their way.

My auction, unfortunately for me but fortunately for the cause, doesn’t go as quickly as Reynolds’ did. There are two men and one woman near the front taking part, and another man who is sitting further back. I squint to make out his face better. He looks familiar, but I can’t tell who he is from this far away. I guess if he wins, I’ll have a close-up view because the “prize” is a one-hour dinner at a private table with me and the first dance of the night.

When my bidding is up to four hundred and fifty dollars, it looks like the guy in the shadows will be the winner.

“Going once. Going twice,” Janie calls out.

“Six hundred dollars,” a fresh voice calls out. A voice I’d recognize anywhere.

I whip my head to the table where Ben is sitting, and my eyes widen. My insides quiver at how intently his eyes focus on me. He wears no smirk on that annoyingly attractive face of his. Instead, he’s leaned backed casually in his chair, staring at me. I’m the one who looks away first, and I hate it.

What in the actual hell does he think he’s doing? Come on, guy in the back, go up a little.

When Janie announces Ben as the winner a few seconds later, I’m so stunned I’m surprised I make it off the stage without falling over. Ben and I just had a fight a few weeks ago about him playing games with me and now he pulls this.

I stew about it as the auction proceeds for a few more firefighters, before I focus my attention on the stage as Fitz comes up for his turn. He’ll hate every minute of this. He’s definitely not one for the spotlight. But he’s a good guy and when it’s for a good cause like this, he forces himself to look past his discomfort.

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