Page 67 of More Than a Spark

“No…” I said in a mocking tone. Back to the problem at hand. “So, what do you think about the dinner with your mom?”

She knitted her brows. “I don’t know, honestly.” She shook her head, then sipped her wine. “She might be cool with it, but might not be.” Her gaze flicked to Ryder. “Like I told you, Ryder, she’s mellowed with age. I think it’ll be good for you both to see her and scope it out.”

“I have met Malcolm before.” I thought back to the day. It had been Ryder’s eighteenth birthday and his mother had insisted on having a big blow out party at her mansion in Scottsdale. She’d kept telling her friends Ryder was only going to be firefighter for a few years, then he’d go off to college. He’d been pretty upset about it. “Malcolm didn’t say much to me, but he wasn’t mean or anything. He knew I was gay, right?”

“Of course he knew it.” Ryder eyed me. “Guess we’ll see how he behaves at dinner when him and Mom don’t have all their posh friends all around them.” He scoffed.

“I’m sure Dad will have a better take on things than me. He’ll know what to do.” She hopped off her stool. “So, where’s this green room?”

“Oh. I’ll show you.” I grabbed Ryder’s hand, then led him and his sister through the growing crowd and up to the stage, then behind the red curtains. After passing stage props of all sorts from shows past, we strolled to a door with the words, “Knot Me” written in black on a small white board. “Here we go.” I opened the door and waved them inside, then shut the door behind us.

Axel sat with Remy on a green velvet couch with a traditional dark wooden coffee table in front of it. Opposite the couch was a matching one with two tufted leather chairs at one side. Caleb and Eric sat in the other couch while Gabe and Jeremy rested in the chairs. “Let me introduce you to everyone, Hazel.” I led her by the elbow to them and did the introductions, with everyone standing up to greet her with handshakes and hugs.

My gaze caught on Devin and Brandon, standing in front of a buffet table with black linens, bar food lined up on silver platters. “Hey, we can grab food from over there.”

“Good, I’m starved.” Ryder led his sister to the buffet table, where he introduced her to Devin and Brandon.

Cash grabbed my bicep. “Hey, how are things?”

I turned and took him in, his rainbow t-shirt pulled tight across his lanky frame and white jeans hugging his narrow hips. He was going to stand out more than I was tonight. “It’s going well.” I rubbed my nose. “But a guy Ryder works with is here. He was cool with Ryder being queer, but Ryder’s not sure about coming out at work yet.”

“Give him time.” Cash draped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side, then sipped from a fruity drink. “He’s so in love with you, I’m sure it won’t be long.”

My gaze dragged to his, my heart hesitating. “What?” Ryder had said he was falling for me, but…“You’re just saying that.” My dream was coming true, but it was still hard to believe. I rested my head on his shoulder.

He kissed my cheek. “Oh no, it’s obvious to all of us. We were just talking about it before you came in. Every single one of us sees it.”

“I’ll bet Axel started that rumor. He thinks everyone is in love after the first date.” I huffed out a soft snort, then lifted my head to drink my beer.

Cash twisted to me, keeping a hand on my shoulder, and locking his gaze to mine. “Have you not seen the way he looks at you? The way he dotes on you?” He rolled his eyes. “My God, Milo, that is the look of a man in love.” He twisted me around to face Ryder, watching me with a soft, warm grin gracing his lips and eating a hamburger slider. Close in my ear, Cash whispered, “He can’t take his eyes off you.”

Emotion bloomed in my chest. “I love him so much, Cash. If anything ever happened—” I swallowed a lump in my throat. Ryder was a firefighter. Remy’s dad had been a firefighter and he’d died in a building explosion here in Phoenix. Fuck, don’t even think like that.

“Nothing will happen except for you two getting married, growing old, fat and happy together and living happily ever after.” He pulled me into his chest, his arms wrapping around me from behind. “Just like me and Silas.” He freed me. “Except, I’m never growing old.”

With a quick laugh, I said, “We’ll see about that.” I held up my beer and he tapped his drink to it.

Strolling toward me, Ryder’s grin stretched across his face. He held a plate of six sliders in his hand. “Milo, you need to eat before you get up there.” He held the plate out to me. “I know how energetic you guys are when you play.”

I grabbed a slider and took a bite, my stomach thanking me. He was right. “Damn, these are good.”

“Aren’t they?” He took one for himself and bit into it. “So, what’s the first song tonight?”

“Gabe wants to start with Black Parade.” I swallowed my burger down with some beer, my previous thoughts winding through my head. “Ryder? Have you ever gotten hurt on the job and not told me about it?” I eyed him. Would he try and downplay it if he had? He didn’t talk much about the calls he went on. But Remy had said his dad used to replay them at the dinner table, which partly led to Remy having issues getting close to people.

Ryder pursed his lips and kicked at the speckled rug under our feet with his boots. “I don’t know, not really.”

“It’s a yes or no answer andnot reallyisn’t either one of those.” My chest stiffened. Maybe now wasn’t the right time to talk about this, but I wanted to know.

He eyed me. “Milo, fighting fires is a dangerous job. Shit happens. We’re trained to take calls in the safest way possible to minimize any?—”

“Stop with the bullshit. Have you been hurt and not told me?” I glared at him. I knew him so well. I knew when he was full of it.

“Yeah, I’ve been hurt at work. I’ve had some stitches in my head, a broken pinky finger.” He held up his pinky and curled it at me. “Look it still works.” He chortled. “And that time I saved the hiker, and got the medal, I sprained my ankle pretty bad and was in a boot for a few weeks. Okay?” He lifted his brows.

“Okay.” So, nothing terrible. With a sigh, I bit into my mini-burger.

He hooked his arm around my shoulders and pressed his forehead to mine. “You don’t have to worry about me. I had a quick chat with Axel while you were getting chummy with Cash. I know about Remy’s dad.” He freed me and stepped back. “Fact is most guys in the departments in Arizona have heard of Remy’s dad. The guy was a fucking hero.” His eyes grew glassy. “He’s the man we all want to be.”

---