Page 62 of No More Words

“Come on, Josh. The steaks won’t grill themselves.”

“He’s using my grill?”

Ethan slides him a look. “Your grill?”

“That’s right, Miller. I live here.” As if to prove his point, Blaze moves farther into the house, nudging her aside.

“Not anymore you don’t, and the grill’s mine.”

“I picked it out.”

He looks at her as if her announcement is the most ridiculous thing he’s heard. But he doesn’t hide the hurt that deepens the grooves around his mouth.

She rests a hand on his chest to guide him out the door. It takes effort not to curl her fingers into his shirt. His body is warm under his biker jacket and she wants to lean into him, tell him everything that’s happened since she broke up with him. She wants to express what she’s been thinking about them. She owes him an apology, but not with an audience. If she didn’t think Ethan could help in her search for Lily, she’d ask him to leave now. But if Blaze doesn’t go, Ethan might clam up, and she’ll get nothing from him.

Searching his face, her eyes asking for his patience, she lowers her voice. “Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Wait a sec.” Ethan clues in. “You’re dating Theo?”

“Yes.” She closes her eyes. “No,” she says softly. Not as of several nights ago.

Blaze is grinning down at her when she opens them, as if he can tell she’s fighting her feelings for him. He knows she’s realizing that she made a mistake.

Josh, lurking off to the side, coughs into his hand. “Awkward.”

He couldn’t be more accurate.

Blaze gives Josh the once-over. He smiles. “Hey, I’m Blaze. You are?”

Her nephew surprisingly stands taller when she’d expect him to recoil from such a direct question. “Josh.”

“This your kid, Miller?”

“No, he’s Lily’s son,” Olivia answers for Ethan. As far as she knows, Blaze isn’t aware she thought Lily’s son was Ethan’s. They weren’t in touch when she was in college and Blaze was in the army. And over the last year they never got around to why she and Ethan broke up. Blazedidn’t ask and she didn’t volunteer. It was a period of their lives they glossed over like a countertop sealant. Between Blaze’s parents divorcing, his mom’s lymphoma, and Olivia’s family drama, they didn’t let those years bleed into their relationship.

“Not ... Lily,” Josh says.

“He’s not her son?” Blaze looks to her for clarification.

“We think Lily changed her name,” she says.

His brows shoot up. “To what?”

Josh opens his mouth. “Peanut.” He then swears. His neck and cheeks flame. He starts to back out of the room.

“Josh, stay. It’s okay.”

Blaze covers his mouth with the back of his wrist and studies Josh, mildly shocked. “She here?” He looks at Olivia, searching. Questions are clouds crossing his face, different shapes and sizes. She senses he wants to ask why, but more than that, he wants to know how she’s faring. He knew Lily, and while they weren’t together when Lily ran, Blaze would know Josh being here, standing with them in her entryway, is a big deal.

“No. Josh is staying with me for a bit.” She has so much to tell Blaze, she’s practically bursting to share.

Screw it. Ethan can wait.

“We’ll be back in a few.” She grabs Blaze’s elbow to draw him out front but his boots remain firmly planted. He sets down the Fireball on the table by the door and gives Josh his hand.

“Nice to meet you. How’s your mom?”

“Umm ...” Josh gnaws his lower lip.

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