What If You & Me (Say Everything #2) - Roni Loren Page 0,99
you practiced your Magic Mike moves yet?”
Hill glanced up from his phone to find Ramsey grinning and looking way too enthusiastic. “Can I just have Andi give you the money now and save myself the stage?”
Ramsey laughed and squeezed Hill’s shoulder. “And forgo my opportunity to shamelessly pimp you? Where would the fun be in that?”
Hill flipped him off.
“Come on,” Ramsey said, leaning in. “Josh and Christina are supposed to be here. Don’t you want to have them witness your pretty neighbor throwing money at you?”
Hill smirked, enjoying Ramsey’s mean-girls vindictive side even if it wasn’t needed at the moment. “Chris and I are actually on okay terms now. We talked.”
“Oh yeah?” Ramsey asked, head cocked. “Wow. That’s good, man. Glad to hear it. But Joshy?”
Hill sniffed derisively. “He can go to hell.”
“That’s the spirit!” Ramsey said. “Now be ready to go. You’re going first, so I can put you out of your misery.” He ran a hand over his head, a cocky look on his face. “And I will, of course, be last because I’m the grand prize.”
“You’re a prize, all right,” Hill said with a droll tone. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Eager, huh?” Ramsey teased. “I love it.”
A few minutes later, Hill stood off to the side and out of the view of the crowd as Ramsey went to a podium on the other side of the stage and talked about the charity they were raising money for tonight. Hill could see some of the audience, but he couldn’t find Andi. He knew she was there. She’d texted him when she and her friends had arrived. He hadn’t asked her to do that, but he’d appreciated the extra assurance. Getting up there and not seeing her familiar face in the audience was a nightmare that had woken him from a dead sleep last night. And of course, in the nightmare, he’d been on stage naked because…nightmares loved nudity.
“And now for our first bachelor,” Ramsey said into the microphone, bringing Hill’s focus back.
His heart was already pounding, and he wiped his damp palms on his jeans. Please let this be over quickly.
“Our first bachelor is a true hero,” Ramsey went on. “Hill Dawson was a valued member of our station for eight years. Beyond being a guy you could always trust to have your back in an emergency situation, he was also our favorite firehouse cook.” Ramsey leaned closer to the mic. “Which means he can cook, ladies.”
There were claps and whoops from the crowd.
“During a five-alarm fire at an apartment building, Hill was helping evacuate families when he heard the roof starting to give way,” Ramsey went on. “Though the danger was clear, Hill rushed back in and saved three additional people and the family dog before the roof caved in and a beam landed on him.”
There were murmurs in the crowd. Hill closed his eyes, trying to breathe and forcing himself to count the breaths so that he didn’t let his mind go to the memory. Ramsey had promised him that he wouldn’t go into anything but the most basic details so as not to trigger Hill. Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four.
“So, though he’s now retired from the station, Hill is the guy I look to when I need lessons in being a badass. He is my friend. He is a hero. And tonight, for the right price, he can be your karaoke date.” Ramsey looked toward the side of the stage where Hill was standing in the shadows. He waved him forward. “Everyone, please welcome our first eligible bachelor of the night, Hill Dawson.”
The crowd erupted in applause. Hill’s throat was tight and his shoulder muscles locked, but he forced himself to move forward. The spotlights aimed at the small stage were blinding for a moment, but Hill made his way toward Ramsey and then turned to face the audience, pasting a half smile on his face.
When his eyes adjusted to the lights, he caught sight of red hair off to the left. Andi was smiling and clapping, her gaze a little shiny as it locked on him. The wash of relief and delight that went through him from seeing her there almost knocked him backward. The world felt lighter when Andi was around. She was like the human version of an Instagram filter, making everything a little softer and a lot more beautiful. His forced smile grew into a real one.
“So,” Ramsey said. “Let’s open up the bidding at fifty dollars.”