Page 17 of Steel

“What?” I barked while moving into formation for a quick hit with the towel. At least my boxing experience came in handy for something useful.

“You’re looking pretty good, brother. But I look better.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Pictures from the rodeo. Remember that?”

How the hell could I forget? He’d talked me into doing a little roping and riding, both of which had left me sore as shit for a full week. At least the proceeds had gone to an animal rescue.

“How could I forget you dragging my ass into a competition I had no business being in.”

“Don’t look at me,” Axe chortled, the grin on his face about to be smacked off. He was the former rodeo champion. Not me and not a good portion of the Zullie team who’d been talked intoparticipating or helping with the event. “Blame my wife. But you did look good in a pair of chaps.”

“Who are you kidding?” Rock tossed out. “He was a pansy ass in them.”

“What rodeo?” Viper asked as he wrapped a towel around his waist. Our soon to be off rookie status jumper had been locked up in prison when the rodeo had occurred, one of the biggest events in Missoula history. We’d even caught a notorious serial arsonist at the same time.

“This was for charity,” I lamented, tossing the wet towel in the laundry dump and grabbing a clean one. “Seriously, what are you looking at?”

“I don’t know for sure. Kenzie sent me an email with a couple pictures as an attachment. See what you think.” Axe handed me his phone.

A few of the other guys crowded around me as I stared at the photograph. “Fuck me,” I groaned just as the whistles started.

Some photographer had caught me after taking my shirt off. Between the sweat and the way the sun was beating down, I’d been a fucking mess. “What am I looking at?” I threw out, cringing inside. An entire year had gone by. Why bring it up now? There were two photos, the horrible one of me and one of a group of us, all jumpers dressed up like cowboys. Which we were not.

“The photos were suddenly posted on a few Instagram accounts, Facebook too from what Kenzie told me. They went viral.”

“Meaning what?” Rock asked.

“Old man,” Axe teased. “The photos were liked over a million and a half times. There went another thousand likes. Same with the picture of all of us.”

“That’s crazy,” Denver offered. “Why now after a year?”

My brother shook his head. “I don’t know. Plenty of offers from some sexy ladies though.”

“Yeah, and Kenzie will kick your ass back to California,” I told him.

“What about you, bro? You haven’t had a date since the dinosaurs were in existence.”

Everyone in the shower room laughed at my expense. They weren’t wrong, but my brother of all people knew the reason why. I shoved my way around them, heading to the locker. The cold brew was calling my name and I didn’t give a damn what time it was.

My brother was still scrolling through social media. “Hey. There’s a third photo. Remember that smokejumper promo the cap’n asked us to do?”

How could any of us forget?

“What about it?” I don’t know why I was bothering to ask. I couldn’t care less. Being the center of attention wasn’t on my bucket list and had never been. Although I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, I’d had a damn good time participating in the rodeo.

Except for one thing.

Seeing my ex.

Fuck. Now I was in a shitty mood.

“Also viral,” Axe mused. “There’s something weird about this.” He really seemed concerned. “And wow. Here we thought guys were assholes when it came to flirting. These women are wild.”

I shook my head and grabbed my jeans, groaning more than usual. Working the massive fire had taken a lot out of me. Maybe I was just getting too old for twenty-five-mile hikes. In the blazing sun with smoke billowing around us. With little water and all uphill.

Then the earthquake.