“One thousand!” Lauren stands, her paddle high in the air like she’s the damn Statue of Liberty. Actually, strike that, the paddle in her hand isn’t hers, it’s mine.

“Lauren!” I scold, rising from my chair.

Whose idea was it to switch our paddles and bid on a hot bachelor for the other? Not mine, that’s for sure. More importantly, why did I go along with the idea that Lauren could pick a guy for me to date at this First Responders Fallen Hero Bachelor Auction? I was out of my mind to think she’d make the right pick for me.

That’s how she snuck the first couple of bids by me because when Mauro Bianco stepped foot on that stage, the multi-tasking function in my brain turned off.

He still looks like a real life model. The spotlight glows over his head, giving the appearance that his dark hair holds streaks of natural highlights. His chiseled jaw is more defined than his boyish one at eighteen.

My entire body heats with flames only he can extinguish. It’s not his broad shoulders and tight waist, the dimples in his cheeks or his luscious pink lips that undo me. It’s his eyes. The way they transform from aqua to the deepest blue of the ocean depending on what feeling is spiraling around inside him. Mix those with the bronzed skin of his Italian heritage and I’m done for.

The MC goes back and forth between Lauren and another woman who wants a piece of Mauro. I’m not sure whether I want her or Lauren to win.

The gavel lands on the podium and my muscles tense as he points to Lauren and yells, “Sold!”

She drops the paddle in the middle of the table as though it’s a generous bundle of hundred dollar bills.

“You can thank me at your wedding.” She smirks.

Lauren saw me through my Mauro Bianco fangirl phase. I never told her what happened that fateful night I drove my drunk crush home—I was too embarrassed to tell even her.

“I don’t want Mauro,” I protest even though my body is literally giddy to think about another night alone with him. One where I’m not in braces and glasses. We may not be on equal footing now, but the gap is shortening.

Don’t get too cocky, my inner voice warns.

“I need to be filled in.” Vanessa’s blonde hair swings side to side as her head swivels between Lauren and myself.

Vanessa didn’t make us a trio until college after we got thrown into a quad without a fourth. She never met the Maddie who turns into a babbling mess when Mauro’s within a twenty-foot perimeter. And she won’t know her now. I refuse to morph back into the insecure girl who propped him up on a pedestal.

“Later,” I whisper, not wanting to rehash history in this moment.

“If this is the way we’re going to play it.” She turns to face the MC who is now introducing Mauro’s little brother, Luca. “Then game on.”

At the end of the auction, once we’ve all pissed each other off by selecting one another’s dates, somehow, we each ended up with a Bianco brother. Lauren practically tackled Vanessa to prevent her from bidding on Luca for her and Vanessa has told me that she will not be going out with Cristian, who’s a police officer.

Good times all around.

After we pay for our dates, I feel a little better about things since the money is going to help such a wonderful charity. Then I spot Mauro across the room and decide I’d feel a helluva lot better if my date wasn’t flirting with some blonde who won’t stop touching his bicep. The two are entranced in a moment. Is she the other woman who was bidding? I narrow my eyes, but I can’t be sure.

I might as well see what the action is about in the banquet room since there are more hot firefighter, police officers, and EMTs around. I leave my two roommates to fight it out with their designated dates.

Hell, maybe Mauro will have some insanely busy schedule and be unable to go on the date. Ever.

You don’t really wish that.

Or maybe he’ll shuck the responsibility. It’s not like in high school he was one to follow the rules. Rules never seemed to apply to the prom king and quarterback. When others were being stopped for sneaking off school property for lunch, Mauro was waving his goodbye and peeling off around the corner. Everyone else had to carry around passes to be in the hallways during class time, but Mauro acted as though the hallways were his kingdom. We didn’t have any classes together, but word was he was usually asleep in the back row.

A callused hand lands softly on my forearm. “Excuse me,” a deep voice says.

I stop and circle around. My entire body shuts down for a second as Mauro Bianco stands front and center only a couple of feet away from me, his eyes just as transfixing as years before.

“I heard you were my winning bidder. Well, not for me, but a date. Which I guess is technically still me.” He shakes his head, chuckling to himself.

I giggle.

Like I’m still sixteen. Ugh.

He holds his hand out. “Let’s start over.” His smile is infectious, his eyes—alluring. His muscles, worth salivating over. I’m back to being a sophomore again. “I’m Mauro Bianco. Thanks for coming out to support such a good cause.”

“Hi. I’m… Ma…Ma…Mad…ison Kelly.”

His smile grows and my gut twists. My palms sweat while my heart pounds against my chest like a bass drum in a rock band as I wait with baited breath.

“Nice to meet you,” he says, ignoring my stutter.

My insides deflate like a balloon with a slow leak, hope streaming out with a slow hiss.

Of course, he doesn’t remember me.

I was always invisible to him.