Page 235 of Mountain Men Heroes

And right now, he wasn’t saying all these things to hurt us. He did it out of concern for me. I opened my mouth to…I don’t know. Apologize? Explain?

But he held up a hand. Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked out the door.

“Sawyer,” I called, my voice trembling as a sob crawled its way up my throat. I started to run after him, but Dyson’s arm pulled me tighter to him.

I turned my face up to Dyson’s. “I hurt him.”

He ran his knuckles over my cheek. “He’ll be okay, sweetheart. He could never stay mad at you.”

I swallowed back my tears and focused on the warmth and concern in Dyson’s eyes. After a few moments, I took in a deep shuddering breath and nodded. I offered him a trembling smile. “This wasn’t exactly how I thought we’d break the news to everyone.”

“I don’t know. I totally enjoyed the way you broke your news.”

Mac’s words reminded us we weren’t alone. I dropped my forehead to Dyson’s chest for a brief second before turning my attention to Mac. My eyes narrowed on him. “You don’t have any warnings or nasty comments you want to make about Eeli, Dyson, and I?”

As I spoke, Eeli moved closer to us. His arm looped around my waist protectively. I looked up at him and saw he was shooting warnings at Mac with just a look.

Mac held his hands up, palms out, and chuckled. “If you guys are meant to be, that’s clear.” He sobered and his gaze traveled over the three of us before it landed back on my face, giving me a searching look. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

“Yes,” I said, instantly. I had my men by my side. I had no doubts I’d found my forever.

Mac smiled. “Good enough for me. Do I smell pancakes?”

I rolled my eyes, but after giving each of my guys a quick snuggle, I moved back to the stove. As I went back to flipping pancakes, I prayed breaking things to Sawyer would be the worst we had to face.

Thirteen

Clara

The nightmare and the early morning visit from my very angry brother set the tone for the rest of my morning. Even Mac’s unrelenting humor didn’t erase my brother’s words.

Things were strained between Eeli, Dyson, and me as we cleaned up the breakfast dishes and headed off to our respective jobs. My thoughts kept going to Sawyer and his reaction. Was that what we could expect from all our families?

The thought didn’t cheer me, and judging by the grim looks Dyson and Eeli wore as Mac drove off and we got into our separate vehicles, they had concerns, too.

It didn’t occur to me until I was halfway through cleaning and feeding the shelter animals that we hadn’t made any plans to meet up that night. Did Dyson and Eeli just assume I’d come over? Or maybe they wanted to take the night off?

My heart ached at the thought of not sleeping between my men. But I hadn’t even had a chance to think more about how to handle Eeli’s nightmare. The next crisis came up too fast to navigate the first one.

Plus, we hadn’t addressed the huge horny elephant in the room. I wanted my men, but everything seemed to be in our way to keep that from happening.

I sighed as I finished cleaning the cat room. I bent to scratch one of the residents behind the ears before letting myself out. I glanced up at the wall clock as I made my way into the tiny office space.

Not even quite noon yet and I felt like I’d been up for three days straight. I sank into my desk chair and eyeballed the stack of paperwork waiting for me. Not my favorite thing on the best of days.

“And this is not the best of days,” I informed the raccoon currently recovering from an injury in the floor to ceiling enclosure that took up half the office.

He chattered right back at me, making my lips tip up for the first time since I walked through the door. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t complain. At least I get to run free. But don’t worry. You’ll be getting sprung any day now.”

He chattered back at me again.

“What’s that? You think I should ditch the paperwork and go check on my men?” I stood up and grabbed my messenger bag from its spot on the floor. “That’s the best idea you’ve had yet.”

A quick call to Trinity while I locked up told me my guys were at the Kratos offices. I headed out in my truck, and the closer I got to Wild Ridge, the more agitated I became. I hadn’t paid much attention to the low hum of need under my skin as I worked all morning, but now that I concentrated on my Dyson and Eeli, I became increasingly aware of how uncomfortable it was to be away from them.

Is this how they felt about being separated? I pictured the panic attacks each of them had when I’d managed to get them apart and a sneaking suspicion started to grow that their discomfort was much worse than what I felt right now. My heart ached for my guys and I pressed my foot harder on the gas.

I waved to Trinity as I stepped into the reception area. She was on the phone, but she waved and jutted her chin in the direction of the offices. I wasted no time heading in that direction, anticipation making my breath come heavier.

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