Sebastian strides toward me, taking my hand and tugging me into the room. “No. It’s a real friends with benefits thing. We want to make sure you keep your strength up.”

The look he gives me is so filthy that I flush instantly. It would be so easy to fall back into bed with them right now—soeasy.

“Besides,” he continues, settling me at the table. “I’m pretty sure we covered most of your faves.”

I sit down and look at the spread, blinking as I realize that it is indeed an assortment of many of my favorite foods.Everything from eggs Benedict to French toast, to bacon and hash browns.

“How did you know I like all this stuff?”

Nick shrugs. “We know you.”

He says it so simply, as if that’s supposed to explain it all away. As if it’s no big deal.

But it feels like a big deal, especially coming from this mountain of a man who so often used to barely even speak to me. I used to think it was because he didn’t like me that much, but I’m pretty sure I was mistaken about that. Because even if he wasn’t talking to me, he was payingattention, and that hits something in my chest that makes me smile softly at him.

He clears his throat and looks away, almost as if he’s embarrassed by the admission that he knows me so well. I glance away too, because Lorelai is right. I do wear my heart on my sleeve, and I need to be careful about not getting too attached, especially now.

“Well, I’m not sure how much strength you think I’m gonna need,” I joke lightly, turning my attention to the plates spread out before me. “But with this much food, I might need to make another list.”

Reid’s cloud gray eyes spark. “Or we could just keep working on the list you already created first.” He inclines his head toward the window that sits right behind the table we’re all at, taking a leisurely bite of bacon. “There’s a window right there. Isn’t that one of the items? Getting fucked against a window? The neighbors might even be around to watch, so you could kill two birds with one stone.”

The piece of bacon I just picked up falls from my limp fingers as my stomach gives a little flip, and Sebastian laughs as Reid smirks at me. Bruno chimes in with a couple of random barks, as if he wants to join in the fun too.

The kitchen gets a little quieter as we all dig into the food, and we end up making a much bigger dent in it than I expected. The guys are so huge and muscular that they can really pack it away, and I like to think I hold my own with them. It turns out I really am ravenous after last night.

“Fuck, if only none of us had to work today.” Sebastian groans in frustration as he gets up from the table a while later.

“All of you have to go in today?” I ask, polishing off the last bite of my French toast.

Part of me is disappointed, even though it’s not a surprise that all of us have things to do today. Last night was a fantasy, and this morning, reality is back in full swing. Although it does still feel a bit like a dream to think about coming back here at the end of the day to all three of the Cooper brothers.

“Yeah.” Sebastian puts his empty plate in the dishwasher, then comes back to the table to grab a few more. “I’ve got a few cars I need to work on today.”

“And I’ve got a big carpentry project to finish,” Reid adds, standing and gathering up the last of the dishes.

“Day shift at the station,” Nick grunts, confirming that he’ll be busy too.

Sebastian tugs me out of my seat, grinning at me as Nick scoots his chair back and rises too.

“Guess you lucked out this time, shortcake,” he says.

“Lucked out? How?”

He smirks. “This buys you a little recovery time. If we didn’t have to leave soon, you can bet your sweet ass you’d already be over my shoulder and halfway up the stairs right now. We’d have you back in that bedroom with your legs spread wide, trying to see which of us could make you scream the loudest.”

Dammit. He cannot say things like that to me right before they’re about to go.

My entire body lights up as if someone poured fire directly into my veins, and I must whimper softly, because his grin widens before he drops his head to give me a filthy kiss.

“To be continued,” he promises, stepping away when we break apart.

The guys all have to head upstairs to shower and get ready themselves, and I spend a bit of time searching for the panties Bruno stole. I find them under his dog bed in the living room, and although he perks up as if he’s hoping this will start another fun game of keep away, I quickly shove them into my pocket.

“Sorry, buddy,” I tell him. “Not this time.”

But even without the promise of a game, he pads closer, allowing me to give him a few gentle pets on his head before I run upstairs to throw the panties back into my room.

I head out shortly after the brothers all leave for their respective jobs, driving toward the center of town. I promised my parents and my sister that I’d stop by The Griddle House today. Since it’s the weekend, my brother will be there too, and I haven’t spent much time with Lucas since I got back into town.