Page 54 of Light My Fire

She gives me a soft smile. “You don’t have to adopt the dogs to impress me.”

I stroke my thumb over her knuckles again. “Is that what you think this is?”

She shrugs. “I’ve noticed the way you and Wyatt tend to try to one-up each other. Maybe that’s how you always are. I guess I thought maybe it was about me.” She shakes her head. “God, that sounds ridiculous.”

I reach out and tip her chin up with my finger. “It’s not ridiculous. It’s true. We do tend to compete. We can turn anything into a contest. But you have definitely brought that out in us.”

She blinks those big blue eyes at me.

God, she’s so gorgeous. Wyatt is such a lucky guy. If it was anyone else, I would feel intense jealousy. As it is, I am envious, but I’m so glad he’s the guy who’s going to be romancing and taking care of this girl.

Brooke hasmarriage materialwritten all over her, and my best friend is ready to settle down. They are a match made in heaven.

“Well, you don’t have to become a dog dad times six to make me like you.” She bites her bottom lip. “I definitely like you. Even before the dogs.”

I feel a hot twist in my gut that tells me to be very careful here.

“I’m glad. And yes, the dogs kind of started off as one of our contests. But I’m crazy about them. So even though you’re with Wyatt, I’m still going to adopt the dogs.”

She frowns slightly. “I’mwithWyatt?”

“Well, you sure were for the last few hours,” I tell her with a little grin.

Even in the shadows, I can see the slight blush on her cheeks. “Yes. But that was… a favor from a friend.”

I chuckle. “If you think Wyatt Doherty thinks of you as a friend, you haven’t had very many friends.”

She smiles. “I do like him.”

“You should. He’s a great guy. And he really likes you.”

“That’s really nice.” But she seems puzzled. “I didn’t realize that… upstairs… meant we weretogethertogether. We didn’t talk about that.”

“Is that okay?” I ask.

She studies my face. “Um, I guess. I can’t say I was thinking about beyond this weekend. And…”

“And what, Brooke?” I realize I’m leaning in.

“I just—” She wets her lips. “I like you, too. So I’m just kind of confused about what to do with that.”

Well, hell. I’m not sure what to do with that either.

I nod. “You should probably go back up to bed. With Wyatt.” I pause. “At least for now.”

She doesn’t answer immediately. But she nods.

Still, she doesn’t move. For several long seconds.

Then she leans in and kisses me.

It’s a sweet press of her lips to mine. It’s not particularly hot or lusty, but the desire hits me hard and low.

She pulls back after just a few seconds, looks into my eyes, and says, “Goodnight, Jackson.”

“‘Night, sweetheart.”

I don’t think I take a deep breath until I hear the door to Wyatt’s bedroom shut.

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