Bennett and Jules exchanged judgy looks. Let them judge. If this was how Bennett felt after his breakup, no wonder he’d been off for months. And Haydn had thought a weekend getaway with brothers could fix this feeling? How naive he’d been.

“Up and at ’em,” Jules said, dragging Haydn’s feet until he nearly toppled off the bed.

“Let me be.”

“Like you let me be after my breakup?” Bennett asked.

“Or when I didn’t make partner?” Jules pointed out.

“Or when I almost lost my business?”

“Or when Marissa cheated on me?”

Haydn groaned and covered his face with his elbow. “I was wrong. I should have left you all alone.”

“It’s not in you to leave us alone.” Bennett sat beside him on the bed. “But now it’s our turn to help you.”

“Whether you like it or not,” Jules said, sounding mildly threatening.

Haydn let his arm drop to his side. His brothers were not going to leave him be. He knew them well enough to know that. “Fine. I’m getting up. I’m moving on. Happy?”

“Nope,” Jules said. “This is different. You let a perfectly amazing girl go. We”—he pointed between himself and Bennett—“were dumped.”

“She’s Aurelia Halifax.”

Jules lifted a brow. “And you’re Haydn Forrester.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Nope.” Bennett shook his head firmly. “You don’t just give up on someone because she’s famous or there are logistics to work through. What you two have is real. If William and Anna could work things out, then it should be easy for you and Lia.”

Haydn made a face at theNotting Hillreference. “They’re not real.”

“But the principle stands,” Jules said, to Haydn’s surprise. “You’re just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him.”

“That’s not the quote.”

“Close enough.”

“The ball is in her court,” Haydn said stubbornly.

“Here he comes with a sports metaphor.” Jules leveled him with a raised eyebrow. “Tell me, Haydn, which sport is that referring to?”

Haydn had never watched sports much growing up. He’d preferred adventuring in the forest to playing anything. On the other hand, Jules had excelled in any and all sports. “Um … basketball?”

Jules made a failed buzzer sound. “Wrong. Tennis.”

Bennett shook his head like he was sorely disappointed in Haydn for not knowing that. Sometimes having two brothers could be the biggest pain in the world.

Especially when they both sat beside him on the bed, bumping into his shoulder and yelling clichéd sports metaphors like they were his coach until he agreed to go hiking with them.

Haydn knew they must have felt really bad for him, because they hiked out to the old cabin without complaint. And when Bennett asked him a question about the old story, he really should have guessed that something us up.

But his mind was so deeply focused on Lia, he didn’t suspect a thing until they were at the cabin, all leaning against the huge rock.

“We know about the job offer fromNature Adventure Magazine,” Jules said without preamble.

Haydn felt like a glass of ice water had been thrown in his face. “What? How?”