Page 110 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

That was ours now, and we weren’t about to take it for granted.

“I can see Lila’s point of view, you know,” Colt chimed in from the back. “You blindfolded her. She could totally be thinking we’re dragging her out to some weird ritual in the woods.”

Lila snorted. “The thought crossed my mind.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop the small smile. “You’re not helping, Colt.”

“Just keeping things interesting,” he said with a grin I didn’t even have to look back to see.

Jaxon’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie we’d brought along. “You almost there, Ryan?”

“Two minutes out,” I said into it.

“Good,” he replied. “Make sure her blindfold stays on.”

Lila huffed. “I feel like I’m about to be interrogated.”

Colt leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of her seat. “You’re going to love it. We promise.”

She tilted her head in his direction, her lips twitching. “You guys are terrible at surprises, you know that?”

“We’re not bad at surprises,” I said as I slowed the Jeep and turned onto a gravel drive. “We’re bad at keeping secrets when it comes to you.”

The tires crunched to a stop, and I turned off the engine.

“All right,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. “Wait here.”

I got out and opened her door, offering her my hand to help her out.

Biscuit jumped down, his little tail wagging furiously as he sniffed the unfamiliar ground.

“You’re still not taking this off,” I told her when she reached up to fumble with the blindfold.

She sighed dramatically but let me guide her forward, her fingers gripping mine tightly.

The gravel shifted beneath her boots as we led her forward. Jaxon and Colt fell into step beside us, and the three of us exchanged a look. None of us said anything, but we didn’t have to.

We were all thinking the same thing: This was it.

When we stopped, I squeezed her hand. “Okay, you ready?”

Her lips parted, and I could tell she wanted to ask a million questions, but instead, she nodded.

I reached up and carefully untied the blindfold, letting it fall away.

For a moment, she didn’t move.

Her hazel eyes blinked as they adjusted to the sunlight, then widened as she took in the scene before her.

The house stood tall and welcoming, with its wraparound porch and white painted exterior. The shutters were a deep forest green, matching the trees that bordered the property. Flower boxes lined the windows, already bursting with color, even though it was January.

Jaxon had insisted on that detail.

The front yard was wide and open, perfect for Biscuit to run around in. And behind the house, just visible from where we stood, was a small pond glinting in the sunlight.

For a long, quiet moment, she didn’t say a word.

Colt shifted, his playful confidence faltering. “Say something, Trouble. You’re killing us here.”

---