Page 29 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

I stared at him, hoping he’d realize the absurdity of his words. “Allfourof us? In one cabin?”

“Yeah, why not?” He grinned like it was no big deal. “I know Jaxon, Colt, and Ryan don’t mind being with Biscuit.”

Biscuit let out an enthusiastic bark, and I glared down at him.

Traitor.

“Don’t worry, Lila,” Nate added, oblivious to the fact that my brain was short-circuiting. “You’ll be fine. They’ll look after you. See you at dinner!”

Before I could protest, he was gone, the door swinging shut behind him.

I turned slowly, my eyes landing on the three men in question.

Jaxon leaned against the counter, arms crossed, his dark eyes unreadable. Colt was sprawled on the couch, boots kicked up on the coffee table like he owned the place. And Ryan… Ryan was busy unpacking groceries, his shoulders tense like he was trying not to look at me.

Breathe, Lila. You’ve survived worse.

“This… uh…” I gestured vaguely around the room, my voice coming out high-pitched. “This isn’t going to work.”

“Why not?” Colt asked, his grin already teetering on smug. “We’re not that bad, are we?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again, searching for a response that didn’t involve yelling, “Yes, you are!”

“It’s fine,” Jaxon said, his tone clipped. “You can take the biggest bedroom. We’ll figure out the rest.”

My stomach twisted. Of course, he’d offer the simplest solution. Logical. Reasonable. And completely miss the point that my brain was actively melting down.

“I don’t want to cause a fuss,” I said quickly, even though I very much wanted to cause a fuss. “I mean, Biscuit and I can just… I don’t know…”

“Stay?” Ryan suggested, his voice quiet but steady. He wasn’t looking at me, carefully arranging cans of soup in the cupboard like it was the most important job in the world. “It’s not a big deal, Lila.”

I laughed nervously, the sound brittle. “Not a big deal? Sure… I know…”

Colt snorted. “Relax, princess. We’re not monsters.”

I shot him a glare, but it didn’t seem to faze him. If anything, he looked amused, which only made me want to throttle him more.

“Look,” Jaxon said, his voice edging toward exasperation. “We’re not going to bite. If it’s that uncomfortable, Nate can switch things around tomorrow.”

Tomorrow.

As in, I’d have to survive an entire night of this madness first.

Biscuit, sensing my distress, let out a soft whine and nudged my leg. I looked down at him, his big brown eyes full of trust and excitement.

“Fine,” I muttered, mostly to myself. “Just one night.”

Colt grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Jaxon ignored him, heading toward the hallway with his bag. “I’ll take the couch.”

“Don’t be a hero,” Colt called after him. “I’ve got dibs on the couch. You can have the other room.”

Jaxon didn’t respond, disappearing down the hall.

Ryan cleared his throat.

“I’ll help you with Biscuit’s stuff,” he offered, his tone soft.

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