Page 46 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

She filled the space like wildfire, and no matter how much I told myself to ignore it, I felt the heat.

Asher flirted without apology, throwing grins like confetti. Garrett watched from the corners, quiet but not blind.

And I kept my damn distance.

Or at least, I tried.

But now, sitting by the window sharpening my knife, I could hear her laughter floating down the hall, mingling with Asher’s. It scraped something raw inside me. A feeling I didn’t like looking at too closely.

Muttering a curse under my breath, I set the blade down. This was getting out of hand.

I pushed up from the chair, shoulders stiff, and stepped onto the porch where the cold air slapped me in the face like a wake-up call. A second later, I heard the door creak open behind me.

“Beckett?” Garrett asked.

I turned, and sure enough, Asher followed him out too, shoving his hands in his pockets, eyes dancing like he knew exactly why we were all standing here.

I guess it was time. Time toreallydeal with this.

“Alright,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. “Let’s get this over with.”

Garrett shot me a look, the one he saved for when Asher and I were two seconds from setting something on fire. “Look, wedoneed to talk about this.”

Asher leaned against the porch rail, smirking. “We all feel it, Beck. Don’t act like you don’t.”

I bristled. “Feel what?”

Asher snorted. “Her.”

The word hung in the air, simple but sharp.

I stared out over the tree line, jaw ticking. “She’s just passing through. Doesn’t matter.”

“Bullshit,” Garrett said, his voice quiet but sure. “You’ve barely spoken two words to a stranger in years, and now you’re pacing like a dog when someone’s at the door every time she’s in the same room as you.”

I exhaled hard, shoving a hand through my hair.

“She’s complicated,” I muttered. “She doesn’t belong here. She’s not for us. She has a whole life in LA.”

Garrett raised a brow. “Is that how youreallyfeel?”

Asher chuckled, shaking his head. “Man, you’ve been walking around like you’re immune, but it’s written all over your face.” He pushed off the rail, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you’re scared of, figure it out. Because you’re not the only one circling.”

I wanted to tell them to back off, to mind their own damn business. But the words stuck in my throat.

Because the truth was, they were right.

Riley wasn’t just a storm blowing through my life. She was the one making me question everything I’d built to keep myself safe.

In just a few short days.

It really was wild.

“It isn’t unfamiliar territory,” Garrett said finally, breaking the silence like an axe to wood. “We’ve been here before.”

I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on the tree line, the wind stirring snow off the pines like it was trying to erase everything we didn’t want to say out loud.

“Yeah,” Asher muttered, voice unusually quiet. “We remember.”

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