Page 45 of My Three Mountain Men

“Ryder,” Brooks scolded me. “She’s trying to help.”

“She’s only going to get in the way—or hurt herself,” I growled, more concerned for the latter than the former.

“I won’t!” Simone promised. “I’m learning how to navigate the big boots now. I can—”

I whipped around and jammed my shovel in the snow with so much force, the entire bank crumbled exactly where I’d just shoveled. I glowered at Simone through my balaclava.

“Do you ever just do what you’re told without putting up a fight?” I growled. “Get back in the house and stay there.”

Simone whimpered slightly, but Brooks stepped forward, shooting me a scathing look before turning to her. “Why don’t you get some coffee going? And maybe start the fireplaces? We’ll be at it for a while, and it’s going to get cold in there.”

I had already resumed my shoveling, so I didn’t hear her response, but when I looked back again, she was gone.

“Do you have to be such an asshole to her?” Brooks demanded. “She’s going out of her way to make you happy, and all you do is try to make her miserable.”

The accusation struck me. I wasn’t trying to make her miserable. I was trying to keep her at arm’s length, away from me. She had Brooks and Knox. She didn’t need my approval or friendship, and I certainly didn’t need any more attachments.

But I said none of this to my cousin. Instead, I focused all my attention on freeing the pathway around the cabin as the blizzard piled down around us.

For over an hour, the three of us worked, and my muscles ached in every crevice by the time I was done. We re-entered the house through the mudroom, stripping off our soaked clothing before retreating into the back hallway, leading toward the offices. The smell of bacon and coffee wafted out toward us, and my stomach growled in anticipation.

Simone’s blonde mane popped around the corner of the kitchen at the far end of the hallway, relief coloring her face. “Are you done?” she asked hopefully.

“I’m going back out,” Brooks told her. “After I’ve warmed up and had some coffee.”

“I’ll take second shift,” Knox added. “Then Ryder, then Brooks again.”

Simone eyed us with naked sympathy, but I brushed past her and reached for the coffee.

“I’m going out to check the traps,” I informed my cousins. “Before there’s nothing left.”

“It’s probably already too late,” Brooks surmised. “It’s been snowing for a while.”

“Well, then I better get a move on,” I insisted. “Plus, if I have last shift, I don’t have much time.”

“Forget about the traps,” Knox moaned. “We’re set for food—”

“I’m going,” I grunted.

I downed the rest of my coffee. “Which is why I’m going right now. Don’t waste too much time in here, Brooks. Get back out there as soon as you’ve rested. The last thing I want is to have to come back and dig you assholes out of here myself.”

“We’re not kids anymore, Ryder,” Brooks muttered, stirring his own coffee and rolling his eyes.

He and Simone exchanged a look, which annoyed me. It made me wonder what they were saying about me when they were alone.

Hard-ass Ryder, always riding us like he’s our dad. Never letting us live our own lives.

I could only imagine what my cousins must have thought of my choices back then. And what they thought of them now. It was even more the reason to separate myself from whatever was going on here with them and Simone—no matter how much it pained me.

I set my cup in the sink, and Simone immediately moved to wash it. Our arms brushed against each other as she neared the sink, and she blushed.

My body tensed, and my breath caught for a split second, but I swiftly masked my reaction to our touch with a composed, straight face. But the accidental touch sparked a brief, unguarded moment that betrayed the underlying attraction I’d been trying to conceal.

“Please be careful out there, Ryder,” she mumbled. “And don’t be too long.”

Our eyes locked, and I read the deep concern there, my pulse quickening as a caustic response sprung to my lips, but it died there. She didn’t deserve my curtness. I could keep my distance from her without being rude to her.

“I won’t be long,” I muttered, breaking our stare and marching toward the mudroom again.

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