Page 35 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

“Yeah, just not sure I’m ready for these runs,” she admitted.

I chuckled, unable to help myself. “We’ll go easy on you. Don’t worry.”

Her eyes flicked to me, and I saw that hint of vulnerability she usually tried so hard to hide. But for a split second, she let it slip.

She didn’t even know how beautiful she looked in that moment. It made the ache in my chest burn even harder.

The chairlift came, and we all loaded up. I found myself seated next to Lila, the space between us no longer an easy distance. Her leg brushed against mine, and I held my breath, trying not to let the touch send my pulse into overdrive.

The silence stretched between us, heavy and thick with everything we hadn’t said.

Then, almost too casually, Lila broke it.

“Why were you teasing me last night?” Her voice was soft, but it held a sharp edge, like she was looking for something more.

I blinked at her, surprised by the question. My pulse sped up, my chest tightening.

She wasn’t just asking out of curiosity—there was something more in her eyes. That spark. A challenge, maybe. Or was she waiting for me to admit something?

“Teasing you?” I repeated. “I wasn’t teasing.”

“Don’t lie,” she shot back with a raised eyebrow, her lips curving into a teasing smile. But there was something else in her gaze, something I couldn’t quite place. “You were talking about the Mile-High Club. It felt like you were… trying to get under my skin.”

I could feel the heat rising in my chest, and my hands clenched around the ski poles.

I was on the edge, teetering between saying something, doing something that would break the fragile control I’d been holding onto.

“I wasn’t trying to get under your skin,” I said, my voice lower now. But there was no hiding the tension that clung to each word. “I was just having some fun.”

But I knew she wasn’t buying it.

Not fully.

She knew what I meant.

She leaned in slightly, her breath warm against my ear, and her next words came in a near whisper.

“Were you?”

That was it.

That single question shattered whatever fragile distance we had left. Her lips were so close to mine, her scent overwhelming.

My heart slammed against my ribs, and my mind screamed at me to pull back, to stay away—but I didn’t.

I didn’t pull away.

Instead, I let the storm inside me rage, everything in me wanting nothing more than to close that final inch between us.

My breath came faster, heavier, as I turned my head just slightly, enough to feel the rush of her presence, the intoxicating pull of it.

I could taste the tension between us.

Her lips, they were so close.

My body hummed with the need to touch her, kiss her, claim that moment we’d been dancing around since that damn plane ride.

But I didn’t.

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