Page 45 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

I didn’t answer.

Couldn’t.

In three steps, I was in front of her, close enough to see the flicker of surprise in her eyes. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating off her body.

“Colt, what are you?—”

Before she could finish, I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her.

It wasn’t a soft kiss. It wasn’t tentative or careful. It was everything I’d been holding back, all the frustration and longing and need poured into one desperate moment.

She froze for half a second, just long enough for me to wonder if I’d made a mistake. But then she melted into me, her hands clutching at my shirt as she kissed me back with just as much intensity.

The world fell away. It was just us… her lips on mine, her body pressed against me, her soft gasp when I deepened the kiss.

It wasn’t until I heard a loud clatter from the stove that I remembered we weren’t alone.

Ryan’s spatula had hit the floor, and he was staring at us with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

Lila’s lips parted, her breath shaky as she stared up at me, her cheeks flushed a deep pink. She looked like she was about to say something, but nothing came out.

“Lila…”

“You’re out of line,” Jaxon’s voice cut through the moment like a knife.

I turned toward him, my grip on Lila’s waist loosening but not letting her go entirely.

Jaxon had stepped fully into the room now, his arms still crossed, his jaw tight. The calm façade he usually wore was gone, replaced by something sharper, something dangerous.

“Out of line?” I scoffed, though my pulse was hammering. “What, for kissing a woman I…”

I stopped myself before the words spilled out. A woman I care about. But the tension in the room made it clear to everyone what I had left unsaid.

“Yeah, out of line,” Jaxon snapped, his icy calm cracking. “What the hell are you doing, Colt? This isn’t… she’s not…”

He gestured toward Lila, then ran a hand through his hair, clearly struggling for words.

“I’m standing right here,” Lila muttered, her voice shaky but with an edge of irritation that made me grin, even in the middle of the brewing fight.

“Exactly,” I shot back at Jaxon. “She’s right here. And maybe if you weren’t so busy standing on the sidelines, you’d?—”

“That’s enough,” Jaxon growled, taking a step closer.

Ryan, who had been quiet up to this point, finally spoke. “Guys, maybe this isn’t the time…”

“Stay out of it, Ryan,” Jaxon and I snapped in unison.

Ryan raised his hands in mock surrender but didn’t back down. “Fine. But you’re both acting like idiots. And for what? Because you can’t handle the fact that Lila isn’t something you can claim like a trophy?”

That stung, mostly because he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“I’m not trying to ‘claim’ her,” I said, my voice rough. “I just… I can’t stand this anymore, pretending I don’t feel the way I feel. Watching you two circle her like sharks while I?—”

“While you what?” Jaxon snapped, stepping closer. “While you act like you’re the only one with feelings here? Newsflash, Colt… you’re not the only one losing his mind over her.”

That admission hung in the air, silencing all of us. Lila’s wide eyes darted between Jaxon and me.

“I…wait, what?” she finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

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