Page 103 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

Nate shook his head, his expression incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t love, Colt. This is… this is…” He trailed off, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “You’re confusing her. You’re letting her think this is okay, and it’s not!”

“It’s okay if she says it is,” Ryan said, his voice quiet but firm.

Nate’s gaze snapped to him, his jaw tightening. “And you? You’re just fine with this? You don’t see how this is going to ruin her life? What the town’s going to say? What people will think?”

Jaxon stepped forward, his voice sharp. “We don’t give a damn what people think. The only thing we care about is Lila. Her happiness, her safety. That’s it.”

“And you think this is making her happy?” Nate shot back, his voice shaking with anger.

“She chose us, Nate,” I said, meeting his gaze. “All of us. And yeah, it’s messy, and it’s not what you’re used to, but it’s real. She’s not some fragile thing you have to protect from the world. She’s a grown woman, and she knows what she wants.”

Nate’s face darkened, and before I could react, his fist connected with my jaw.

Pain exploded across my face as I stumbled back, catching myself on the edge of the curb.

“You don’t get to tell me how to protect my sister,” Nate growled, low and dangerous.

I straightened, wiping the blood from my lip, but I didn’t retaliate. I just looked at him, letting him see the truth in my eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere, Nate. None of us are. You can hate me all you want, but we’re not giving up on her.”

For a moment, he just stared at me, his chest heaving, his fists still clenched.

Then, without another word, he turned and walked away, climbing into his truck and slamming the door behind him.

The roar of the engine filled the air as he sped off, leaving the three of us standing there in the silence.

“You okay?” Jaxon asked after a long moment.

“Yeah,” I muttered, though my jaw throbbed like hell.

Ryan let out a heavy sigh. “That could’ve gone better.”

“No kidding,” Jaxon said, his tone edged with frustration.

I stared down the road where Nate had disappeared, my chest tight with a mix of guilt and determination.

“He doesn’t understand now,” I said quietly. “But he will. Eventually.”

Jaxon nodded. “He’d better. For her sake.”

The tension from the confrontation with Nate lingered like a storm cloud as we walked into my house.

Jaxon headed straight for the kitchen, yanking open the fridge and grabbing a beer. Ryan sat heavily on the couch, elbows on his knees, his hands running through his hair.

I leaned against the doorframe, my jaw throbbing from Nate’s punch.

The adrenaline was wearing off, and now, in the quiet of my home, reality was sinking in.

“This is a mess,” Ryan finally said, breaking the silence.

Jaxon snorted, twisting the cap off his bottle. “No kidding. Nate’s not wrong about one thing… we’ve got to figure this out. Lila doesn’t need more chaos in her life.”

“She chose us,” I reminded them, though even as I said it, I felt the weight of doubt creeping in. “This is what she wants.”

“Yeah, but how does it work?” Ryan shot back, his voice edged with frustration. “We can’t keep going like this, stumbling through it and hoping for the best. It’s not fair to her.”

Jaxon leaned against the counter, his expression thoughtful. “He’s got a point. We’ve been so focused on just being with her that we haven’t stopped to think about how this… whatever this is… actually works long term.”

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