Page 46 of Stuck with my Brother's Firefighter Besties

Ryan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, this is going great. Real smooth, guys.”

I ignored him, focusing on Jaxon. “If you feel that way, then why the hell are you acting like this? Why not just?—”

“Because it’s not that simple,” Jaxon barked. “This isn’t just about me. Or you. Or Ryan. It’s about her. And I don’t think throwing punches and staking claims is what she needs right now.”

“Okay, hold up,” Lila said, stepping between us. “You’re talking about me like I’m not here. Like I don’t have a say in any of this.”

That shut us both up.

She looked at each of us in turn, her eyes blazing with a mix of confusion, frustration, and something I couldn’t quite place. “What is this? Some kind of weird territorial thing? Because if it is, I’m not interested.”

“It’s not that,” Ryan said, his voice calm but firm. “At least, not entirely. But let’s not pretend there isn’t something happening here. With all of us.”

Lila blinked, her lips parting as she tried to process his words. “All of us?”

The room went quiet again, the weight of his statement settling over us.

“You’re saying...” She trailed off, her gaze darting between us. “What exactly are you saying?”

Ryan exhaled, stepping closer but keeping his tone even. “I’m saying that maybe… maybe this doesn’t have to be a competition. Maybe it’s not about choosing one of us.”

I frowned, the idea twisting something in my gut. “You think we could all just… what? Share?”

Ryan met my gaze, his expression steady. “It’s not unheard of.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I shot back. “You remember how it went last time we tried something like this?”

Ryan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t look away. “Yeah, I remember. And I also remember that it didn’t work because we weren’t honest with each other. Because we didn’t trust each other enough to make it work.”

Jaxon, who had been quiet, finally spoke.

“I’ve never done anything like that,” he admitted. “And honestly, the idea sounds… complicated.”

“You’re not wrong,” Ryan said. “It is complicated. But sometimes the best things are.”

Lila looked utterly bewildered. “So, what? You’re all just… okay with this? With sharing me?”

“It’s not about being okay with it,” Jaxon said. “It’s about figuring out what feels right. For all of us.”

“And does this feel right to you?” she asked, her voice shaking.

There was a long pause before he answered. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah, it does.”

I looked at her, at the confusion and vulnerability in her eyes, and felt my own walls start to crack. “It feels right to me, too,” I confessed.

Ryan nodded, his expression resolute. “Same here.”

Lila stared at us, her lips trembling as she tried to process everything. “I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered.

Ryan stepped closer, his calm presence steadying her. “You won’t have to figure it out alone. We’ll teach you.”

She looked at each of us again, and for the first time, I saw something other than uncertainty in her gaze.

The quiet hum of the moment stretched between us, each of us waiting for Lila to process everything.

Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths, her heart racing as she absorbed what we were saying. The tension was thick, the air almost suffocating with unspoken emotions and raw need.

Finally, she exhaled, a soft, shaky sound. She glanced from one of us to the next, her eyes lingering on me a little longer than the others.

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