Page 20 of My Three Hometown Firefighters (Aspen Springs #2)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Warren

I curse under my breath when my finger slips off the box of egg noodles for the third time. I’ve been trying to open it for over a minute now.

It would probably help if I was looking at the box and not the sight on the couch.

Sienna and Jackson are curled up together, watching his favorite movie, Cars . Her hair is a mess of red waves after she took a shower earlier.

She’s wearing a pair of her own leggings Tucker brought over for her. Instead of choosing one of her own shirts, though, she grabbed a hoodie from my closet. She’s swimming in the mass of gray fabric, but she seems perfectly content.

I’m trying not to read too much into the fact that she chose to wear my clothes when she didn’t need to. Just like everything else when it comes to keeping myself reined in, I’m not winning the battle.

“You ever going to get that box open?” Grayson says from his spot across the kitchen, where he’s stirring the pot of soup.

Manhandling it, I just rip off the top flaps. He smirks when I hand it over to him from across the island and pours the noodles into the nearly finished pot of chicken noodle soup.

When Sienna walked down the stairs after her shower this morning, we were all expecting her to insist we take her home. To our surprise, she’s been content to just hang out all day.

I think she’s watched more animated movies today than she probably thought she ever would.

I knew Jackson liked Sienna, but I was unsure how he would feel having her here in his space. After a few curious looks my way when he first realized she was here, he just shrugged his shoulders and went about his business.

Knowing that this little bubble we’ve all lived in for the last couple of days is about to pop, we wanted to make the most of this evening.

Grayson and I made a pot of homemade soup. Tucker is a horrible cook. I cringe every time it’s his turn to cook at work. We never quite know what we’re going to get.

He agreed to go buy a loaf of fresh bread from Peak Brews, the coffee shop in town that also makes wonderful baked goods. Speaking of the devil, he waltzes in the front door with the bread in hand.

Sienna’s head snaps in his direction. “Did you get that from Peak Brews?” she asks, sounding more like herself with each passing hour.

“Yeah, I did. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asks warily.

“How could bread ever be a bad thing? It’s bread. I love bread.”

Tucker chuckles, walking toward the couch.

“So, what you’re telling me is bread is the way to your heart,” he says, sitting on the edge of the coffee table right in front of her and Jackson.

Jackson leans to the side so he can still see the movie.

Sienna shrugs. Her back is to me, so I can’t see the expression on her face. “Maybe.”

Tucker’s face lights up. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jackson mutters something, but I can’t make out much of it other than the word “donut.”

“Sorry, little man. I didn’t get you one. Next time, I promise,” Tucker says. When he holds out his fist toward him, Jacks bumps his knuckles against Tucker’s larger ones.

I expected Tucker and Grayson to be awkward or standoffish with Jackson these last few days, but they’ve been great with him. This isn’t the first time Jackson has been around them, but not in this type of setting.

It has all just felt natural, but that makes zero sense. This is mine and Jackson’s home. Grayson, Tucker, and Sienna all have their own homes and lives. Parts of our lives might overlap, but there isn’t even a committed relationship tying us all together.

We finished dinner a little while ago and are now settling back in the living room to watch a movie before Jackson goes to bed. I told him we could only watch a movie if he picked something other than Cars .

I like that movie, I really do, but I can only take so much of it. The kid is obsessed.

Kind of like I am with the woman sitting beside him.

As soon as she sat down on the couch after dinner, he was at her side like Velcro. I might be hurt that he likes her so much if I didn’t think it was one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen.

I sit down on Jackson’s other side. Grayson takes the armchair, while Tucker is sprawled out on the floor on Sienna’s other side. I can see him aimlessly tracing his fingers up and down her calf.

The minutes of the movie tick by, and I can’t fight this antsy feeling crawling through me. I want to hold her. Finally, I decide, fuck it.

I lift a sleepy Jackson onto my lap and shift over until I’m right next to her. She smiles up at me when I drape my arm over her.

She shifts slightly, so her head is resting against my shoulder. Jackson turns, so his head is snuggled against my chest. Their foreheads are practically touching.

I have to close my eyes for a second because having them both in my arms like this is almost too much. Too much of something that I know can never really be mine.

I’ve tried to fight it up, but it’s useless. I’m falling for her, hard and fast.

I press a kiss to the tops of both of their heads and catch Grayson’s eye. I expect him to be jealous or worried, but the adoring admiration in his eyes matches my own. He’s feeling the same way I am.

I don’t know where Tucker’s at, but Grayson and I are barreling toward breaking rule number four on the little contract we all signed.