Page 44 of My Three Hometown Firefighters (Aspen Springs #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Warren

I pull my keys out of my pocket, twisting until I get my house key free. I hold it out to Sienna. “Here,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen. “I can’t take that.”

“Yes, you can. It’s going to be your home.” I sigh, not wanting to tack on the rest of that thought. “At least for now.”

She eyes me warily but grabs it from my hand.

“I have to get Jackson from school soon, but come over whenever you’re done with work,” I say.

“But I need to get some stuff,” she says.

I cringe.

Grayson rests his hand on her shoulder. “No one is able to go into the building until it’s deemed safe,” he says gently.

Her face falls. “Oh.” She swallows. “I know you said there was smoke damage, but I didn’t think…” Her words trail off as a tear slides down her face.

Grayson wraps his arms around her, cupping the back of her head. “You’ll probably lose some of your stuff that can’t be cleaned properly, but you should be able to get a lot of things back once it’s cleaned and safe.”

“We can go get you whatever you need tomorrow from the store,” Tucker says. “We can order stuff online, too.”

She lets out a sad chuckle. “I probably needed some new clothes anyway,” she says, pointing to her stomach. “She’s growing a lot.”

“We’ll get anything you… either of you need,” I say.

She wipes tears from her face. “Fuck. I don’t know if I can keep working after this.”

“It’s okay for you to take some time to deal with this. It’s a lot,” Grayson says.

“You’re right. Shawn’s here anyway, and he can handle things on his own,” she says.

“Do you want to come with me to get Jackson? He’d be happy to see you.”

The first genuine smile she’s had since we got here spreads across her face. “I’d love that.”

“We all came in my truck,” Grayson says. “I’ll drop you guys off at the firehouse.”

“But my car…” Sienna starts, but I stop her.

“Let’s just worry about it later. Okay?” I say.

She nods, heading into her office to gather all her things. Ten minutes later, we all load into the truck, including Nacho, who’s now in a pet carrier.

“Hey, bud,” I say, wrapping my arms around my son. “How was your day?”

He shrugs. “Good.”

I stand, grabbing his hand as we start walking toward my truck. “I have a surprise in the car for you—well, two, actually.”

He tilts his head up, grinning at me. “Really? What is it?”

“You’ll see in a minute.”

I can tell the minute he spots Sienna in the front seat. His little fingers squeeze mine.

“Sienna,” he whispers, more to himself than to me. A quiet giddiness rolls off of him as we walk closer.

She gets out of the truck, crouching down just in time for him to wrap her in a hug.

“Hey, buddy. How was school?” she asks, hugging him back as tightly as he’s hugging her.

He gives her the same answer he gave me before snuggling into her a little more. Sienna has quickly become a safe space for him.

With the way she’s burying her face against his messy brown hair with glossy eyes, I think he’s giving her the same solace.

I find myself wishing for more days just like this. Well, minus the whole fire thing. I just want her to be a part of our life, day in and day out.

She pulls back a little, looking him in the eyes. “Do you want to see Nacho?”

He nods more times than is probably necessary.

“He’s in the car,” she says, standing up.

“Really?” He moves over to the truck, trying to open the door.

I chuckle, helping him into his seat. The carrier is right next to him. Getting him buckled in is a challenge because he’s more interested in leaning his face close to Nacho than putting his arms through the straps.

“Bud, can you help me here?”

He gives me a glare full of attitude, acting his age for once.

“He’ll be next to you the whole way home, and guess what?” I ask, finally clicking the buckle into place.

“What?”

“Sienna and Nacho are going to stay at our house for a while,” I tell him.

He turns to look at Sienna, who’s peeking at him from the front seat. “Like a slumber party?”

“Yeah,” she says, smiling. “Are you okay with that?”

And I get the feeling that if he said no, she would find somewhere else to stay.

“That’s cool. We can watch movies again,” he says, swinging his feet in front of him.

“I’d love that,” she says. She isn’t just saying that to appease him. She means it.

The softness in her eyes whenever she talks to him is all I need to see to confirm how much she cares about him.

Jackson asked Tucker and Grayson to read him books before bed. I guess I’m chopped liver now. I’m not mad, though.

I’m so glad he’s starting to open up more and let people in. I think that might have something to do with the three other adults in this house that have worked hard to earn his trust.

Loading the last plate into the dishwasher, I walk over to check on Mack. Seeing that he’s curled up in a ball in his crate, I walk into the living room.

Sienna is snoring quietly on the couch. She fell asleep shortly after we finished dinner.

We have a lot of things to discuss with this new living arrangement, but that can happen tomorrow. For now, I’m taking her to sleep in my bed.

Holding her against me, I carry her up the stairs. I think this is becoming a habit.

She stays asleep until I lay her down on the mattress. “Hey,” she whispers quietly.

“Hey,” I say, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You can sleep in here tonight. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow.”

I half-expect her to fight me on this, but the exhaustion must be making her more compliant because she just nods.

I look down at her jeans. I was going to offer her some sweats of mine, but she fell asleep before I got the chance.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to sleep in those,” I say.

She shakes her head.

“T-shirt or hoodie?” I ask.

“Hoodie,” she says, swinging her legs over the side of the bed as she sits up.

I walk into the closet, digging around to find one I think she’ll like. Walking back out, I freeze. She’s standing there in only a simple white bra and panties.

My legs have suddenly lost the ability to function, and apparently so has my brain. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen her like this. She’s breathtaking.

Shaking my head, I force myself to step toward her. “Here,” I say, holding the sweatshirt out for her to take.

“Hold on.” She reaches behind her, unclasping her bra. It falls to the floor.

Before I can even turn around or look somewhere else, her tits are right there. Perfect as always, but a little fuller now.

“Sorry,” I say, looking down.

She grabs the hoodie from me. “It isn’t like you haven’t seen it before.”

True… but still…

When her perfect body is safely tucked away behind my hoodie, she crawls under the covers.

“Do you need anything else?” I ask.

She looks like she’s warring with herself over whether to say something.

“You,” she finally breathes out. “Today was a lot, and I really don’t want to be alone tonight.”

The best sentence I’ve heard in a long time.

“Of course.”

I feel her eyes on me the entire time I replace my jeans with a pair of sweatpants. Better than sleeping in my boxers next to a woman I can’t have.

As soon as I’m situated under the covers, she’s curling up beside me. Her head’s on my chest with one of her legs thrown over mine.

“I don’t have my body pillow here, so you’ll have to do,” she mumbles against my chest.

I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her. Within five minutes, she’s fast asleep.

Grayson and Tucker quietly step into the room. Their eyes widen, seeing her curled up against me.

“She didn’t want to be alone,” I say as quietly as I can.

They both nod, stripping out of their jeans. They play rock, paper, scissors to see who’s going to sleep on the bed.

I don’t think any of us wants a repeat of the night we all crammed into this bed, especially with Sienna being pregnant now.

Tucker loses. He hauls in pillows and blankets from the spare bedroom to make a bed on the floor.

Grayson slides in behind Sienna. He wraps an arm around her, resting it on her stomach.

Locking eyes with Grayson, I see something that I’ve been fighting against all day. Hope.