Page 15 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies (Men of Medford #4)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Riley

Dinner at the cabin felt different .

The air was thicker, charged, and intense. The clatter of forks, the low hum of conversation, the occasional crackle of the fire. All of it was wrapped in something electric.

And I should have been on edge.

I should have been spiraling, overanalyzing every glance, every brush of fingertips when they passed me the bread, every flicker of something that felt dangerously close to more .

Because these weren’t just any men. These were Lucy’s brothers.

But instead of spiraling, I felt wanted.

Not the glossy, polished kind of attention I was used to. The hearts, the likes, the validation served up on a glowing screen.

No.

This felt solid. Weighty. Real.

Garrett’s eyes lingered on me when he thought I wasn’t looking.

Beckett wore an expression I’d never seen before.

Asher’s teasing grin, his easy touch at the small of my back when he slipped behind me to grab a drink. It all felt intentional. Intimate.

I found myself laughing more that night than I had in months. Real, belly-deep laughter that surprised me every time it bubbled out.

After dinner, when the plates were cleared and the rain whispered against the windows, Garrett was the one to break the tension.

His voice was rough, careful. “We should probably talk.”

My pulse kicked up, but I nodded. “Okay.”

What was going on?

Garrett cleared his throat, glanced at his brothers, then fixed those intense brown eyes on me. “We’ve been here before.”

I frowned. “Here?”

Asher’s smile tilted. “Attracted to the same woman.”

Oh .

Whoa.

Garrett’s jaw worked. “It was messy. We thought we could handle it, that we were above jealousy, above the ugly parts.” His mouth had flattened. “We weren’t.”

Beckett’s voice was low, almost a rumble. “It nearly broke us.”

The room went still, the weight of that confession sinking in.

Garrett exhaled. “We’re not looking to repeat old mistakes.”

Asher leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “But this… you,” His grin softened, genuine. “It’s different.”

My throat tightened. “Different how?”

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward. It was full. Heavy with memory.

“We said we’d never let it happen again,” Garrett added. “That we’d protect what we have.”

I nodded slowly. “And now?”

Asher’s tone was softer than I’d ever heard it. “Now it feels like something worth risking again.”

I didn’t breathe for a second. “Me?”

Beckett didn’t look away. “Yeah. You.”

Garrett stepped closer. “We’re not asking for anything right now. No decisions. No pressure. We just needed you to know where we stand.”

“I came here to disappear,” I confessed. “To figure out who I was without the noise.”

Beckett’s expression shifted, only a flicker, but enough.

“And?” Garrett asked.

I looked at each of them, letting the moment stretch before I allowed more honesty to shine free.

“I don’t know how this works,” I admitted. “It’s terrifying.”

Beckett pushed off the wall, his voice steady. “Then we take it slow.”

Garrett nodded. “We go at your pace.”

Asher grinned. “We’re not in a hurry. We just didn’t want to pretend this is happening anymore.”

I stared down at my hands, my pulse racing so loud it felt like it echoed in my ears. “Lucy’s gonna kill me.”

They all laughed, startled and a little tense, like they hadn’t been sure I’d say anything at all.

Garrett smiled first. “Lucy’s protective, yeah. But she also trusts you.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I said, forcing a shaky laugh. “She sent me up here to heal , not…” I gestured vaguely toward them, “whatever this is.”

Beckett’s voice was quiet but firm. “Maybe healing doesn’t mean staying untouched. Maybe it means letting yourself feel again.”

That hit somewhere I hadn’t opened in a long time.

I stood, pacing to the window, wrapping my arms around myself. Snow tapped against the glass like it was urging me to answer, to move, to decide.

For a second, panic gripped me.

The world I came from would never understand. The internet would tear me apart, with headlines and comment sections and hot takes from strangers who’d never met me but somehow knew everything about me.

Influencer caught in mountain love entanglement.

Are they really her best friend’s brothers?

Polyamory or desperation? You decide.

My stomach turned at the imagined backlash, at the thought of my name trending for all the wrong reasons again.

But then, I looked around.

The quiet. The fire. The way Garrett leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed but gaze gentle.

The way Asher softly strummed his guitar, an easy and soothing song.

The way Beckett watched me, not with hunger or expectation, but with steady patience, like he could wait a lifetime if I needed him to.

And I realized none of that noise mattered here.

Here, in this snowbound cabin tucked high above the world I used to live in, there was no audience. No filters. No algorithms. No sponsorships waiting to be approved.

Just me.

Just them.

And the only thing I had to decide was what I wanted.

Not what my followers wanted.

Not what would look best in a caption.

What I wanted.

I turned away from the window slowly, unwrapping my arms from around myself as I faced them again. The room was still, waiting. Not pressuring.

Just open.

“I don’t know what this is,” I said quietly. “Or what it’s supposed to be.”

Beckett gave a single nod, like he understood every word I hadn’t said yet.

“But I know what it’s not,” I added. “It’s not fake. It’s not shallow. And it’s not something I want to run from.”

Asher’s smile bloomed, warm and real. Garrett looked like he might exhale for the first time in minutes. Beckett stepped toward me, slowly, like he didn’t want to spook me.

When he stopped in front of me, he didn’t reach out. He waited.

So I reached for him .

His hand was warm when our fingers met, callused and steady, grounding me like an anchor in the storm I didn’t know I’d been weathering.

His eyes searched mine, giving me one last out, one final moment to pull back.

I didn’t.

I stepped in, closing the distance between us, and his breath hitched just enough for me to feel it. Then he leaned in, slow and certain, and when his lips touched mine, the world quieted.

There was no performance in it. No spotlight, no pose.

Only the soft slide of his mouth over mine, delicate and careful, like he was learning me in real time. I melted into it, into him, and when we parted, his hand lingered at my waist like he didn’t want to let go.

I barely had time to catch my breath before another warmth pressed in. Garrett.

He waited until I looked at him, until I gave the smallest nod, before he kissed me, too. Deeper, hungrier, but still holding that gentleness that made my chest ache. Like he wanted me, yes, but more than that, he respected me.

When he pulled back, his thumb traced my cheek, and I could feel the weight of everything he wasn’t saying. Everything he was willing to say, if I asked him to.

And then there was Asher.

He didn’t wait for a sign. He strode over, cocky grin softened by something tender in his eyes, and said, “My turn.”

His kiss was different. Wild in a way that felt like freedom. Like exhaling after holding your breath too long. He nipped at my bottom lip, coaxing a laugh out of me that turned into a gasp when his hand slid up my spine.

I swallowed hard, heart thrumming as I stepped back slightly. I reached down for the hem of my sweater, nerves buzzing as I pulled it over my head.

No one moved to stop me. No one rushed in, either.

They just watched.

Asher’s smile faded as a darkness flooded his gaze. Garrett’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, eyes dragging over me like I was something sacred. Beckett’s hands flexed at his sides, but he didn’t reach. Not yet.

I wasn’t used to this. To being seen like this. Not styled, not polished, just me.

“Is this okay?” I whispered, not entirely sure who I was asking.

“It’s more than okay,” Beckett said, voice gravelly. “But only if it’s what you want.”

I nodded, stepping closer. My hands brushed the hem of Beckett’s flannel, fingers curling into the fabric. He let me undress him slowly, his muscles tensing beneath my touch. Each button I slipped free felt like a decision.

Garrett stepped in behind me, his hands warm on my hips—a silent offering of presence. His mouth brushed the curve of my neck, and I shivered, pressing back into him.

Asher circled us like he couldn’t help himself, his usual swagger softened. When he tugged his shirt over his head, it wasn’t performative—it was vulnerable. Bare skin, unguarded eyes.

We moved like gravity was guiding us, clothes falling in quiet increments. Only heat and hesitation tangled together.

The woven rug on the floor was soft, but it might as well have been silk the way Beckett laid me down, like I was something precious. He traced the edge of my jaw with his thumb before dipping to the hollow of my throat, dragging the pad of his finger down.

Garrett settled beside me, his mouth finding my collarbone while his fingers played at the waistband of my leggings, teasing. Testing the edges. Asking in his own way if this was still okay.

It was more than okay.

I lifted my hips in answer, and Garrett helped me slide my leggings off. He paused to kiss the inside of my knee, then higher, the barest brush of his lips making my breath hitch.

I let out a shaky laugh, nerves and heat tangling inside me.

Asher crouched nearby, his eyes flicking between us with something close to awe, and then mischief.

“You suit the mountain life. I can tell you that much.”

He crawled toward me, bracing himself above me with a grin that barely masked the reverence in his eyes.

“Can I taste you?” he whispered, voice rough at the edges.

I nodded, heart stuttering, and he dipped down, not to kiss my mouth but to press his lips gently along the curve of my ribs, teasing the sensitive skin beneath my bra.