5. Lila
CHAPTER FIVE
Lila
The house smelled like home.
That warm, slightly sweet scent of cornbread and roasted chicken filled the air, almost allowing me to forget the mess of emotions bubbling under my skin.
Almost .
But from the second Jaxon had walked in, his presence had hit me like a jolt of electricity.
Even now, he was trying to act cool, trying to pretend that he didn’t want to flirt with me, and that he hadn’t seen me half naked on a plane earlier today.
Every time he looked my way, my heart did this ridiculous little flip, and I bit down on my lip so hard I swore I’d draw blood.
“So, Lila,” Colt boomed, breaking the tension I was desperately trying to hide, leaning back in his chair with that easy, self-assured grin of his. “How does it feel to be back in town after all this time? Feeling the culture shock yet?”
I smiled, but my grip on my fork tightened. “It’s… different. Smaller than I remember.”
“Smaller?” Ryan cut in, mock offended. “We’ve got three whole stoplights now. That’s big-city living.”
The table erupted into laughter, and I couldn’t help but join in, the tension in my chest easing slightly.
Colt raised an eyebrow at me, his grin widening as he reached for his beer. “You’ll get used to it again. Just don’t forget… small towns come with small town gossip.”
“Don’t scare her off,” Nate muttered, shaking his head. “She’s only been back for a day.”
“Oh, she’s tough,” Colt said, giving me a wink. “I can tell.”
I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly focused on my plate, stabbing a piece of chicken like it had personally wronged me.
Dad cleared his throat, his voice cutting through the teasing with its usual steadiness. “Speaking of small-town problems, I heard about that fire over at the old grain mill last month. That must’ve been quite the ordeal.”
The shift in tone was immediate. Ryan leaned forward, the boyishness in his expression replaced by something more serious.
Colt’s easygoing posture straightened, and even Jaxon glanced up from his plate.
“Yeah,” Nate said, his voice quieter now. “That one was rough. The whole building was a tinderbox.”
“You were there, right, Colt?” Dad asked, his gaze settling on him.
Colt nodded, his green eyes darkening as he set his beer down. “We all were. It was an all-hands-on-deck situation. The fire spread fast, faster than we expected.”
“What happened?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Colt’s gaze flicked to me, his expression softening. “We got a call about someone trapped inside, an older guy who couldn’t get out on his own. The problem was, the roof was already starting to cave in by the time we got there.”
My stomach twisted at the thought. Ryan took over, his voice subdued. “We had to split up. Jaxon and Colt went in while the rest of us worked on containment. It was touch and go for a while.”
“More like ‘touch and pray’,” Jaxon muttered, his voice low.
Colt nodded. “The guy was in the back office, pinned under some debris. Took us a while to get to him, and by the time we did, the heat was… intense.”
“Intense?” Dad’s brow furrowed. “Sounds worse than that.”
Colt shrugged, but his jaw tightened. “It’s part of the job.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said, the smirk I’d gotten used to now replaced by something heavier. “But not every call ends with everyone walking out. This one did, though.”
The table fell silent for a moment, the weight of Ryan’s words pressing down on the room like a blanket of smoke.
I stared at the faces around me—my brother, his friends, my dad—and felt the air shift. It was like stepping into a story I’d forgotten I was part of.
The firehouse had always been a big part of life in Medford.
Growing up, it was background noise—stories shared over dinner, the occasional alarm piercing the stillness of the night, and Nate’s quiet pride when he followed in Dad’s footsteps.
But I’d been gone for so long, living a different life, that I’d pushed it all into a neat little corner of my mind.
Now, that neat little corner was being ripped wide open.
Jaxon’s voice was low, almost too quiet to hear. “It’s not something you forget. That kind of heat… it stays with you.”
His words struck something deep in me, and I realized for the first time just how dangerous this life was. My brother’s life. Jaxon’s. Ryan’s. Colt’s.
They weren’t just laughing, easygoing guys who teased each other over dinner and made jokes about burned bagels and charity calendars.
They were men who ran straight into danger while everyone else ran away.
“Were you hurt?” The question came out before I could stop it, my voice smaller than I intended.
I wasn’t sure who I was asking—Jaxon, Colt, Ryan, Nate—but I needed to know.
Jaxon’s piercing blue eyes met mine, steady but guarded. “We got out in time.”
“But it was close,” Colt added. “Too close.”
Nate shifted in his seat, his expression tight. “It’s part of the job, Lila. You know that.”
I blinked, feeling a surge of something I couldn’t quite name. Fear, guilt, maybe both.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Before the tension could become too much and the mood could sink, Biscuit must have decided he’d had enough of waiting for scraps. In a blur of fur, he trotted into the dining room and made a beeline for the table.
Before anyone could react, his tiny corgi frame managed to jump just high enough to snag a piece of bread from the edge of Colt’s plate.
The room went silent for a split second, and then erupted into laughter.
“Biscuit!” I gasped, trying to sound stern, but it was impossible to keep a straight face as he pranced around like he’d just stolen a priceless treasure.
The bread hung comically from his mouth, way too big for him to carry properly, but that didn’t stop him from proudly showing off his prize.
Colt leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and lips twitching with amusement. “Well, I guess we know who the real alpha is in this house.”
Ryan was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. “The little dude’s got no fear! He went straight for your plate, Colt. Didn’t even hesitate.”
“Hey,” Colt protested, though he was grinning now. “That’s my bread. I think I’m obligated to rescue it.”
“Good luck,” Jaxon drawled from his seat, his deep voice laced with dry humor. “He looks pretty attached to it.”
“Please,” Colt scoffed, pushing back his chair and standing up. “I could take him in a tug of war any day.”
Dad chuckled, shaking his head as he watched Biscuit’s victorious retreat toward the corner of the room. “Careful, Colt. Biscuit’s got a low center of gravity. You might not stand a chance.”
“True.” Nate smirked, pointing his fork at Colt. “And Biscuit’s got that killer instinct. I’ve seen him go after a tennis ball like it owes him money.”
“Very funny,” Colt said, already crouching down and creeping toward Biscuit like he was on some kind of covert mission. “I’ve wrestled with fire hoses, man. This is nothing.”
Biscuit froze when Colt got too close, his little legs stiffening as he clamped down harder on the bread.
The room went quiet, everyone watching like it was the final round of a championship match.
“Don’t do it, Biscuit!” Ryan called out, egging the dog on. “Don’t let him win!”
Biscuit growled—a sound that was more adorable than threatening—and Colt laughed, reaching for the bread. “All right, buddy. Time to?—”
Before he could finish, Biscuit bolted.
Colt lunged after him, but the corgi was faster than he looked, darting under the table and out of reach.
The room exploded into laughter again, Ryan doubling over as tears streamed down his face. “Oh my god. He juked you! He straight up juked you, Colt!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Colt muttered, crawling on his hands and knees to peek under the table. “Laugh it up. This isn’t over.”
I couldn’t stop giggling as I watched Biscuit zigzag around the room like a tiny, fluffy bandit, the bread still clutched firmly in his mouth.
Jaxon, of course, looked entirely unimpressed, though I caught the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Just let him have it, Colt,” Jaxon said, leaning back in his chair. “You’ve already lost. The bread is his now.”
“Never,” Colt declared dramatically, crawling after Biscuit with all the determination of a man on a mission.
Finally, I took pity on both of them.
“Biscuit, come here!” I called, my voice light but firm.
To my surprise—and relief—Biscuit actually listened, trotting over to me with the bread still in his mouth.
I crouched down, gently prying it from his jaws. “That’s not for you, troublemaker.”
Colt stood up, brushing off his knees and looking mildly defeated. “Guess he likes you more than me. That’s just embarrassing.”
Ryan grinned, leaning back in his chair. “Not as embarrassing as getting outsmarted by a dog.”
Colt flopped back into his chair with exaggerated defeat, a hand to his chest as if Biscuit had personally wounded his pride. “You see this, Lila? I lay my heart on the line, and your dog betrays me.”
I laughed, shaking my head as I handed the slobbery bread to Dad, who discreetly placed it in the trash.
“Maybe he knows you were going to take his spot as the family favorite,” I teased.
Colt’s grin returned, slow and mischievous.
“Oh, I don’t need to take anyone’s spot. I’ve already claimed mine.” His gaze locked on mine for just a moment too long, and I felt a spark of something warm and dangerous flicker through me.
I shifted in my chair, trying to play it cool, trying to focus on the conversation around me, but then it happened.
A light touch brushed against my ankle.
I froze, my breath hitching as Colt’s foot slid casually against mine under the table. I shot him a wide-eyed look, hoping he’d get the message to stop, but he only smirked, his gaze holding mine like he was daring me to say something.
The audacity.
I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the warmth pooling in my stomach.
This was insane.
I’d just thrown caution to the wind with Jaxon, and now Colt was trying to flirt with me?
And the worst part? It was working.
Every brush of his foot sent a jolt of heat straight up my spine, making it nearly impossible to focus.
I hated how my body reacted to him, how my heart raced every time his eyes lingered on me, how I felt warm all over even though it was probably just the wine.
This needed to stop.
Now.
I cleared my throat and pushed my chair back, my voice a little too chipper as I said, “Excuse me for a moment.”
I didn’t wait for anyone’s response. I practically bolted from the table, weaving through the house until I found the hallway that led to the bathroom. Once there, I leaned against the wall, pressing my hands to my cheeks in an attempt to cool the flush that had taken over my face.
Get it together, Lila.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions swirling inside me.
The guilt. The frustration. The inexplicable and utterly inconvenient desire.
But then I heard footsteps behind me, and before I could even turn around, Colt’s voice filled the small space.
“Lila.”
I closed my eyes, cursing under my breath.
Of course, he had followed me.
“What are you doing?” I asked, spinning around to face him.
My voice came out sharper than I intended, but I needed the distance, the defense.
He didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he leaned casually against the wall, his hands in his pockets and that damn smirk still on his face. “Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, crossing my arms over my chest. “You can go back to dinner now.”
But Colt didn’t move. He stepped closer, the teasing glint in his eyes softening and becoming more intense. “Are you?”
His voice was low, almost a whisper, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
I pressed my back against the wall, wishing it would swallow me whole.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stammered, hating how unconvincing I sounded.
“Sure, you don’t,” he murmured, his lips quirking up in a small smile as he took another step closer.
He was so close now that I could feel the heat radiating off him, smell the faint scent of smoke and cedarwood clinging to his skin. It was intoxicating, and my traitorous body leaned ever so slightly toward him, even as my mind screamed at me to stop.
“Colt,” I said, my voice trembling. “We can’t…”
But before I could finish, he closed the distance between us, his hand coming up to cradle my jaw as his lips crashed against mine.
It wasn’t gentle.
It wasn’t careful.
It was raw and consuming and everything I’d been trying so hard to ignore since the moment I laid eyes on him.
My resolve crumbled in an instant. I kissed him back with a desperation that surprised even me, my hands fisting in the fabric of his shirt as he pressed me harder against the wall.
For a moment, nothing else existed. Not the dinner, not the awkwardness with Jaxon, not the guilt. Just Colt… his lips, his hands, his heat.
But then reality came crashing back.
I broke the kiss, pushing against his chest as I turned my head away.
“This is wrong,” I whispered, my voice thick with guilt.
Colt stepped back immediately, his brows furrowed as he studied me. “Lila...”
“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head as I slipped past him and back down the hall.
I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.
Because if I did, I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away.