“You guys want lamb or beef?” Lily called from the kitchen.

Elijah called for beef and Aiden for lamb, and Lily rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’m the tiebreaker. Lamb it is.”

“Lamb’s disgusting,” Elijah yelled back.

“Yeah, well, then don’t eat it,” Lily replied.

“Hey, Lil?” Aiden asked. He appeared in the doorway just as Lily began to layer the lasagna. “Cade just texted and he’s coming over. There gonna be enough for four?”

She blushed at Cade’s name and nodded toward the dish.

It had only been a couple of days since the kiss, and she could still taste him on her lips. Lily slid the dish into the oven, squeezed into the tiny kitchen of Elijah and Aiden’s shared apartment, and set the timer.

Maybe the kiss was totally out of the blue, she thought to herself as she put away the ingredients. But I can’t say I haven’t been wanting it ever since he showed up at Wilde’s.

Hell, she’d wanted it since she was thirteen years old and the first hint of that crush blossomed.

Until he’d freaked out, of course. She couldn’t deny the look of shame that had spread across his face. Cade couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

You should have said something, she thought as she loaded the prep utensils into the dishwasher. But at the time, it had all happened so fast, and no words came.

Lily sighed as she slumped onto the couch, a handful of shaved gourmet parmesan in her hand. Slowly, she slid the slivers into her mouth and pressed the rich sharpness against her tongue.

At the opposite end, Elijah was glued to the television. Aiden scrolled through his phone as he hunched on the old wingback chair that used to belong to their mom.

“Can’t we watch something else?” she groaned as a cricket match slowly unfolded on the screen. “You’re not even Indian or English or whatever.”

“Go home if you wanna watch something else,” Elijah said, though it was an automatic reply.

She knew he was joking, but Cade coming put her on edge. “I just cooked for you guys!” she snapped.

“What’s your problem?” Elijah asked as he finally tore his eyes away from the television. “Fine, if you care so much, put on The Great British Baking Show or whatever it is you watch.”

“Nothing, sorry,” she mumbled.

“Thanks for lunch,” Elijah said, his form of an apology. “Even if it’s gross sheep. Glad to know you don’t have a problem, though.”

She laughed and threw a piece of the parmesan at him. “I have a problem with you,” she said.

Lily was grateful that Cade didn’t arrive before she could busy herself in the kitchen. She heard him enter and the slaps on the back as the men greeted one another.

Even the sound of his voice, deep and steady, turned her on. As she started to plate their lunch, she caught herself taking extra care with the presentation. Lasagna was messy by design, so it took a little additional care. But it was worth it.

Pretty food tastes better, she remembered Jean-Michel always told her.

“Smells good.” She glanced up as Cade poked his head into the kitchen.

Lily offered up a smile, but quickly turned away.

“Hey, Lil? Let’s eat outside. A warm March day in Oregon is unprecedented,” Aiden called.

“Sounds good,” she yelled back.

“Here, let me help you,” Cade said.

Before she could argue, he took two of the plates and headed toward the back patio with them.

Lily wrapped herself in a thick shawl as they gathered at the wrought iron table on the apartment’s small balcony.

“Let’s have a toast,” Elijah said, just as Lily picked up her fork.

She set it back down, acutely aware of how loud it sounded against the iron.

“To?” Aiden asked as he picked up his glass of red.

“To having us all in one place again.”

“Hear, hear,” Cade said as they clinked glasses.

Lily took a swallow, and couldn’t stop herself as she sneaked a glance at Cade. His eyes immediately caught and held hers.

Has he been staring at me? She felt her face go red and tilted her head down to focus on the food.

“So, Cade, I heard you’re suspended until the shrink clears you,” Elijah said.

Always the blunt one, she thought. But she perked up at the news. Suspended? For what?

“Medical leave. It’s different than suspension,” Cade said.

“I dunno, dude. Remember when you got suspended in eleventh grade? For what, getting caught fingering that cheerleader in the handicapped stall?”

“Damn, Elijah,” Aiden said. “Nice dinner conversation.”

“It’s lunch. It’s more informal,” Elijah said. “Besides, that’s what happened.”

“Yeah, well. That’s not what happened this time,” Cade said.

“Well, medical leave or suspension or whatever, I think it’s bullshit,” Elijah said.

Cade frowned and shook his head.

“I’m just trying to do my job,” he said. “I don’t know why that ass Eldon Crane won’t let me.”

“Crane’s alright,” Elijah said as he dug into the food.

Nice to see the lamb doesn’t bother him, Lily thought wryly.

“But yeah, I don’t know why he’s standing in your way either. I mean, why hire you and bring you here if he’s not even going to let you do anything? Dude, like he won’t even let you be a desk jockey, right?”

“Nope,” Cade said as he took a generous bite of the casserole. “Man, that’s good. Lily, did you make this all by yourself?”

“What, you really think we helped?” Aiden asked with a laugh.

Before Lily could reply, they heard a woman scream in the front yard.

“What the hell—” Elijah started, but all four of them had already pushed their chairs back and raced toward the front door.

Lily smelled the fire before she saw it. One block away, a small apartment building was engulfed in flames. They ran toward it while people emerged from the front door crouching. Some climbed out of windows from the first floor.

“Oh my God,” she said. “What do we do? What do we—”

She sensed a shift in Elijah and Aiden already.

He-Man mode, she thought. Cade put a hand on her forearm and brought her to a halt. He opened his mouth, concern in his eyes.

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I’ll—I’ll stay here. Go. Do your thing,” she urged.

Cade whipped off his t-shirt to reveal a ribbed tank underneath that hugged every inch of his muscles. He tossed the shirt to her, still warm from his skin.

It took everything she had not to hold it to her nose and breathe him in. Lily settled for watching his perfect body as he quickly caught up to Elijah and Aiden.

I’ll remember that image forever, she thought.

Cade in silhouette, his big frame as he moved purposefully toward the burning two-story building. Goddamn, but that is hot.

Lily shivered and focused on worrying for all four of them. Cade stopped for a second, the briefest hesitation before he jaunted up the cement steps and into the building.

“Are you okay?” she asked a middle-aged man who coughed violently beside her. “Can I get you water?”

The man looked at her, teary-eyed, and nodded.

She ushered the man toward a garden hose as sirens wailed in the distance.

At least Elijah, Aiden, and Cade won’t be without backup for long.

As she turned on the hose and held it to the man’s lips, she saw Elijah and Aiden emerge from the building. Elijah somehow cradled two large dogs, one under each arm. Aiden held out an enormous cat as it yowled and scratched at him.

Lily breathed out a sigh of relief.

At least all the people got out okay.

Cade appeared on their tail, cradling what appeared to be a hurt Rottweiler. She watched from two houses away as the three of them repeatedly went into the building to check for pets.

A woman screamed desperately for, “My Sugarbear! My Sugarbear!” The distress in her voice made Lily heavy with heartache.

As she turned off the faucet and started to head toward the sea of bystanders, she saw Cade emerge from the building with a massive cage. A parrot squawked in fear.

“Sugarbear!” the woman shrieked and ran toward the bird.

That’s Sugarbear? she thought to herself as the fire trucks arrived. A stream of men rushed by, all suited up and carrying a fire hose.

Elijah, Aiden and Cade stepped out of the way and started administering first aid. She couldn’t see any major injuries, but there were some tenants bruised and bleeding from falls.

Lily overheard one of the firefighters say “grease fire,” and “hot and fast,” but it seemed like the fire was also well contained. Within thirty minutes, she couldn’t see any flames, but it was clear the smoke and water damage were significant.

The last victim was loaded into an ambulance, although the old woman swore she was “completely fine and didn’t want no ambulance bill.”

The guys walked toward her, Elijah rolling his eyes at the woman’s protests.

“You see those fire-putting-out skills, Lil?” he asked.

“Is that the technical term for it?” she asked with a laugh as she wrapped her arms around her brothers. On impulse, after she released her brothers, she embraced Cade, too.

He let her, and she felt his hand brush against her hair.

It feels good, she realized. Letting him touch her like that. Still, it felt like it lasted a little too long, and her brothers’ eyes started to bore into her.

Lily pulled back and wrinkled her nose.

“You all smell like a thousand campfires,” she said.

Cade laughed while Elijah and Aiden started to walk back to the apartment. Lily paused.

Should I say something more to him? she wondered. Try to explain about the other day?

Cade looked at her curiously, gave a small headshake, and started to follow the guys.

Lily didn’t know what to do. She wanted him to talk to her. Hell, she wanted him to kiss her again.

But maybe it’s not meant to be.