4
SLOANE
Ishouldn’t be setting up a cozy movie night with a man I just met. But here I am, arranging blankets and pillows on the couch like we are old friends having a normal evening in. Like I’m not running from my imploded life. Like my heart is not still bruised from finding Chett balls deep in his assistant. The memory makes me reach for the wine bottle. I pour myself a generous glass. Very generous. Screw it. I’m stuck in a ranger station during a blizzard with the hottest man I have ever seen in real life. If there was ever a time to drink my feelings, it’s now.
I hear the shower turn on in the bathroom, and my traitorous brain immediately conjures images of Jax naked under the spray. Water running over those shoulders. Those arms. That chest I was not staring at earlier. Stop it, Sloane. You are here to find yourself, not fantasize about that man. I take a long sip of wine and focus on setting up my laptop. Christmas movie, cozy fire, perfectly platonic evening. I can do this. I am a grown woman who can absolutely spend an evening with an attractive man without making it weird.
That is when I hear it.
A sound from the bathroom. Low. Rough. Almost like a ... Oh my god. Was that a moan?
My face flames hot. The walls were thin. Really thin. And if I can hear that, then .... Oh, God. Oh no. Was he ...?
I grab my wine and down half the glass in one go. Nope. Not thinking about that. Absolutely not thinking about what Jax Reid might be doing in that shower. Definitely not thinking about his hand wrapped around ... I pour more wine. This is fine. Everything is fine. He is a man. Men do that. It’s natural. Normal. Nothing to be weird about. Except now all I can think about is Jax in that shower, water running over his naked body, his hand .... More wine. I need more wine.
My phone buzzes, saving me from my spiral.
RILEY: How is it going with the hot stranger?
SLOANE: It’s fine. We are watching Christmas movies.
RILEY: Together?
SLOANE: On my laptop.
RILEY: Sloane. This is your chance. Rebound. Move on from Chett. Get under someone new to get over someone old.
SLOANE: I am not rebounding with a stranger.
RILEY: A hot stranger who saves people for a living.
SLOANE: He is being nice. That is his job.
RILEY: His job is to keep you safe. Not to watch Christmas movies with you. That is called interest.
SLOANE: You are reading too much into this. Plus, he likes Christmas movies, he watches them with his grandmother every holidays.
RILEY: The man likes Christmas movies, hangs with his grandmother, and looks like a fricken God. You have hit the fantasy lottery. If you don’t fuck him, we can’t be friends.
SLOANE: Riley!
RILEY: No. I am being a friend. A good friend. Screw that man’s brains out.
SLOANE: No!
RILEY: I am ashamed to call you my best friend. Tell me he has a brother because I will happily climb a man like him.
SLOANE: He has five.
RILEY: Sloane! That’s it, I am checking out his socials to see what these five brothers look like. Fingers crossed the hot gene runs deep with the family.
I roll my eyes at her.
RILEY: Jackpot. Holy shit. They are all hot.
*Incoming screenshot of the evidence.*
My eyes widen, each of the brothers is equally as hot as Jax.
