Page 77 of Shared By the Mountain Men Triplets

He’s right. One hundred percent. “I’m used to handling things.”

“You are handling this.”

“I stood in a closet while you all?—”

Boone cuts in. “You held position. That’s important. People get killed because they can’t do what they’re told when rounds start moving.”

“I’m not one of your soldiers.”

Rhett swipes his thumb down my lower lip. “No, you’re harder.”

“Amen,” Boone mutters, and Rhett almost grins.

A laugh breaks out of me. It’s shaky, and I’m close to tears, but the knot in my stomach loosens enough for me to breathe.

The rest of the day is filled with phone calls, maps, defensive revisions, and patrols. I make sandwiches around noon after I realize we all forgot breakfast. At dinner, I eat a quiet meal with Boone and Cade while Rhett takes a sentry shift outside.

They’ve been rotating patrols all day, and for me, it’s like a hamster wheel of worry.

When Rhett returns at ten, Boone’s ready to head out into the dark, but I stop him with a touch on his arm.

“Before you go, I need to talk to you.” I raise my voice. “To all of you. Together.” My heart’s pounding wildly, and it only gets worse when three sets of dark eyes immediately land on me withlaser focus.

“What’s wrong?” Rhett demands.

“Nothing’s wrong. I mean … that’s not why I want to talk to you. I just—” I stop and decide to just say it before my nerves derail me. “I love you. All of you.”

The three Wilder brothers freeze so fully, the room turns into a photo, a moment frozen in time.

“I love all three of you,” I say. “And I’m not just saying it because someone shot at the cabin this morning. I’m saying it because I’ve known for a while, and I want you to know it, too.”

Boone’s the first to unfreeze. Cade’s breath leaves him in a rough exhale. Rhett’s chest expands, but the rest of him remains still. Even his face is stripped bare like I’ve never seen.

I’ve shaken them deeply.

“Wren,” Rhett says finally. Just my name.

I look back at him.

“Are you always this brave?” he asks.

“No.”

Boone takes hold of my wrist. “Liar.”

I turn to look at him, and he twines his fingers with mine. “I love you, too, sweetheart. So much I don’t know what to do with all of it.” Then he kisses me, soft and slow, showing me how much he means it.

Cade steps in next and takes my other hand. He’s silent for nearly half a minute as he stands there stroking the back ofmy hand with his thumb. “I’ve been in love with you since the ridge,” he says.

“When you followed me?”

“When you ran for safety while two armed men came up the slope behind you. You were scared, but you kept moving. Smart, stubborn, fast enough to piss me off.”

I squeeze his palm and step closer. “That’s what did it for you?”

“That’s when I realized it had already happened.” He brings my hand to his mouth, kisses my knuckles, then kisses my lips with the same devastating focus.

While I’m kissing Cade, another hand settles on my back. When Cade pulls back, Rhett turns me toward him.