“It doesn’t matter who he thought it was,” Gray said. “He’d have gone up there for anyone and you know it. Don’t put this on yourself.”

And then he slid his arm around her and squeezed.

Because they were Aidan’s family and they took care of their own. She’d almost forgotten what that felt like until this very moment, surrounded by two of Aidan’s brothers who’d clearly dropped everything to be here for him. It nearly brought her to tears. It’d been a long time since she’d been part of a family unit. And yeah, she and Ashley had fought like cats and had competed in every little aspect of their lives, but they’d had each other’s backs, always. She missed that. God, she missed that. She purposely hadn’t allowed herself to think about it, but she’d missed this. Belonging to someone. Having someone at her back, unconditionally, no matter what.

And yes, she still had her mom, but that was more peripherally. She had Jonathan, too, and now her clients, all of whom meant something to her, but this … this right here, she’d forgotten how good it felt to be a part of a family.

She might have even gotten all mushy on both Gray and Hudson if she weren’t still so terrified for Aidan.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Hudson reminded her. “You’ve got to believe that. If nothing else, believe in the fact that he’s the most stubborn bastard I know. He isn’t going anywhere. Because I’ll kill him myself if he does. Got it?”

“Got it,” she whispered.

Gray spared his brother a look over his shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you, dumbass? You don’t tell a woman that you’re going to kill the guy she’s in love with.”

Wait, what? In love with … The fuzziness returned and, from what felt like a long distance, Lily heard Hudson laugh.

“You’re the dumbass,” Hud told Gray. “Telling her she loves him before she even knows she loves him. Good going, man. You’re going to fuck it all up for him before he even knows what’s happening.”

Lily decided one emergency at a time and shoved Gray’s arm away, swiveling in the seat to stare at Hud. “What’s going on out there?”

“Some kid was trying to impress a girl. The idiot got stuck on the ledge—couldn’t go up or down. At least they cited him. Not for climbing while stupid, which should be an actual citation, but for climbing in a no-climbing zone. Aidan and Mitch got him up to the top just as the storm moved in, but before they could do the same, Incident Command ordered the crew on the top to pull back. The threat of getting hit by lightning with all the equipment was just too big.”