I kept telling myself to calm down. T4 told me that their place was secure. They needed it to be in order to not show the fluffy booties to the rest of the town. 

But apparently my body did not get the memo. 

Philip's face took over my vision, my entire being screaming at me that he was the one at the campsite. He was coming to take me back. I couldn't go back. 

"Harper."

I couldn't make out the owner of the voice. Everything sounded muffled and far away. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. 

"What's wrong with her?"

"Probably a panic attack. Harper!"

The voices needed to stop talking. I wasn't going to answer anyway. At least not until the swirling feeling in my head stopped. 

I vaguely felt a new pair of arms scoop me up into a warm chest. Very warm. Maybe they had a fever. Or maybe I was just cold. 

"Woman, why are you so stubborn? It wouldn't kill you to listen once in a while."

My eyebrows furrowed, finding the voice through the haze. Of course it was G.I. Joe. My voice broke through a chorus of brotherly arguing. "Excuse me?"

Tripp met my gaze and held it there. "You heard me."

The haze cleared as anger took its place. "How dare you, you flea-infested manchild?! The day I listen to you is the day I order my pastel straight jacket and my window-licking prevention helmet! And, I swear, if you call me Woman one more time you'll be urinating through a tube." I used my fingers to mime a snipping pair of scissors for emphasis.

As I tried to boil his face with my eyes, Tripp's mouth turned up into an actual, real life smile. A smile so gentle that I stopped trying to boil him and just stared in confusion. 

Tripp placed a kiss onto the top of my head. 

"There's our girl."

And then I melted into a metaphorical puddle. 

I was placed back into Trey's lap as Tripp started giving orders. "Thane, Theo…take the perimeter. See if there are any more of those cameras anywhere. If there are, turn them off and bring them back. I want to see what they have in us. I'm going back to the campsite. See if we missed anything."

Then Tripp's eyes went to Trey's. "She doesn't leave your side."

If I was Trey, I would've punched him. "He's not my babysitter! You can't just pawn me off on the nice one. That's not fair."

At least three pairs of eyes were staring at me. Oh well. I wasn't taking it back. Trey just sighed, his warm breath on my neck. 

Thane was the first to speak. "I'm assuming this has something to do with what you were going to say earlier, Trey?"

Crap. Why can't I just think before I spout word vomit that would get me in trouble?

Trey sighed again, patting my head while I tried to tear him a new one through telepathy. Apparently it didn't work. 

"Harper tried to leave right after you all left."

The commotion started right after he finished speaking. Tripp was able to stop the noise before speaking. "Why did she try to leave?"

Trey turned and met my glare. Asking silently if I wanted to be the one to tell them. I didn't want anyone to tell them, and I tried to convey that through my eyes. If he understood, he ignored me anyway. 

"She thought you all left because her issues were too much for us. And that you left her here with me because I wouldn't have the heart to kick her out."

Another awkward silence. If I had a nickel for every awkward silence I'd be able to backpack through Europe.

Tripp just gave Trey a look. "Fix it." And then the three left, heading for the back door. 

I rolled my eyes. "Fix it. Nothing to fix. Also, is he allergic to the word please? Nobody likes the macho, pushy caveman stuff."

A complete lie. The macho, pushy caveman stuff was surprisingly my thing, apparently. But I wouldn't be telling them that. 

Trey placed a finger under my chin and turned my gaze to his. "Would it surprise you to hear that I'm not actually the nice brother?"

"Yeah, I don't believe that for a second. Nice try."

Trey chuckled. "It's the truth, whether you want to believe it or not. Thane would be considered the nice one, in my opinion. Tripp is the Alpha, he makes the hard decisions. Thane is security and IT. Theo is recon and backup. And me…I'm the enforcer. The Beta. The muscle. No one I've met besides you would call me the nice one."

"But…then why are you nice to me?"

He gave me a half smile. "Because you're you. I never know what you're going to do or say next. I mean, have you listened to yourself?"

I glared at him again. For the thousandth time today. "Har har."

"It's not just that. You're caring and strong. I've never met anyone as strong as you. And you're ours."

"Ours? Tripp said that earlier too, but I just can't wrap my head around it."

Trey tightened his arms around me. "Then I guess we haven't done a very good job of showing you."

Before I could filter myself, the word vomit started again. I was talking more to myself than anyone else. "Is it like a sister thing? No, I highly doubt it. I mean, I've kissed Thane and Theo. And then there was the bedroom escapades with Tripp, but I basically begged him. So definitely not a sister thing with them. But maybe with you, since we haven't even-" 

I smacked my hands over my mouth to keep me from embarrassing myself any further. 

Trey tilted his head to one side, still meeting my eyes. "Since we haven't even what? Kissed?"

I tried to lower my head, but he wouldn't let me, so I just nodded. 

"Do you want to know why that is?"

My entire body screamed at me that I did not, in fact, want to know. I was still waiting for that me-sized hole. 

"You needed someone that you could feel comfortable talking to. That you felt comfortable with in general. A lot has happened lately and the last thing you need is the four of us thinking with the wrong head. So I made sure I was that person."

Trey moved his face closer, so close that our noses were touching. "But don't think for one second that I didn't want to taste those lips the first time I saw you. We could've definitely made use of that supply closet."

My jaw dropped at the same time that my panties dampened. Trey took advantage of my shock, running his tongue over my bottom lip. "Better than I imagined. If you don't want me to kiss you, you'd better tell me now."

My mouth immediately closed. Once the option was given to me, I realized how much I wanted him to kiss me. 

Trey wasted no time, lowering his mouth to mine. His large hand slid to the back of my neck, holding me exactly where he wanted me. And I didn't fight him. It wasn't like with Tripp, the push and pull. The need to hold my own and battle for dominance. 

With Trey, I handed it over willingly without a second thought.

His tongue swept over the seam of my lips and I opened for him. He immediately deepened the kiss, exploring like he had all the time in the world. 

I couldn't tell how long we sat there lost in each other, but when he pulled away it was entirely too soon. 

Trey rested his forehead on mine. "You're ours, Firecracker. I hope you believe that now. And no one will hurt you again."