The clock ticked slowly in detention, each second stretching longer than it should.
Lila sat stiff in her chair, staring at the graffiti carved into the desk surface: names, doodles, half-written confessions of bored students. Anything to avoid looking at Ethan, who sat too close. Too still.
Her brothers' voices still echoed in her head from the hallway. If you touch her again, I'll kill you. She could practically feel their presence pressing against the school walls, even though the teacher had chased them off.
When the final bell rang, she bolted up, snatched her bag, and stormed out without a glance back.
She didn't need Ethan following her.She didn't need her brothers waiting outside the school.She needed air.
So instead of going to the parking lot, she cut through the back hallway, pushed through the double doors, and stepped into the cooling late-afternoon air. The football field stretched out before her—empty, quiet, and glowing under the automatic floodlights.
She walked across the turf until she reached the fifty-yard line, then dropped her bag and sat, pulling her knees up and hugging them.
The field always felt like a secret world after hours. The silence calmed her, the lingering scent of cut grass mixing with the faint metallic tang of the bleachers.
Here, no one was watching. No one was asking questions. No one was demanding answers.
At least, until a voice broke the silence.
"You always run here?"
Her head whipped around. Her heart stuttered.
Ethan.
He walked out of the tunnel with his hands in his pockets, moving with that casual confidence that made people step aside in hallways. He didn't belong under the floodlights—he owned them.
Lila groaned and dropped her forehead onto her knees. "Do you ever listen when people tell you to leave them alone?"
"Nope."
"Then do me a favor and try it for once."
"Nope," he repeated, voice infuriatingly smug.
She lifted her head to glare at him. "Why are you like this?"
His expression softened, but only a little. "Because I want you."
Her chest tightened. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough." He stopped a few feet away, eyes locked on hers. "You pretend nothing gets to you, but I've seen it. You care more than you let on. You keep walls up because you're scared of what happens if someone actually gets through them."
Her pulse raced. "You don't know me," she repeated, firmer.
"Then tell me," he pressed. "Show me who you are."
She opened her mouth. For one dangerous second, she almost told him. Almost confessed that at night, she wasn't just a girl with overprotective brothers. She was a street racer with a helmet hiding her face. A singer who filled notebooks with lyrics she never shared. A dancer who moved when no one was looking because that was the only time she felt free.
But the hunger in his eyes—the intensity, the obsession—made her snap her jaw shut again.
"You wouldn't understand," she whispered.
"Try me," he said.
The words were too soft. Too raw. Too close to the truth she kept locked away.
She stood abruptly, grabbing her bag. "Stay away from me, Ethan."
She turned toward the exit, forcing her steps steady even though her knees threatened to give out.
His voice followed her, steady and terrifying.
"I can't."
She froze.
Slowly, she turned back. He was still standing on the fifty-yard line, hands shoved into his pockets, eyes on her like she was the only thing in the world worth seeing.
"You think I'm playing some game," he said, voice carrying in the empty stadium. "I'm not. I don't care what your brothers say. I don't care how many walls you build. I'm not walking away."
Her throat closed. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tell him to stop. She wanted to demand why he was doing this to her.
But before she could, voices exploded behind her.
"There you are!"
Aiden.
Jordan.
Caleb.
Tyler.
All four of her brothers marched across the field like soldiers on a mission, fury written across every line of their faces.
Lila cursed under her breath. "Not now…"
"What the hell are you doing with her?" Aiden snapped, already moving faster than the others. His fists clenched, his chest heaving like he'd been running.
Ethan didn't move. Didn't flinch. He just smirked. "Talking."
"Talking?" Jordan echoed, calm but deadly. "Funny, I don't buy that."
"Then don't," Ethan said.
Aiden lunged. Jordan grabbed his arm before he could reach Ethan.
Caleb whistled low. "Oh, this is good. Friday night lights, but make it family drama."
"CALEB!" Lila shouted.
Tyler stepped in front of her, blocking Ethan's line of sight. His voice was steel. "Stay away from our sister."
Ethan's smirk sharpened. "And if I don't?"
The air snapped.
Aiden struggled against Jordan's hold. Caleb looked like he was watching his favorite movie. Tyler's jaw tightened until it looked painful.
Lila's heart pounded so hard it hurt.
"Then we'll make you," Tyler said.
Ethan's eyes gleamed. "Try."
The single word detonated between them.
The tension was unbearable. The kind that made your skin prickle and your breath catch.
Ethan finally stepped closer, closing the gap between him and Tyler. "You think you scare me?" he asked quietly. "You don't. Nothing will stop me from getting what I want."
"And what you want," Tyler ground out, "is her."
Ethan's gaze slid past him, locking on Lila. "Yeah."
Her stomach twisted. The way he said it—simple, unapologetic, certain—terrified her more than any threat her brothers had ever made.
"Back off," Jordan said, his voice a low warning.
"No," Ethan replied.
Aiden broke free of Jordan's hold, storming up to Ethan. "You don't get it. She's not yours. She'll never be yours."
Ethan's smirk returned. "We'll see."
Before Aiden could swing, Lila shoved herself between them, hands outstretched. "STOP!"
Her shout echoed across the field.
They all froze.
Breathing hard, Lila turned in a slow circle, glaring at all of them. "Do you guys hear yourselves? You're acting insane. This isn't your decision. It's mine."
Her brothers stiffened. Even Ethan's smirk faltered for a split second.
Her voice cracked as she went on. "I'm not a prize you can fight over. I'm not some… some trophy you get to claim. I'm me. And I get to decide what happens to me. Not you."
Silence.
Her brothers looked stricken. Caleb glanced away for once, no jokes left. Tyler's expression softened, but his jaw stayed locked. Jordan's brows furrowed, like he wanted to argue but couldn't find the words. Aiden just stared at her, fists trembling.
Ethan, though—Ethan looked like he'd just found proof of something he already believed. His smirk curled back into place, softer this time.
"Exactly," he said quietly. "It's your choice. Not theirs."
Lila's chest tightened.
For the first time… she almost believed him.
And that scared her more than anything else.
They walked her home that night in tense silence, her brothers forming a wall around her. Ethan didn't follow. But his words did.
It's your choice.
She lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling, hearing it over and over.
Because for the first time, she realized something dangerous.
She wasn't sure she wanted to tell him no.