The house was too quiet.
Lila lay on her bed, eyes wide open, the glow of the ceiling light spilling across the posters she'd hung years ago. Her phone sat facedown beside her pillow, buzzing occasionally with messages from friends she didn't dare open.
It should've been comforting to be home. The laughter of her little sister somewhere down the hall, the faint sound of her mom humming in the kitchen, the heavy footfalls of her brothers when they stomped from room to room.
But tonight, everything felt like a pressure cooker.
Every creak in the hallway made her tense, waiting for one of her brothers to barge in with more warnings. Every vibration of her phone felt like it could be Ethan, even though he didn't have her number.
It's your choice. Not theirs.
His words wouldn't stop echoing.
The knock came finally—three sharp raps against her door.
"Go away," she muttered, turning onto her side.
"It's me," Jordan's voice said, calm but firm.
With a groan, she sat up. "It's always you guys. Which one this time?"
The door opened, and not just Jordan, but all four brothers filed in like a unit. Aiden looked like he hadn't stopped grinding his teeth since the football field. Tyler's arms were crossed tight across his chest. Caleb had his usual smirk—though it didn't reach his eyes this time.
Jordan shut the door behind them and leaned against it, effectively trapping her inside.
Lila threw her arms wide. "Great. A family intervention. Just what I needed."
"This isn't a joke," Aiden snapped.
"Neither is suffocating me every five minutes."
"Lila," Tyler said, his voice softer but no less intense. "You don't get it. Guys like him—"
"Guys like him?" she cut in. "You mean the ones you used to be? The ones who chased girls around campus just to prove you could?"
That shut them up for half a second. Caleb let out a low whistle. "Ouch. Point for little sis."
Lila stood, planting her hands on her hips. "I don't need four bodyguards breathing down my neck every time I talk to someone with a Y chromosome. I'm not a kid anymore."
"You're still our sister," Jordan said evenly. "And we saw the way he looked at you."
Her heart thudded. She turned away, hoping they didn't notice.
"He's dangerous," Aiden insisted. "The kind of dangerous that doesn't stop when you say no."
Lila bit her lip. If only he knew how right—and wrong—he was. Ethan hadn't scared her with threats. He scared her because he meant it when he said he couldn't stay away.
And some reckless, treacherous part of her… didn't want him to.
Downstairs, their dad's voice thundered up the staircase. "Are you four done intimidating your sister yet?"
The brothers winced in unison.
"Coming, Dad," Jordan called back.
One by one, they filed out, leaving her alone again. Only Caleb paused at the doorway, leaning in. "For the record," he said quietly, "if you ever do want to mess with him… make sure you tell me first. I want front row seats."
She threw a pillow at him. He laughed and ducked out, shutting the door.
The next morning, the house was buzzing.
Her mom fussed over breakfast, piling plates higher than anyone could finish. Her dad sat at the table, newspaper spread wide, but his eyes kept flicking to her brothers like he was silently daring them to act up. Her little sister babbled about some school project.
And through it all, Lila felt like a fragile glass about to crack.
"Big test today?" her mom asked sweetly.
"Something like that," Lila muttered.
Her brothers exchanged looks over their cereal bowls.
If her parents noticed, they didn't say anything.
School wasn't much better.
The second she walked in, whispers followed her down the hall. Eyes trailed her every move.
She didn't need anyone to tell her why.
"Guess what?" her best friend Maya hissed the moment she found her by her locker. "Rumor is, Ethan Cole got into a fight last night. Over a girl."
Lila's stomach dropped. "What?"
"Yeah! Some junior tried talking to him after practice, and he nearly broke the guy's nose." Maya leaned closer, eyes wide. "They say he only stopped when someone shouted your name."
Her other friend, Noah, strolled up with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "Correction: he did break the guy's nose. I heard it straight from the trainer."
"Not helping, Noah," Lila muttered.
He smirked. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. If anything, you should be flattered. He's obsessed."
"That's not a compliment," she snapped.
Maya gave her a look. "Lila… is it true? Did you and Ethan—"
"No!" Lila slammed her locker shut. "We didn't anything. And I don't want to."
But even as she said it, her heart betrayed her with a painful stutter.
Ethan's POV
He watched her from across the cafeteria, untouched food in front of him.
She was with her friends, laughing at something one of them said, but he saw the stiffness in her shoulders. The way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
She was trying to pretend.
She could lie to everyone else. But not to him.
Every time she walked into a room, the noise around him faded. Every time she looked away from him, it burned.
He didn't care about the stares. He didn't care about her brothers.
He wanted her.
And he would have her.
Even if he had to set the whole damn world on fire to do it.
After school, her brothers were waiting by the car, as usual.
But before they could drag her home, Ethan cut across the parking lot, eyes locked on her.
Aiden cursed under his breath. Tyler moved to block him. Jordan stepped closer to her side. Caleb just muttered, "Here we go again."
Ethan stopped a few feet away, gaze never leaving Lila's. "We need to talk."
"No, we don't," Aiden snapped.
Ethan didn't even look at him. "Not to you. To her."
Her breath caught. The world around them blurred, students watching, whispers rising.
This was a line in the sand.
And she had no idea which side she wanted to stand on.