“Why not?”
“Because life’s too short.” The words come out harsher than I intended. “My dad died when I was eighteen. One minute, he was fine; the next, he was gone. No warning. No second chances.” I meet Marco’s eyes. “I learned that day that life is fragile. You don’t get do-overs. You don’t get to play it safe and hope things work out. You fight for what matters while you still can.”
“And Rachel matters?”
“Yeah. She does.”
Marco turns to Theo. “What about you?”
“Same. She matters.” Theo’s voice is steady despite the color still in his cheeks. “I know it’s complicated. I know Jake’s going to lose it when he finds out. But I’m not walking away either.”
Marco’s quiet for a long moment, staring out the window at nothing.
Then he says, “I have feelings for her too.”
Theo’s head snaps up. “What?”
“You heard me.” Marco doesn’t turn around. “I’ve been trying not to. Been telling myself she’s off-limits, that it’sunprofessional, that I don’t need the complication. But I can’t stop thinking about her either.”
I wasn’t expecting that—Marco’s good at keeping his cards close. But the way he’s standing there—shoulders tight, jaw set—tells me he’s been fighting this just as hard as we have.
“So, what do we do?” Theo asks. “All three of us just… what? Compete for her? Make her choose?”
“No.” I stand up. “We don’t compete. We’ve done that before, and it didn’t end well.”
Marco finally turns around. “Samantha.”
Just her name is enough to bring back memories I’d rather forget.
“So, you’re saying we shouldn’t pursue Rachel,” Theo asks.
“I’m saying we shouldn’t compete.” I sit back down. “If we do this—if all three of us have feelings for her—then we need to be on the same page. No games. No, trying to edge each other out. We’re honest with her and with each other.”
“And if she only wants one of us?” Theo asks.
“Then we will respect that,” Marco says. “But we don’t tear each other apart in the process. We don’t let this destroy our friendship.”
“What about Jake?” I ask. “He’s going to find out eventually.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.” Marco picks up his beer. “Right now, the priority is making sure we don’t repeat the Samantha situation. No competition. No jealousy. If Rachel wants all of us, we figure it out together. If she only wants one, the others back off. Clean. Simple.”
“Nothing about this is simple,” Theo mutters.
“No. But it’s better than the alternative.” Marco looks at both of us. “So, are we agreed? We’re honest with each other. We don’t compete. We let Rachel decide what she wants without us trying to influence her choice.”
I nod. “Agreed.”
Theo hesitates, then nods too. “Agreed.”
“Good.” Marco drains his beer. “Now someone needs to actually talk to her about this. Because right now, she probably thinks she’s doing something wrong by having feelings for more than one person.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I say.
“We should all talk to her,” Theo corrects. “Together. So, there’s no confusion.”
“That’s going to be one hell of a conversation,” Marco says dryly.
“Yeah, well. Nothing about this is normal.” I stand up. “But I’d rather have the awkward conversation than lose her because we’re too scared to be honest.”
