Page 101 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

"I didn't come forward. She came to me first!" Now it's his turn to look smug. "I didn't tell her to come to the demo house. She came of her own volition, because she knew it meant something to me. She cares about me. And I care about her."

And as much as that hurts to hear, it also makes me take a step back. Marcus deserves to feel cared about. I mean, I care about him. I just wish it were anyone but her. She's mine. Or is she?

"If she cares so much about you then why's she out right now with that dweeb from her department?" I say what we're all thinking.

"Because I..." He stops. Starts again. "Because I wasn't..." He doesn't finish, and for a second he looks lost. “Look, let me ask you something. If Leon wasn't in the picture at all, would you pursue her?"

"You know I would. I would have years ago. And I know you would’ve too. I was telling the truth when I told her that she had to know that one of us would throw everything away for her eventually.”

He nods. "Now put the Leon factor back. If you had a real chance with her, but knowing how he'd feel. Knowing it would ruin your friendship. What would you do?"

"I..." The certainty goes, all at once, like someone's pulled a plug behind my ribs. "Fuck."

"Exactly." He says it quietly, like it's a revelation to him too. "Now you know how I got to where I am. Wanting something so much you can't breathe from the want. But knowing you might lose one of the people you love most in the world."

I can't say anything, because it's the same reason I'm where I am.

We both turn to Rhys.

"What about you?" Marcus says.

"What about me?" Rhys replies. It's the first thing he's said in hours.

"You've got nothing to say?" I ask.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He doesn't look up from the page. "I'm just here to stop you two killing each other."

"Yeah, right." I lean forward. "What. About. Alexia?"

He says nothing. Doesn't move. The only sign he heard me at all is his hand gripping the pen tighter.

"Fucking hell, you're even worse than us," I say. I mean it as an accusation, but it comes out almost like sympathy. "At least we can say it out loud. At least we've admitted what we feel to each other. You've barely managed a full sentence since she moved back into this house."

He doesn't answer. He doesn't need to. It's all there in the set of his shoulders, the muscle ticking along his jaw.

Marcus tries once more. "Come on, mate. It's us. We can work it out together."

Nothing.

"Fine," I say. "Forget him. What are we actually going to do? About each other. About Leon. About any of it."

"I don't know." Marcus tugs at the side of his head. "I genuinely don't know, Zach. I don't think any of us ever have. We've been skirting the Alexia problem for years. Even before she left." True. "I don't have a better plan. Do you?"

I'm mulling over an answer — something, anything — when my phone rings.

I almost don't answer, but the screen says Hunter, and something in the pit of my stomach tells me to pick up.

"Hey, man, what's goin⁠—"

I don't get to finish. Whatever he says next comes fast, garbled, and I'm on my feet before I've processed it.

"What?" I shout back. Across the room, Marcus's head snaps up at my tone, and Rhys finally looks up.

Hunter repeats it, slower, and this time I understand every word.

"We'll be right there," I say, phone still at my ear, turning to my housemates. "We have to go. There's been an attack." My voice doesn't sound like mine. "At The Woodyard."

Marcus is up off the couch instantly. "Anyone hurt?"