Red

MADISON

She stood and called, “Ezra!” Tears were already spilling over and running down her cheeks.

He turned around. “Yes?”

His forlorn expression made her curse herself even more.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I can’t… I’m sorry,” she mumbled. He stepped closer.

“Maddi…talk to me.”

“I’m sorry…I am. I couldn’t control it. Me, not them…it just happened.”

“You? Them?” His brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you saying?”

“I…I can’t lie anymore…” She brought her hands to her face when Ezra’s eyes started to burn into hers. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she tensed.

“Lie? About what?”

“I love them.”

She hated that she was telling her brother before telling the twins, but as soon as the words popped out, she knew they were absolutely true.

“What?” Ezra’s jaw clenched. “~What~ did you say?”

“I love ~them.”~

“~Them?~” His voice was low and harsh.

He let her shoulder go and dropped his arms to his sides, his hands balled into fists.

“Them ~who~?” The little vein on his neck started to pulse hard.

“I’m sorry—” Her eyes burned, and so did her cheeks. She felt her body losing the little energy she had left as his stare bored into her.

“Madison, ~who~ are you dating?” His sharp tone made her back up a little.

Not that she was afraid. She knew he would never hurt her. She just couldn’t bear to hear him so angry with her.

“Madison. Answer me.”

Torturing her lips with her teeth, she took a deep breath. Then in a rush she pushed out the painful truth.

“Ethan and Levi.”

She never took her eyes off her brother, and what she saw on his face was what she’d feared the most.

His jaw was clenched so hard that she could hear his teeth grinding, and his eyes burned cold and empty, as if something good in him had died and something dark had woken up.

“~WHAT?~” he bellowed.

“You…you heard me.” Her voice was small compared to his.

He shook his head as tears started to flow down her cheeks like waterfalls.

“I’ll kill them!”

Then he stormed out of the gym, leaving her a crying, shaking mess.

EZRA

~Red.~

That was all he could see.

~Red.~

That, and the pain in his sister’s eyes when she spoke their names.

~How could they?~

They’d known each other their ~whole fucking lives~. They’d watched her grow up, had been like brothers to her.

And to ~him~.

~How could they do this?~

In what world was it okay for two guys to be with the same girl?

He slammed his fist into the steering wheel.

Okay, sure. He knew they did this. But this wasn’t just some girl—it was their best friends’ little sister. ~His~ sister, goddammit!

He gripped the wheel and drove as fast as he could, ignoring his phone, which wouldn’t stop ringing with calls and texts.

Both Liam and Madison had been trying to reach him for the last twenty minutes, but he was too angry to talk to them.

He’d taken Liam’s first call, but as soon as he found out Liam already knew, he hung up on him.

How could Liam be cool with that? They could be her brothers for fuck’s sake!

What would people say? What would they think?

And how could it even work? The twins had never even had girlfriends before. And now what—they wanted to ~share~ Madison?

Unless the fuckers were just using her for their filthy, dirty games.

“I’ll kill them,” he repeated as he pulled into the parking lot at the twins’ building, the anger coursing through his veins, pumping up his adrenaline.

He screeched into a parking spot, got out and slammed the door, then strode into the building, hands shaking, expression hard.

He didn’t stop at the reception desk but went straight to Ethan’s office, where he shoved through the door so hard it banged against the wall.

They were both inside.

“~How could you?~” he screamed, his voice burning in his chest.

The twins didn’t even seem surprised. Almost as if they’d been expecting him.

Liam—~the traitor!—~must have warned them. And Madison, of course. It was like she was under their fucking spell.

“We couldn’t control it.”

Ethan’s neutral tone was like gasoline on the fire of Ezra’s fury; he lunged at Ethan and grabbed him by his collar.

“She’s like a ~sister~ to you!” he shouted in Ethan’s face before shoving him away. “You sick bastards!” He lunged at Ethan again and took a swing, landing a punch directly on his mouth.

“We love her,” Levi said.

Ezra swung his head to look at him, clenching his fists. “You ~love~ her? You fucking ~love~ her?”

The twins’ lack of fight was only making him angrier—and somehow emptier at the same time. He grabbed Ethan again.

“You ~babysat~ her for fuck’s sake! And how in the hell did you think this would work? She’ll be a laughingstock—the town whore!”

“~Don’t~,” Ethan growled, finally giving him a reaction.

“Don’t ~what~, huh?” Ezra taunted, shoving Ethan’s chest, but the bastard didn’t even do him the courtesy of flinching. “~You’re~ the one who made her a whore, and now you don’t want to ~hear it~?”

The only answer he got from Ethan was a fist to the face.

“She is ~not~ a whore,” Levi snapped. “And you should be ashamed of calling your sister that.”

“Me? ~I~ should be ashamed?” Enraged beyond words now, he threw himself at Levi, fists flying.

And still, neither twin fought back—at least not after that first punch where he called his sister a whore—they just took everything Ezra had to give.

Until exhausted and completely empty, he finally collapsed to the floor.

He sat with his back to the wall, his hands over his face, while the twins sat down silently on either side of him.

All of them were short of breath, and all of them had blood dripping down their faces.

At last Ezra spoke.

“Why? Why her?”

“Why Sam?” Levi shot back without looking at him.

“You’ve been my best friends my whole life. And she…she’s my little sister.”

“We’re sorry,” Levi said.

His head snapped up. “Are you? Really? Because if you are, then break up with her. Put some sense in her mind. This can’t work.”

“I’m sorry, Ezra. We can’t do that,” Ethan told him.

“Right. You ~can’t.~” Ezra shook his head before slowly pulling himself up. His swollen hand hurt, and so did his split upper lip. “Why?”

“We won’t break her heart,” Levi explained. “I’m sorry.”

“But you’ll give up our friendship?”

“You know we don’t want that. And I’m sure deep down in your heart you don’t want that either.”

Levi’s eyes were sincere, and so were Ethan’s, and Ezra couldn’t fucking stand it.

He got to his feet. “I can’t be around you right now. I just can’t.”

“We’ll be here when you’re ready,” Ethan said. “If not for us, do it for Madison.”

Ezra just shook his head and walked out of Ethan’s trashed office.

Ezra

Can I stay with you for a few days?

Sam

Of course, you ok?

Ezra

I don’t want to talk about it now. Just don’t tell Madison I’m with you

Sam

???

Ezra

I’ll see you shortly