Chapter 100: Jake
Reid’s eyes went wide. His mouth parted slightly, an expression I’d seen maybe twice in my life. Pure, unfiltered shock.
“You’re…?” He blinked. Couldn’t finish the sentence. “You want to—”
I sighed, cutting him off. “We both won’t back off, Reid. You know it, I know it. We both want her. And we both want what’s best for her.”
He said nothing, still staring at me, unreadable.
I kept going, because the words wouldn’t stop now. “You’ve got idiots like Liam and Finn slobbering over her, and who knows what kind of assholes out there could hurt her worse. She’s—” My voice caught. “She’s perfect, Reid. Kind. Real. I don’t want some piece of shit ruining that.”
I let out another sigh, heavy, tired. “And I know we wouldn’t.”
Reid’s expression softened—not much, but enough that the shock turned into something quieter. Something dangerous in its own right.
“You want to share her,” he said finally, voice low, almost disbelieving.
A humorless laugh escaped me. “That’s if she even wants either of us.”
He didn’t blink.
I looked straight at him. “We can fight all we want, tear each other apart again, but if she says no, then that’s it. Her choice. Always.”
I swallowed hard. “But if she does want us… if she wants this...” I held his stare. “I’d rather we both go into it—than lose her. Or you.”
The silence after that was absolute.
For long minutes, Reid said nothing. Just sat there in the dark, bruised and bleeding, his jaw locked tight.
And I had to sit with what I’d just said.
To share Madeline.
To let my brother touch her, claim her, hold her—while I did too.
It sounded insane. Hell, it was insane. But the alternative? That was worse.
Watching him walk away with her and never forgiving him for it.
Doing the same to him.
Or worse—both of us driving her away for good, never seeing her again.
No.
I meant what I said.
If Madeline laughed in our faces, said we were out of our minds, or if she picked one of us and not the other—that would be the end of it. No convincing, no begging, no guilt. Her choice would be the only thing that mattered.
But deep down, under all the reason and restraint, I sure as fuck hoped she wanted me.
Or… us.
Reid broke the silence first. His voice came rough, low. “What would that even mean, Jake?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, staring at the blood drying on my knuckles. “We’d have to talk about it. Figure it out. But right now…” I let out a breath. “I think it’s better if we keep that thought between us.”
Reid’s brow lifted slightly.
“It’s clear she doesn’t have a clue,” I said. “Not really. She doesn’t know we’re into her. Hell, she barely knows what to do when one of us looks at her for too long. If we went at her with some… proposition like this, it’d scare her off.”
Reid nodded slowly, eyes on the floor. “Especially when we still don’t know what caused her panic.”
“Exactly.” I nodded back. “So everything stays the same. Work, routines, the team. Normal.” I hesitated, jaw tightening. “But…”
He looked up at me, waiting.
I swallowed hard. “If you touch her… if you get her alone, or if she looks at you the way she does…” My voice cracked slightly before I steadied it. “I’ll learn to be okay with that.”
Reid exhaled sharply, leaning back against the couch. His laugh came out more like a groan. “It’s fucking crazy,” he muttered. “Because when I picture you with her, I want to break your jaw all over again. So how the hell am I supposed to get over that?”
I shrugged, the faintest hint of a smile ghosting my mouth. “Maybe you could. If you knew it meant she was being taken care of when one of us isn’t there. That she stays in your life either way.”
That quiet hit again—thick, heavy, almost like the room was holding its breath with us.
Then Reid nodded once.
And after a while, again.
He didn’t need to speak.
I knew him too well.
That was his way of saying yes.
Of agreeing to the one thing we’d never thought we’d share.
Madeline.
After yet another long stretch of silence, Reid finally shook his head, the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“Trouble,” he muttered.
I huffed out a short, tired laugh. “Yeah,” I said. “Trouble.”
That was it. No more words. No more punches.
We both stood, bodies aching, faces throbbing, and went our separate ways up the stairs. The quiet between us wasn’t hostile anymore—just hollow, drained, like we’d burned through everything we had to give.
My muscles screamed with every step. My thoughts were worse.
I don’t remember the last time we fought like that.
And I sure as hell don’t remember what it was over.
But back then, we weren’t this strong. Back then, we didn’t have the kind of force that could break bones. It was only the fact that we’re brothers—twins—that kept us from completely destroying each other tonight.
I collapsed onto my bed, still in the same bloodstained shirt, and stared up at the ceiling until the edges of it blurred.
I thought about Madeline.
The way she’d looked at me. The way she’d said my name, soft and unsure. The heat of her skin under my hands. The way every line of her felt like it was drawn just to undo me.
Then I forced myself—forced myself—to think of Reid touching her. His hands on her hips. His mouth near her ear. Her fingers tangled in his shirt.
I played it in my head, over and over, until the nausea turned into anger, then dulled into something I could live with. Something heavy and manageable.
Until the jealousy was down to a low, slow simmer.
Until I could stomach the idea of her with him.
So yeah. I didn’t sleep. Not one fucking bit.