Evan's POV
"It's not about a girl," I say automatically, but even as the words leave my mouth I know Mom won't buy it. She's too good at reading people.
"We're fine," Noah adds, but his voice lacks conviction.
Mom looks between us with laser focus. "You don't need to fight for the same girl," she says quietly. "If neither of you can leave her for the other, then she's not worth your time. Find someone else."
The words make something in my chest tighten. She doesn't understand. Lena isn't interchangeable. But I can't say that, so I stay silent.
Noah does the same.
Mom steps closer and does something she hasn't done since we were little. She pats both our heads, her hands gentle.
"I love you both so much," she says, genuine emotion breaking through. "I love it when you're good with each other, when you support each other instead of competing."
She pauses. "You remember how people always talk about admiring how you always have each other's back? Don't stop doing that. That is what makes you different from other people. That's what makes you Mercers."
Then she's gone, closing the door with a soft click. The silence presses against my eardrums.
Noah and I sit in silence for a long moment. I can hear him breathing, feel the tension, and I know we're both thinking: Mom's right. We're destroying what makes us strong.
Except that's not quite true.
"Lena is still hurt," I say finally. "She feels embarrassed that she did what she did for money. Not because she doesn't like us—I saw her face when I kissed her, Noah. She wanted it. But she's convinced herself that what happened was wrong, that she sold herself."
Noah doesn't interrupt, so I continue. "If you want her to stop avoiding us, then we need to cooperate. Actually cooperate."
"How?" Noah asks, hesitation clear in his voice.
I've been thinking about this since Marcus's advice, even though he has no idea it's a girl me and my brother likes.
"We go to her one after the other," I say. "Being with her at the same time will make her flee. She'll feel cornered. But if we approach her separately, make her believe we like her individually, not as some weird package deal, then maybe she'll listen."
Noah thinks about it, then his expression hardens. "But that doesn't give you the right to go to her and do all those things without letting me know. We're supposed to be partners in this."
Something snaps in me.
"Does that even matter?" I snap back, standing. "Does it matter who told who what, or what matters is how to make her believe we did what we did because we genuinely like her? Stop being arrogant about this, Noah. This isn't about your ego or mine. It's about Lena."
I move toward the door, needing space. But Noah's hand shoots out and grabs my arm.
"Wait," he says, voice vulnerable. "I'm worried about how we're going to tell Mom and Dad we're in love with the same girl. How do we explain that?"
I pull my arm free but don't leave. "Don't bother about that now," I say, trying to calm him and myself down. "There's something else we need to worry about first."
Noah goes still. "What do you mean?"
"How do we make her believe we didn't sleep with her for the money?" The question hangs heavy. "Because that's what she thinks, Noah. That's the core issue. She thinks we used the website as an excuse, that our feelings were just a cover story for buying her."
Noah's expression shifts as the weight settles on him. I watch him process it, see the moment he realizes I'm right.
The silence stretches, but it's different now. Not hostile, but contemplative. We're thinking together instead of against each other.
"Let's do this," Noah says finally, extending his hand. "Actually do this. Together. No more solo missions, no more hiding things, no more letting her come between us. We fix this as a team or we don't fix it at all."
I look at his hand, thinking about all the times we've shaken on things before. This feels bigger, weighted with consequences we can't predict.
But I reach out and clasp his hand anyway, and when we shake, it feels like we're making a promise that goes deeper than just winning back a girl.
We're promising to stay brothers first, no matter what happens.