Chapter 29
Cole
We need to talk to her.
That’s been clear since Marco kissed her two nights ago. Since the arrest. Since everything shifted from “protecting Rachel from danger” to “figuring out what the hell we’re doing now that the danger’s gone.”
Theo and I are in the kitchen when Marco gets home from the station. He looks tired—Ryan’s case is moving through the system, and Marco’s been dealing with lawyers and prosecutors and paperwork for days.
“Where’s Rachel?” Marco asks.
“Upstairs with Tommy. Bedtime routine.” I lean against the counter. “We need to talk. All four of us.”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight.” Theo stands up from the table. “Before we lose our nerve.”
Marco nods slowly. “Yeah. Okay.”
We wait for Rachel to come downstairs for twenty minutes. She’s in sleep shorts and a tank top, hair pulled back, looking more relaxed than she has in weeks.
“Tommy’s out,” she says. “He was asking about when Dorothy’s coming to visit again. I told him—” She stops when she sees all three of us standing in the living room. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” I say. “Sit down?”
Her expression shifts to cautious. “That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not. It’s just important.” I gesture to the couch.
She sits. We arrange ourselves around the room—me in the armchair, Theo on the couch beside her, Marco standing near the fireplace like he needs to stay mobile.
“You’re freaking me out,” Rachel says. “What is this?”
“This is us being honest,” Theo says. “About what’s happening here. About what we want.”
“Okay.” She looks between the three of us. “I’m listening.”
I take the lead because someone has to. “We’ve been avoiding this conversation. All of us. Because there was always something more urgent, fires, investigations, keeping you safe. But now that Ryan’s arrested and the immediate danger is over, we can’t avoid it anymore.”
“Avoid what?”
“This.” Marco gestures among all of us. “The fact that we all have feelings for you. And you have feelings for all of us.”
Rachel’s face flushes. “I don’t—”
“Don’t lie,” Theo says gently. “We know. You’ve been with Cole. You’ve been with me. You kissed Marco.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. Then: “What are you saying?”
“We’re saying we want you,” I tell her. “All of us. And we’re okay with sharing.”
“Sharing.” She repeats the word, as if testing it. “You want to share me.”
“We want to be with you,” Marco corrects. “However, that looks. The three of us and you. Together.”
“That’s insane.”
“Maybe.” Theo shifts closer to her. “But it’s what we want. What we’ve always done when it matters.”
Rachel looks at him. “What do you mean, always?”
“We’ve shared before,” I explain. “Three years ago. A woman named Samantha. It worked for a while. Then it didn’t, but that was because of other reasons. Not because the sharing was the problem.”
“So, this is just what? Your default relationship structure?”
“No.” Marco’s voice is firm. “Samantha was different. With her, it was physical. Casual. Nobody caught real feelings. But you?” He moves closer. “This isn’t casual. This is real.”
“We’re not asking you to choose,” Theo adds. “We’re asking you to consider that maybe you don’t have to.”
Rachel’s hands are shaking. “People would—they’d say terrible things. About me. About you. About Tommy growing up in a house with three men and one woman.”
“We don’t care what people say,” I tell her. “We care about you. About making this work.”
“But Jake—”
“Jake’s going to lose his mind,” Theo admits. “Probably threaten to kill all three of us. Maybe actually try.”
“Which is why we need to tell him,” Marco says. “Eventually. When he gets back from Alaska. When things are more settled.”
“And in the meantime?”
“In the meantime, we figure this out,” Theo says. “The four of us. We learn how to make this work. How to be together without it being weird or uncomfortable or—”
“It’s already weird,” Rachel interrupts. “It’s been weird since I moved in. Since I started having feelings for all of you, and not knowing what to do about it.”
“Then stop fighting it,” Marco says quietly. “Stop questioning whether it’s wrong or selfish or whatever else you’ve been telling yourself. Just let it be what it is.”
She looks at each of us in turn. “And what is it?”
“It’s four people who care about each other,” I say. “Four people trying to build something that works for all of them. It’s unconventional, yeah. But it’s real.”
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You’re already doing it,” Theo points out. “You’ve been doing it for weeks. We’re just making it official.”
“Official.” She laughs, but it sounds strained. “How do you make something like this official?”
“We commit,” I say simply. “We agree that this is what we want. We work through the complications together. We protect each other. We’re honest with each other.”
“And Jake?”
“Jake gets told when the time is right,” Marco says. “But Rachel? That conversation is going to happen whether you’re ready or not. Better to be united when it does.”
She’s quiet for so long, I start to worry she’s going to say no. Going to tell us this is too much, too complicated, too everything.
Then she says, “I’m scared.”
“Of what?” Theo asks.
“Of this, not working. Of Jake hating all of us. Of Tommy growing up confused about what family looks like. Of people in this town making my life hell when they find out.” She looks at me. “Of losing all three of you because I’m too greedy to pick just one.”
“You’re not greedy,” I tell her. “You’re just capable of loving more than one person. That’s not a character flaw. That’s just who you are.”
“Is it?” Her voice breaks slightly. “Because I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was supposed to find one person.
Build one life. Be satisfied with one relationship.
And now I’m sitting here with three men telling me I don’t have to choose, and I don’t know if that makes me brave or selfish or just broken. ”
“You’re not broken.” Theo takes her hand. “You’re perfect. Exactly as you are.”
“We’re not asking you to decide tonight,” Marco adds. “We’re just asking you to consider it. To stop fighting what you feel and start accepting it.”
She looks at our joined hands. At the three of us watching her with varying degrees of hope and determination.
“Okay,” she says finally. “I’ll think about it. But I’m not making any promises. And I’m definitely not telling Jake until I figure out what I’m even saying.”
“Fair enough.” I stand up. “But Rachel? We meant what we said. All of us. This isn’t a game. This isn’t temporary. We want you. For as long as you’ll have us.”
She doesn’t respond. Just nods and disappears upstairs.
The three of us stand in the living room, processing what just happened.
“Think she’ll say yes?” Theo asks.
“She already said yes,” Marco observes. “She’s just scared to admit it.”
Two weeks later
Jake’s flight lands tomorrow. He texted yesterday with his arrival time, excited to see Tommy and check on me.
Now I’m staring at this email and realizing he’s going to walk into a nightmare.
Rachel’s at the kitchen table with her laptop when I come downstairs for my morning coffee.
She’s been job hunting more seriously lately. Ryan’s arrest vindicated her completely—no more “jinx” narrative, no more people avoiding her at Tommy’s school, no more whispered comments about bad luck. She’s finally free to rebuild her life.
I’m pouring coffee when I hear it. Small sound. Half gasp, half sob.
I turn around. “Rachel?”
She’s staring at her laptop screen, face completely white.
“What’s wrong?”
“Derek.” Her voice is barely a whisper. “He filed the custody motion.”
I’m beside her in three steps. “What?”
She turns the laptop so I can see. Email from a law firm. Attached PDF. Legal letterhead.
Motion for Emergency Custody Modification.
Petitioner: Derek Matthews
Respondent: Rachel Morgan
I scan the document. It’s brutal. Methodical. Every weak point in Rachel’s life was laid out as evidence.
Respondent has been present at three separate fire incidents within three weeks, demonstrating a pattern of instability and poor judgment.
Respondent is currently unemployed and has been unable to secure stable employment for over two months.
Respondent is currently residing with three unrelated adult males, creating an inappropriate and potentially unsafe environment for the minor.
Viral video evidence shows the Respondent in states of distress and panic, raising questions about mental fitness for primary custody.
“He’s using everything,” Rachel whispers. “The fires. The unemployment. You guys. He’s using all of it.”
“Rachel—”
“He’s going to win.” Her hands shake. “He’s going to take Tommy. I’m going to lose my son because I’m living with three men, and I was unlucky enough to be at three fires, and I can’t find a job, and—”
Her breath hitches. Full panic attack starting.
“Look at me.” I crouch in front of her. “He’s not taking Tommy. This is Derek being desperate. We’ll fight this.”
“How? He’s right about everything.” Tears stream down her face. “What judge is going to look at my life right now and think I’m a stable parent?”
I don’t have an answer.
Because she’s right, on paper, Rachel’s life looks like chaos. And Derek’s lawyers know exactly how to use that.