Isla was smiling beside me, her mint chocolate chip cone in hand, completely unaware of her dick of a boyfriend.  It took everything I had not to tell her what I overheard in the locker room. Jake's words echoed in my head, each one hitting harder than the last. But I couldn't dump all that on her. Not yet.

Not when she looked so... carefree.

I forced a bite of the strawberry ice cream I barely tasted. What the hell was I thinking? Strawberry? I should've just walked home in silence. But Isla had a way of pulling me into these little moments, making me forget—if only for a second—that there was something bigger gnawing at me.

"Psycho," I muttered under my breath, glancing sideways at her. She wasn't wrong about me being weird with my flavor choices today.

"Sorry, what was that?" she asked, flashing me a grin before licking the edge of her cone.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Just thinking you might've been right about the strawberry."

She chuckled softly, her shoulders bumping mine as we walked. I could feel her watching me out of the corner of her eye, like she was waiting for me to crack, to spill whatever was sitting heavy on my chest. But I kept my mouth shut. Isla didn't need to carry my anger at Jake. Not when things between them were already complicated enough.

We turned the corner toward our street, the ice cream parlour a small dot in the distance now. My stomach churned, my mind replaying Jake's smirk in the locker room, the way he acted like he owned the world. Like he owned her.

I clenched my jaw, the cool night air doing little to calm me down.

"So," Isla started, her voice light, probably trying to ease whatever tension she sensed, "are you gonna tell me what really happened with Jake, or should I just assume you two had a fight over who likes strawberry more?"

I stiffened, staring straight ahead, trying to ignore the way her question poked at all the anger I'd been trying to keep buried. "It's nothing, Isa."

She gave me a look, one eyebrow raised, waiting for more.

But there was no way I was telling her. Not about Jake's plans to cheat on her. Not about the disgusting way he talked about her, like she was just some obstacle to his fun. She didn't deserve that. She deserved better.

"It's fine," I repeated, my voice harder this time. "We just... don't see eye to eye. That's all."

She studied me for a beat, her ice cream almost forgotten in her hand. "You're a terrible liar, Theo."

A bitter laugh slipped out before I could stop it. She wasn't wrong. I was crap at hiding things from her. But this? This was different.

I glanced down at her, my heart twisting. She didn't need to deal with this. Jake was her boyfriend, and even though he didn't deserve her, she had to figure that out on her own. Dad's words echoed in my head: You need to be smart about this. Isla's going to see who he really is, but you can't force it.

I hated that he was right. I hated all of it.

Isla sighed, her frustration clear. "Fine. Keep your secrets, Dwyers. But I'm not stupid. I know something happened."

I stopped walking, turning to face her. "Isa, I—"

Before I could finish, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, her expression softening as she looked at the screen.

"Jake," she muttered, almost to herself, then shot me a quick glance. "I should probably... you know."

I swallowed the sour taste in my mouth and nodded, fighting the urge to tell her to ignore him. To stay with me instead. But this wasn't my place. Not yet.

"Yeah," I said, stepping back. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She hesitated for a second, like she was weighing something in her mind. Then, she nodded, her smile returning, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

She turned and walked away, phone in hand, already answering Jake's call. I watched her go, a tight knot of frustration and guilt tangling inside me.

I wanted to protect her. But I couldn't do that if she didn't know the truth.

As her figure disappeared around the corner, I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed toward home. Each step heavier than the last.

She deserves better, I reminded myself. And when the time came, I'd make sure she knew exactly what that looked like.

****

The sky was already dimming, casting long shadows across the pavement as I made my way down the street.

I swiped to answer, bringing the phone to my ear. "Hey."

"Hey, babe," he replied, his voice smooth but lacking its usual warmth. "What're you up to?"

"Just heading home," I said, trying to keep my tone light. "I heard about you and Theo at practice. What happened?"

There was a beat of silence before he let out a small, dismissive laugh. "Nothing. Just the usual. You know how Theo gets sometimes."

I frowned, his words brushing over the situation like it was no big deal. "Theo seemed pretty upset when I saw him."

Jake sighed, irritation creeping into his voice. "It's not a big deal, Isla. We're guys. We argue. End of story."

The tightness in my chest flared again, that gnawing feeling that something wasn't right. Before I could push further, a voice in the background caught my attention—a female voice, laughing. It was faint but unmistakable.

"Jake?" I asked, my heart sinking a little. "Who's that?"

There was a pause, followed by a muffled sound, like he was covering the phone. Then, he came back, his voice too casual. "Oh, that? That's my cousin. She's visiting for a few days."

Something about the way he said it didn't sit right, but I forced myself to push it aside. "Your cousin?"

"Yeah, listen, I gotta go," he added quickly, cutting off my next question. "I'll call you later, okay?"

Before I could respond, the line went dead, leaving me standing there, staring at my phone. My stomach twisted, a strange mix of doubt and frustration bubbling up inside me.

Why was he being so dismissive? And why did it feel like there was more to this than he was letting on?

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and continued walking, my mind spinning.

I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, the warmth of home instantly wrapping around me. The sounds of my little brother, Matteo, playing his video game in the living room reached my ears, and I smiled despite myself. Mom's voice echoed from the kitchen, humming some tune she probably heard on the radio earlier. It was comforting, this normalcy. But it didn't stop the swirl of thoughts in my head.

"Matteo, you're going to fry your brain if you keep playing that," I teased as I passed by, ruffling his hair.

He barely glanced up, engrossed in whatever world he was conquering this time. "Don't care. I'm almost at level twenty."

I rolled my eyes, slipping my shoes off before heading into the kitchen. Mom was chopping vegetables for dinner, the rhythmic sound of her knife hitting the cutting board soothing in a way that made the tension in my shoulders ease a little.

"Hey, Mom," I said, leaning against the counter.

"Hey, honey," she replied without looking up, but her tone was warm, familiar. "Everything okay? You've got that look."

I groaned internally. "Do I really look that obvious?"

She smiled, finally pausing her chopping to give me her full attention. "To a mother? Yes. Spill."

I hesitated, leaning back against the counter, crossing my arms. "It's nothing big... Just, Jake and Theo had a fight at practice, and neither of them wants to tell me what actually happened. Jake says it's no big deal, but Theo... I don't know. He's been weird."

Mom's brows knitted together. "Weird how?"

"I don't know... It's like he's holding something back. Like he's trying to protect me from something but won't actually talk about it." I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. "It's driving me crazy."

Mom gave me a knowing smile, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "That's Theo for you. Always trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. But honey, you know how he is. If he's not ready to talk, you can't force it out of him."

"I know," I mumbled. "It's just... I don't like being left in the dark. And Jake... I don't know, something feels off there too."

Her eyes softened, and she stepped closer, squeezing my arm gently. "Trust your instincts, Isla. They're usually right."

I nodded, though my mind was still spinning. "I just hate feeling like I don't know what's going on. Theo won't tell me anything, and Jake's being weird. It's like I'm the last person to know what's actually happening."

Mom sighed, moving closer to rest a comforting hand on my arm. "Theo's protective of you. He always has been. Maybe he's keeping quiet because he doesn't want to hurt you or stir up trouble."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier," I muttered. "It's like I'm stuck between them, and neither of them will tell me the truth."

Mom gave me a small, understanding smile. "You'll figure it out, honey. You always do. In the meantime, maybe take your mind off things? Your dad will be back from Madrid in a week."

I blinked. Right. The team dad coaches, finishes the prelims tomorrow, so he's coming back home. I'd almost forgotten with everything going on. "Yeah," I said, forcing a smile. "That'll be nice."

She nodded, giving me a quick squeeze on the arm before returning to her chopping. "In the meantime, try not to overthink it too much. Sometimes things have a way of sorting themselves out."

"Thanks, Mom," I said softly, though her words didn't entirely chase away the unease gnawing at me.

I headed upstairs, my thoughts still circling around Jake's dismissiveness and that girl's voice in the background. Was I overreacting? Or was there something more going on that neither Jake nor Theo wanted to tell me?