Page 72 of Every Beautiful Mile

“That’s so funny, Dad—” Derek starts.

“Dad,” Ethan interrupts, “is starving.”

Derek’s chin pulls back as he looks at him, then shrugs.

“If only we knew somewhere to get a burger in this town,” Austin chimes in, tapping a finger against his chin.

Marin eyes him curiously as she dries off with a towel.

I brace for impact.

“Dad owns Mainely Local, and they’ve got the best burgers around,” Austin offers.

Marin’s eyebrows shoot to the sky, and she gives me a look.

“Oh, does he now?”

Saw that coming.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ethan says beside me. “No need to suck up. Burgers it is. Derek, this van know how to get us there?”

With so many thoughts bouncing into each other in my skull I can barely think straight, Marin and I climb in the van first and sit in the far back seats.

“Mom!” she whispers as soon as we sit down. “That—” She points her finger toward the back of Ethan’s head in the row ahead of us. “—is who you were with last night?!”

I cringe. “Shh! Yes, okay,” I say as quietly as I can, bending down slightly to get farther away from him. “Nothing happened.”

“Why not? He’s far from a greasy guy with bad teeth. That guy is obsessed with you! He couldn’t get enough of you in that bathing suit.”

She makes the motion of cat claws scratching through the air.

“You’re grounded for this, first of all,” I hiss at her as I pull at the strap of my suit while struggling to keep my voice low. “And he is not obsessed with me. He’s… I don’t know what he is. Confused. Complicated. A walking red flag. Obsessed with anything with a vagina—not me.”

“Mom, you should go on a date with him. C’mon. Just try it out, go out to dinner, get dressed up, have some fun. You know Finn and I don’t care, right? Plus, we’re like a million miles away from home. It’s a good way to practice dating without having to do the walk of shame in front of people you know.”

She is dead serious in her whisper voice.

“Marin!” I croak. “No. We are not having this conversation, and we are not going on a date, and what the hell do you even know about walks of shame? Jesus Christ! You and I need to have a long talk about these books you’re reading when we get home.” My throat burns from whispering.

“Hey,” Ethan’s deep voice says from above. “You don’t have to whisper.”

I look up to see his annoying face and groan into my hands.

“I won’t make you beg, Penelope. If you want me to take you on a date, I will.”

Ethan is a smug bastard.

“No!” I yell at the same time Marin blurts, “Absolutely she would!”

“Marin. No. Ethan, thank you for asking and for trying to… whatever.” I gesture toward Marin. “But this is…” I wave my hands and bang my fingers loudly on the metal ceiling of the van. “Ridiculous.”

“Ignore her. She’ll be ready by six.” Marin holds up a hand, palm facing me. “No more words, Mom. You’re going.”

Ethan’s smile is instant, triumphant, and annoying as hell.

When Derek parks in front of the familiar restaurant, Ethan waits for me outside the van.

“Look, if you don’t want to go out tonight, I won’t make you go. But Marin is right.” He leans in close, like he’s going to kiss me, but his face slides around to my ear where he whispers, “I am kind of obsessed with you.”

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