Page 97 of Ethan

The more I thought about it, the more I knew that deep in my heart, I wanted that too. Except, I'd realized it too late. The damage had been done.

I hoisted myself into the camper and went into the bedroom. My sexuality had bloomed in here. My craving for a male lover's body. Ethan had eased me into it. Hadn't rushed me.

He cared deeply for me.

I didn't know for sure if my age was even an issue for him.

We'd never had that talk.

My phone rang. I wasn't expecting anyone to call. My kids knew when I was camping, I didn't like to be disturbed unless it was an emergency.

It was a number I didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hi. This is Brody. Noah's fiancé. He's a friend of Ethan's. Ethan gave me your number. I have questions about your camper and what it's like to camp with kids."

Wow. That was a lot of information. Ethan had told me Brody was on the autism spectrum. I wasn't sure what that meant. Apparently, part of it meant he was very direct. No small talk.

"Sure. What questions do you have?"

"Ethan says your camper sleeps six but that two of those spots are small."

"Yes, there is a sleeping platform over the cab."

"Could a teenager fit up there?"

"Mine did. They refused to sleep side by side. My son slept on the double bed in the kitchen area. My daughter slept up top. She never complained about it being too cramped."

"That's good to hear. We're fostering two teenagers. They just moved in with us."

"Yes, Ethan told me about them."

"What kind of mileage do you get? We want to travel all over the province."

"Not good. I average about eight to ten kilometres per litre."

"Hm. Then we'll be spending a lot of time at Goldstream Campground."

"That's what I do."

"Ethan enjoyed camping with you."

I closed my eyes as tears threatened to pool. "We had a wonderful time together."

"You hurt him."

I swallowed—hard. Ethan had been talking about what I did. "I didn't mean to."

"You should fix it. When I see him, he looks like he's in pain."

Fuck.

Blunt honesty. There was something to be said for that.

"The age difference turned out to be too much."

"Ethan doesn't think so. He loves you."

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