Page 25 of Faking the Play

“A date?” My stomach twisted uncomfortably.

“Yeah, it’s my turn to take you on a couple dates, so we could talk about what you want to do or where to go.”

His words came like a punch to the gut. Ryan didn’t want to go on another date with me. Less than a day after we had sex, he decided he’d had enough. I wouldn’t have thought Ryan was the sort of guy who’d dump a girl when he got what he wanted, but it had been seven years since the four of us had really known each other. He could’ve changed. Hell, I hadn’t thought the three of them would abandon me the moment they got a taste of popularity and yet that’s what happened.

I rolled my beer between my hands, staring at it so I didn’t need to look at Ethan. “So…Ryan and I aren’t going out again.”

“Would you rather go out with him again?” Ethan suddenly looked uncertain and I hated that I’d done that to him. “We didn’t really talk about what would happen if you decided—”

“It’s not that,” I cut in. “Going out with you will be really nice.”

“‘Really nice’ isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement,” he said.

“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his knee for a moment. “I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t want to go out with you too.”

“Okay, then we need to talk about what’s going on,” he said, “because you’ve got me worried. Ryan said things went good with you guys yesterday, but did something happen after that?”

I shook my head, taking a drink to avoid talking for as long as I could, but Ethan was surprisingly patient.

“You can trust me, Amelia,” he said quietly. “We told each other secrets all the time when we were kids. Hell, you know more about me than anyone but Logan and Ryan.”

He was right. He always seemed like the guy who just coasted along without a care in the world, but his childhood hadn’t been a good one. That easygoing attitude wasn’t because he didn’t care. It was a defense mechanism. It had been talking to him growing up that first got me interested in psychology.

But if Ryan had changed, then Logan and Ethan could’ve changed too. No matter how sweet they’d been, I didn’t really know the sort of men they’d grown into. Not really.

“I can’t,” I said finally. “Not because I don’t trust you to not say anything, but because I’m still working it all out in my head.”

“If you need to go do that instead of helping me, that’s okay,” Ethan said. “You’ve already given me a lot to work with.”

I shook my head. “No, I want to help. And it’s good for me to get out of my head. Maybe it’ll help me come at it from a different angle.”

“Are you sure?”

“Let’s get to work.” I set down the beer.

“Okay, but how about when we’re done, we watch a movie? Get us both out of our heads and not having to think about anything complicated,” he suggested.

“You get through the presentation without flirting, and you’re on.”

Ethan put a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Amelia Fine.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Get to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

For the next hour, we worked on his speech, picking at pacing and enunciation, making sure every point was clearly made. Only after I was completely satisfied with that, and he got through the whole thing without smirking or winking at me, did I announce that he was ready.

“Pick something to watch and I’ll make some popcorn,” he said, heading for the kitchen.

A part of me wanted to know when the other guys would be back, but I didn’t want Ethan thinking I didn’t want to spend time with just him. If Ryan showed up and things were weird, I’d deal with it.

“This one? Really?” Ethan sat down next to me and stretched his arm along the back of the couch, barely touching me.

It was enough to make me very aware of it, but I didn’t ask him to move. I liked having his arm there.

“It’s a comfort movie,” I said, hitting play. “And if we get interrupted, it won’t ruin the movie.”

As the familiar scenes began to play out on the screen, I found myself leaning closer and closer to Ethan until the popcorn was forgotten and I was snuggled up against his side. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but just as the hero started giving his big inspirational speech, I found myself drifting off to sleep. Andbecause I knew I could trust Ethan, I stopped fighting and I let myself fall under.

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