Page 20 of Falling for Them

Ethan stopped in front of another open box and snorted. Somehow, that box had become a temporary home for a bizarre assortment of items. He reached in and pulled out a whisk with a roll of toilet paper on its handle, some of it wrapped around thewhisk part in a tangle. It was an unfortunate consequence of me spinning it on the end, trying to rewrap some of it after dropping the roll.

“Is this for a new fusion cuisine for Leo’s restaurant? A combination of two of the most essential rooms, kitchen and bathroom, side-by-side. Their world-famous faucet fajitas and shaving cream soufflé will be the talk of the town.”

My cheeks felt hot at the mention of Leo. “Always have to stay ahead of the culinary trends.” I took the whisk from him and put it on the end table.

Ethan watched me for a moment, the humor in his eyes softening into something more concerned. “How are you doing?”

“Everything’s fine. Just the usual moving chaos.” I hoped my smile looked more convincing than it felt.

Besides the stress of moving, I hadn’t told Ethan about kissing Leo and wasn’t sure if I could. A part of me wanted to spill everything about the mess of feelings I couldn’t seem to neatly pack away, but the words caught in my throat.

Ethan didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he didn’t press further. He was always good at reading me, and right then, I wasn’t ready to dive into it. Especially not with the way my heart did somersaults every time I even thought about telling him.

“Let’s get this mess under control. I’m half tempted to send a picture of it to your brother.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

“Oh my God, don’t.” I lunged for him and nearly fell over a box.

“What I’ll do is take a before photo and then an after... that way he will only freak out for a minute or two before, boom! I send him rows of neatly arranged boxes.” Ethan backed up to the entryway. “Grab that whisk toilet paper thing and lift it in the airlike you’re Libby, Warrior Packing Princess, ready to ride off into battle.”

I couldn’t stop my giggles as I grabbed the whisk and stood in the middle of my living room, one foot propped onto a box, arm in the air.

“Perfect. This is going to be your new contact photo. And now for some packing music.” Ethan put on a playlist, and we got busy packing the rest of my life into boxes.

Time flew with the company, and an hour later, we had made some serious progress. I was halfway through packing a kitchen cabinet when the unmistakable opening beats of one of Ethan’s favorite songs came on. It had only been a matter of time.

I groaned in protest before I even turned around to find Ethan already swept up in the choreography. He pointed at me, his teeth bared before making monster hands and jerkily moving toward me.

“Nope!” I escaped around the other side of the island.

The grin he shot me didn’t bode well for me. “Oh, come on! It’s a sin not to dance to this!”

I tried to suppress the smile that was fighting its way through. “We have like a gazillion more boxes to pack. I can’t stop to?—”

But he was already striding after me with determination. “Dance break now, pack later. It’s a necessity. We don’t have that much left.”

He extended his hand with a flourish as if he were a prince asking for a dance. The music’s catchy nostalgia mixed with Ethan’s undeniable energy was my undoing.

“Fine. One song, and only because it’s this one.”

We moved around, dodging boxes and laughing as Ethan’s dance moves grew more outrageous by the second. My movements were just as ridiculous.

“You’re dancing like a dad at a wedding,” I teased between laughs. He was doing it on purpose to make me laugh; he usually tore up the dance floor.

Ethan spun around so wildly that he nearly hit me in the face with his outstretched arms. As the song neared the end, he grabbed my hand and twirled me around.

I wasn’t the best dancer in the world, and the momentum of the spin caused me to trip over my own feet. I reached out for something stable to keep me from falling, but there was nothing in arm’s reach. The only thing left to do was fall into Ethan. We tumbled onto the couch, Ethan grunting as I landed on top of him.

We both lay there for a moment, our faces inches apart. Ethan’s gaze moved from my eyes to my lips and my breath caught in my throat as he brushed hair out of my face.

“Ethan,” I whispered as his fingers lingered on my cheek.

“Libby.” His voice was low and husky, and there was something in his eyes that I couldn’t quite read.

He’s in love with you.

“I kissed Leo,” I blurted.

His hand fell away, his brows furrowing. “Did you... want him to kiss you?”

---