Page 2 of The Holiday Disaster

I thought I’d imagined it, that my brain had conjured some kind of strange comfort before my epic demise, but the seconds stretched by, andhistouch continued to support my body as I was held up by his solid muscles.

Having his warm arms surrounding me, protecting me, felt so much better in real life than it did in my dreams, which only made me want to push him off of me even more. But it wasn’t like I could bitch him out after he’d basically saved my life.

Instead, I came to a compromise with myself and settled with the acknowledgement of his presence. If my voice sounded breathier than usual, it had to be because I was still recovering from the near-death experience and nothing else…

“Kingsley,” I said as I twisted my head around to face him. Like every other time he was within hearing distance of me, my lungs failed to work at the sight of how annoyingly beautiful he was with his sparkling blue eyes, chiseled features, and silky brown locks that only made me want to run my fingers through them.

“You all right, Ethan?” His gruff voice tickled my ears, warming them as the heat slowly traveled to my cheeks.

Fuck, why did my body always act this way toward him?

TWO

KINGSLEY

“Watch out,” I said as I shot out of my seat. I wrapped my arms around his waist, steadying him before he cracked his skull open.

My heart was already thrumming double time as I watched him almost drop his suitcase on his head, and it was just as shocking when he gasped out my name in his melodic voice. His warmth seeping into my skin only made me want to melt into him, and I had to tense my muscles so that I wasn’t in danger of falling alongside with him.

“You all right, Ethan?”

Was my voice croaky? I cleared my throat, hoping the frog that was stuck there would clear itself out. I wanted to be someone he could rely on, but that was hard to do when those soulful brown eyes bore into mine. Feelings that I shouldn’t be having for him, especially considering he was my best friend’s younger brother, resurfaced from where I’d shoved them down deep.

I pushed his suitcase all the way into the overhead bin and closed the now-full bin for good measure. With how heavy that thing was, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if it had accidentally fallen out and cracked a skull.

With that done and after making sure Ethan was stable on his feet again, I fought the urge of pulling him further into my arms and released him as I got back into my seat by the window. Ethan gave me a contemplative glance before following me into his own aisle seat. He took off his winter coat, leaving it on his lap as he placed his backpack by his feet. We were lucky to have gotten one of those two-seater rows on the plane so that we didn’t have anyone sitting in between us.

I knew he was going to be on the same flight as me. I’d seen him walking around Gate five before slipping into the bathroom until the plane had begun boarding. He was either avoiding me as he usually did, or he had to take care of his business.

I didn’t follow him even when he didn’t return twenty minutes later since nobody should be disturbed when they were on the holy throne. But after almost an hour and still no sight of him, I knew he was hiding from me again.

When they started boarding, I was about to fetch him—the awkwardness be damned since I wasn’t about to let him miss our flight home—but returned to my spot when I saw him slip into the end of the line.

What I didn’t expect was for us to be seated together on the plane. If this wasn’t fate, I didn’t know what was.

My heart was silently screaming at this uninterrupted chance to get to know him better, without the possibility of him running away like he would have in the past. We’d have a full five straight hours next to one another, and I was sure I could get him to open up to me during that time.

“Thanks for, uh, saving me,” Ethan said, his voice back to the familiar stiffness he had whenever he was talking to me. I missed the sweet tone he used when he called out my name earlier. The distance between us was something I hoped to breach, and the current situation was definitely not conducive for that.

“No worries. But man, that thing was heavy. What do you have in there, textbooks?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood in hopes that he would feel more comfortable around me.

Ethan had always been shy. My family moved in next to his when I was ten, and I’d become fast friends with Elliott, Ethan’s older brother. Ethan, on the other hand, made friends with my younger sister with their shared love of animals. Over the years, he’d often come around our place to hang out.

I thought that was the chance to get to know the younger kid next door. Instead, he had become more wary of me and that only made me want to try even harder even though all my attempts thus far had been absolutely futile. For whatever reason, I’d always managed to ruffle his feathers, even when I wanted to be nice.

“What’s wrong with textbooks? Studying is good for you, you know? Maybe you should try it sometime,” he grumbled.

He crossed his arms, his cheeks puffing out in a way that made me want to chuckle at how cute he looked. But I knew from previous experience that if it even sounded like I was making fun of him, he would immediately shut down and start ignoring me.

I didn’t want that. I’d been waiting for this chance for years and wasn’t about to screw it up because of my stupidity.

“I agree. Studyingisgood for you. You’re gonna be a great vet in the future.” I looked him in the eye, hoping that I was able to convey my sincerity instead of sounding like I was teasing him.

“How do you know I want to become a vet?” Ethan returned my gaze with a brow raised in surprise. When he raised his brow like that, it flattened the small crease on his eye and exposed the tiny mole he had on his right eyelid.

Ethan and Elliott looked pretty similar with their soft features and slim builds, though Elliott had more muscle mass. However, I never thought Elliott was so cute that it made my heart squeeze when he was around. Elliott was like a brother to me, but I had a hard time seeing Ethan the same way…

“It’s kinda hard to miss. You and Valerie used to play vet with our pets all the time as kids,” I said, bluffing. It wasn’t actually a lie, but the real reason I knew was because I’d pestered Elliot to gain that little tidbit of information. But I wasn’t about to tell Ethan that.

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