Page 13 of The Holiday Disaster

I couldn’t wait.

TEN

ETHAN

I paced the small bathroom as I half-listened to my mom ramble on about our Christmas plans. After her questions of concerns for my safety were answered, she excitedly told me every dish she had planned for dinner and who was going to make it and who was not.

Our family didn’t celebrate Christmas in a religious sense, but my mom loved any excuse to have a family get together. And while I was happy to see my extended family again, they were the last thing on my mind right now.

My heart was still thrumming a thousand beats a minute, and my face felt like it would combust at any moment.

It had happened again. The almost kiss.

The first time could have been a mistake. We were caught up in the moment and moving on instinct instead of our true desires. But twice in one night? Even with being as inexperienced as I was in relationships, I knew what it meant.

What shocked me even more was that Kingsley was bisexual. He’d dated numerous people in the past, but I’d never seen him bring a guy around. Did he go off to college and experiment? That thought left a sour taste in my mouth, and I tried to focus back on the present.

Heactuallywanted to kiss me.

Me!

The nerdy boy next door. His best friend’s younger brother. The person I thought he’d hated. And I had no idea what to do with all that information.

Did I want to kiss him? My face heated up even more when I recalled the way he licked his plump lips while he was under me. It stirred up something in me that I had refused to acknowledge. The same feelings I’d pushed down the first time I saw Kingsley playing basketball shirtless in middle school. He’d gotten drenched from the broken water fountain and had decided that playing shirtless on the hot day was perfectly acceptable, especially since it was just my brother and me there.

I didn’t want to be there, of course. I had no interest in sports or hanging out with Kingsley, but my parents had a doctor’s appointment and they only allowed me to stay home on the condition that I stuck to Elliott like glue. So wherever he went, I went.

That day soon became the first of many reasons on my “must avoid Kingsley” list. Reason number one, the way the sweat glistened as it slid down his golden skin was too mesmerizing to ignore.

Reason number two, when I caught him kissing a girl while walking home from school in seventh grade, a thought flashed in my mind wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

Number three, the way his butt filled his pants when he was in the “skinny jeans” phase in ninth grade had become my main fap material for the rest of the year.

Number four, the fact that as he stood there looking all handsome in his suit for prom and taking photos with a girl on his arm beside Elliot and his date, I couldn’t help but wish that I was the one on his arm and not the pretty brunette.

It was hard to forget what she looked like when the photo of the four of them lined the staircase wall at the Sharp house. Kingsley and the girl broke up before college started, but the picture remained and had become an immortalized reminder of what I couldn’t have.

“Ethan, are you listening?” Mom’s voice had me visibly jumping, and I braced against the sink counter before I tripped on the dirty clothes that I’d left thrown on the floor. I was so lost in my thoughts that I’d forgotten I was still on the phone with her.

“Yeah. Sorry, Mom. I’m just tired. It’s been a really long day.” It wasn’t a lie. If it weren’t for the adrenaline that was entirely brought upon by Kingsley, I would be dead on my feet.

“All right, sweetie. Get some rest and call me tomorrow. Love you, night.”

“Will do. Love you too,” I said before hanging up. I placed my phone on the counter as I splashed cold water on my face to calm myself.

If there was even the slightest chance that Kingsley wanted me like I wanted him, I wasn’t going to let this chance slip away. People always talked about having a holiday fling, and he could be mine. I had no delusions that I could keep Mr. Prom King forever, but a single night would be enough to fuel my fantasies for years.

“You can do this, Ethan Wang,” I said to my reflection. A good pep talk could never go wrong. I’d waltz out there with the confidence of a tiger and my eyes fixed on my prize. Who cared if I looked like a child playing dress up in Kingsley’s clothes? Confidence made that a moot point.

I quickly brushed and washed up with the toiletries the B&B provided before gathering my dirty clothes and opening the bathroom door with all the gusto I could manage.

Confidence, Ethan!

Kingsley was sitting on one of the chairs, scrolling on his phone. He looked up when I reentered the room and shot me a blinding smile. My heart started its annoying loud drumming again.

Eyes on the prize!

I returned the smile and strode toward him. He stood, and I stopped in front of him after dropping my dirty clothes over my suitcase that was by the table.

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