Page 31 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

Heat flooded through me. "You mean... you mean their sex life?"

His expression stone-like, he nodded, his jaw so tight, a muscle in there clenched. "From an anonymous source close to the couple. Of course."

"God, I feel sick. That's disgusting."

Ethan sat quietly next to me while my head swirled with this latest news, especially because scenes from our lackluster sex life bombarded my brain like a movie montage. Well, more likemylackluster sex life.

Chase had always reached the finish line, flopped back on the bed, and looked at me, gushing, "Was that as good for you as it was for me?" I'd never had the heart to say, "No. No, it actually wasn't." Because I'd been madly in love and hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings.

I'd tried like crazy to make things better, introducing toys—which he declined to use—then trying different positions, even different places. But it was always a no.

And now he'd found that spark with Hannah?

My God, was it me? Was it something lacking within me?

"Hey," Ethan said, jolting me from my unwelcome thoughts. "Everything okay?"

"No. Everything's not okay." While I would never spill all of my inner turmoil to Ethan, I could at least admit that I was lessthan okay. "This is pure misery seeing these articles come out. And you know what? Taking the high road really sucks."

He leaned back, assessing me with those sharp eyes. "Oh, yeah? What would you really like to do about it? If there were absolutely no restrictions, what would you do to Chase?"

"I—I..." WhatdidI want to do?

"Really. Just tell me. In the middle of the night, when you're all alone and thinking about all this shit, what do you fantasize about doing to Chase?" He waited a beat before adding, "And don't worry. I'm not going to judge you."

He had no idea what it meant to hear those words... "I'm not going to judge you." It seemed like everyone and their mother judged me these days, and I despised it.

"You know what I'd do?" I finally said, meeting Ethan's curious gaze. "I'd cut his dick off."

Ethan burst out laughing, those dimples on full display, the sound of his merriment contagious, making me laugh as well. When was the last time I'd truly laughed like this with another person? It felt incredible. And weird.

"And I'd also tell the world how he sucks in bed," I added.

The laughter faded, and Ethan's eyes narrowed at me. "Sucks... you mean he did a sucking thing or he's bad in bed?"

I wished he'd done some kind of sucking thing. I would have been thrilled with anything really that was halfway decent. "He's the absolute worst in bed." Holding up a hand, I began to tick off fingers. "Lazy, selfish, unimaginative, boring, and fast."

With each word, Ethan's brows had gone up a notch. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Really?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately. Two whole years of shitty sex for me. Woohoo." I twirled a finger in the air, a little shocked at myself for admitting all this to Ethan, of all people.

"And you were going to marry this guy? Why?"

"Because I thought I loved him. And... and I thought that part would get better with time." I shrugged. "And if everything else was good, that so-so sex didn't really matter."

"Are you sure about that?Everything elsewas good?"

The way he said it made me think back over our entire relationship, wondering if I'd gaslighted myself into thinking that everything was wonderful. Was that a possibility? Could a person gaslight themselves?

"I think so?" I eventually said, suddenly tired, the toll of this situation weighing heavily on me. "At least it seemed like it at the time."

Ethan watched me, awareness sparking in the air between us. People had been looking at me all my life, assessing me, my clothes, my hair, my entire outward package. But it seemed like no one really saw me. Not my former fiancé. Not even my family really.

But Ethan? There was something different about his gaze, something I couldn't define, something I hadn't experienced before.

"You're Aria fucking Stratton," he said. "You should never have to settle."

I sat back, stunned, my mouth hanging open at his words.

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