Page 13 of Off Season

“Go and enjoy yourself. Don’t let it pass you by; you will only live to regret it,” my brother repeats my own words back to me and winks before giving Ethan his best scowl. “If you don’t take care of him, though, I’ll set Blaine on you.”

“Oh, I’m quaking in my boots,” Ethan deadpans, but his lips curve in a smile. “I will, don’t worry.”

Chewing on the corner of my lip, I mull it over. It’s too big of a decision for me to make here and now, but there’s something in my gut telling me to go. I can’t remember the last time I did something so…adventurous.

I turn to Ethan. He’s looking at me with a mix of apprehension and hope. I want to say yes so badly, but I need to be sensible.

“I’ll think about it and let you know. I need to make sure everything will be okay here.”

He nods understandingly.

“I understand, thank you.”

As he moves to leave, we both realize my hand’s still on his arm. I forgot all about it, and I rush to remove it as Ethan just smirks, looking at me.

I instantly miss touching him, and from the look in his eyes, I’m pretty sure he knows it.

“You!” I point an accusatory finger at Blaine. “What did you do?”

“Me?” A sly grin spreads across his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Placing my hands on my hips, I walk further into the apartment, narrowing my eyes with every step. “You know very well what you did.”

Alex snorts behind me as I stalk closer toward Blaine, causing him to scramble to his feet and shift behind the couch. His eyes dart between me and where Alex is in the kitchen, slight worry lining his forehead.

“You’re gonna have to fill me in because I haven’t done anything.” He nudges Ernie, waving his hand in my direction. “Ernie, protect me.”

“If you haven’t done anything, why do you need Ernie to protect you?”

We end up circling the couch. Ernie follows us, bouncing excitedly across the cushions, his pink tongue lolling to the side.

I scowl at Blaine, then look at the dog. “Ernie, get him.”

Blaine trips on the corner of the rug, and that’s all the encouragement Ernie needs. He pounces off the couch and starts tugging on Blaine’s sock.

“Ernie! You’re supposed to be protecting me, not taking his side!” Blaine whines. He tries to shove the puppy away, then yelps when Ernie’s tiny puppy teeth catch his toes.

“Ernie knows not to interfere in things.” I cross my arms over my chest.

Alex chokes on his water, coughing and spluttering between fits of laughter. “Trust me,” he croaks. “He interferes a lot.”

I cast a glare at my brother before looking back at Blaine. He picks himself up off the floor, scooping the puppy into his arms and tickling his belly.

“I’m assuming a certain cranky captain came to see you today.”

“Yes, he did. He told me all about yourbrilliantidea. I was doing fine crushing on him in secret, Blaine! Why’d you have to go and put ideas in his head?”

“Look, I thought it was a good idea. Ethan needs help. You need a vacation. Throw in the fact you have a crush on him, and ta-da!” He does one-handed jazz hands. “You’ve got yourself a British summer romance. It’ll be like in that movie,The Holiday, but set in summer instead of Christmas, and neither of you are British.”

“It’s nothing like the movie at all,” Alex laughs.

With zero fight left in me, I drop onto the couch and cover my face with my hands, letting out a silent scream into my palms.

I hate the fact that he’s right. I can’t even remember the last time I went on a vacation. It was probably when I was in high school and our grandparents took me and Alex to a cabin in Wisconsin.

Hell, I’ve never been on an airplane before. I only havea passport because I applied for one when I opened the bakery.

I don’t even know why. There was just something in my gut telling me I’d need it one day.

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