Page 10 of Unfolding Ethan

YES!

“No, Ethan,” I huffed. “Pfft, of course not. You broke up today and I am taking you out to cheer you up.”

“Are you trying to kidnap me, Ms. Sharma?”

Instead of the perfect pronunciation of ‘Sharma,’ Americans or in fact every non-Indian pronounced it like ‘Shawr-mah,’ but I stopped correcting them ages ago.

I winked. “Why, yes, of course, Mr. Kane. I’m going to take you to my warehouse and ravish your chiseled body.”

His eyes darkened with swirls of emotion and I could feel the temperature in the room increase as my heart pounded in my chest.

How to make things awkward by Kiara Sharma Volume III.

“Uh-huh, sure.” He cleared his throat. “But what about dinner?”

I resisted the urge to spread my legs and give him a knowing smirk, saying, ‘Dig in.’

I needed a glass of water. Holy water would do.

My cheeks and neck warmed, his eyes dropping to my neck, probably wondering why I was so flushed. I let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t worry about it, E. Dinner’s on me. I’ll wait outside.”

I slid off the desk and tried not to sniff his musky cologne when I walked by him and closed the door behind me. My legs were shaking and I pressed my hands on my cheeks, forcing them to cool off.

“I’m just a hormonal teenager going through a phase,” I muttered to myself and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water.

If I was this nervous right now, then what would happen when we got there.And spend the night alone? Pressed against each other?I shook my head. I couldn’t let that happen. Ethan was my best friend.

Three

Taking Farts on Heart

Ethan

One thing was clear, Kiara was acting weird.

She was fidgeting with her T-shirt in my room to take me God knows where and the way she couldn’t look me in the eyes, I knew something was wrong.Why was she so nervous? Is it me? Wait, do I stink?

I frowned because I had showered after the practice and did apply cologne and deodorant. I didn’t stink. Then why was my presence making her nervous?

I was about to ask her if she was feeling uncomfortable around me when the car came to a stop. She changed the gear and grinned at me with her wide brown eyes with flecks of gold shining in them. Her eyes wereso fucking beautiful. And just like that, I forgot all my worries.

“We are here!”

I smiled and couldn’t help my eyes when they dropped to her brother’s T-shirt and the denim shorts that gave me a perfect, gorgeous view of her golden legs. Shit, I really couldn’t stop staring at her. Her face, her fumbling hands, her dimples, her eyes, her hair, the cute little mole on the left thigh . . .her!

No, no, no. I shook my head to clear the fog in my brain and got out of the car.Kiara is my best friend. I can’t think about those things right now. Maybe the breakup is taking a toll on me. Hmm, that’s the only reason.

The cold breeze kissed my bare skin. Palm trees moved with the wind and my eyes landed on the farmhouse. It was Ryan’s manor and our all-time favorite hangout spot as it had a swimming pool big enough for Kiara’s Indian family. It was a white manor with big white pillars on each side and huge door that would open up to the spacious foyer and luxurious interior.

I remembered when I was eleven, I had tried to climb one of the palm trees and fell, getting my shoulder dislocated. I couldn’t remember anything afterward because I had blacked out from the pain, but I did remember the crying face of Kiara when she scolded me for even thinking about climbing the tree. I didn’t tell her that I did it because she wanted to drink coconut water from one of the juicy coconuts that were hanging low.

“Don’t smile like that, E,” she said. “I know what you’re thinking. God, you were an idiot.”

“I can still get the coconuts, you know?”

Her eyes narrowed at me and I was surprised to see that she was angry. “No, you won’t because I won’t let you.”

I watched her open the back door of the car to take out the paper bags of our fast food. She slammed the car door, walking toward the manor by herself, and I didn’t miss the small stomping of her feet.What happened?

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