Page 48 of Unfolding Ethan

“You got a phone call from him that he was bringing his parents to your house asking for your hand in marriage.” I smiled, completing her sentence.

My dad met my mom at one of her art exhibitions in Mumbai. She was from Gujarat and he was from Delhi. They fell in love at first sight and kept their relationship a secret until one day they couldn’t stay away from each other. They got married and lived together in Delhi for a few years and had my brother, Karan. They decided to move to San Diego when my mother was expecting me.

And then I grew up with Ethan; playing, eating, and sleeping with him. Soon enough, I was falling for my best friend.

I blinked back to reality when I saw Carter coming downstairs and nodding at me. He opened the fridge and asked, “Want something to drink?”

I shrugged. “Beer is good. Do you want some cookies?”

He grinned and a dimple squished his cheek when he took the biggest one and ate it. We talked about last night, and he apologized because he was being a dick by flirting with me and would have made me sleep in his room because I was reeking of tequila. He was a good guy, a player, but he would rather make sure I was okay than try to get in my pants. I flushed and apologized for my bluntness, which came with the alcohol, and he ruffled my hair, saying it was all right and winked at the hickey when we stepped out in the backyard.

“Hey, Carter,” one of Ryan’s girl friends called him from the beach lounge chairs, “Come over here. And bring some cookies!”

I went straight to the pool, and removing my sandals, I dipped my legs in the cold water, watching Ethan and Rio argue with Volt and Samuel, who were interrupting them when they were trying to swim by playing volleyball. They started angrily splashing water at each other, and I giggled, covering my mouth, and ogled Ethan’s back. Still slightly red with my nail marks.

As soon as he noticed me, he swam toward me with a devilish glint in his mismatched green-blue eyes. His hair was wet and sleeked back, his skin darker than a golden tan, and I blushed when he looked at me like that, his eyes roving over my body.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered, standing up in the water and smoothing his hands over my legs, his fingers long and soft.

I winked. “Hey, handsome.”

Ethan blushed, his neck turning red, and I would be lying if that didn’t turn me on. He could be the hottest and cutest person in the whole room and he wouldn’t know. He kissed my knee and wrapped his arms around my legs, hugging them, and I laughed, raking my hand through his dark hair.

He lightly traced the stretch marks above my knees with his fingers and whispered, “They are so unique and . . .cute. I love them.”

He kissed them again and I shuddered when his warm breath fanned over my thigh, his cold lips pecking the stretch marks, his warm tongue peeking out as he tasted my skin, and his cold fingers brushing over my calves.

“Ethan,” I said shakily, and he looked up, his eyes hooded and swirling with so many bright and dark colors in the sunlight that I could stare at them all day and night.

He blinked out of the haze and smirked. “What? Are you we—”

“Have some cookies,” I interrupted him and lifted a cookie for him, trying to fight back the blush because he was goddamn right. I was wet. For him.

How could I get turned on by getting my knees kissed?There was something definitely wrong with me.

He parted his lips and leaned closer, wetting the hem of my dress as it had risen up to my thighs. His hands were on my legs, pushing them apart. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I encouraged myself and placed the cookie between his straight white teeth. I clenched my legs when his fingers tightened over the dress and he took a small bite. I thought it was over and I could breathe again when he looked up at me, smiling, and licked my fingers when he took another bite, eating the whole cookie.

I think I just came.

He smirked like he knew and said, “Thank you, Bella. They are delicious.”

He nodded over his shoulder. “Join me later.”

With that, he swam back to his friends as if he didn’t eat a cookie in the most erotic way possible. I exhaled sharply, and clearing my throat, I lowered the hem of my dress, which had risen up to my inner thighs with wet fingertips of Ethan on it.

“Damn, girl. You have that guy whipped,” Laura with the most gorgeous amber curls, said as she sat down beside me.

“No, I don’t,” I said with my cheeks warm. “We’re just best friends.”

Carmella, Carter’s elder sister, snorted when she sat on the other side. “Yeah, right. And I don’t have a stunning girlfriend named Laura who is great at giving head.”

My eyes widened and I ate a cookie to keep from saying something embarrassing.

Laura giggled and asked me about the dress, and they both shared a knowing look when I said it was a gift from Ethan’s mothers on my birthday last year.

“The poor lad was fumbling with words and blushing when he rambled to us about you last night,” Carmella said. “He’s adorable.”

Yes, he is. I sighed when he laughed at something Volt said and scratched his neck.

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