Page 75 of Unfolding Ethan

I laughed, shaking my head, and followed her out of her house while she locked it and made me use the stairs because I was too busy laughing. She closed the doors of the elevator on my face.

She’d definitely be the death of me.Ah, the grim future.

???

"Why is Kiara walking like that?"

I hid my grin and turned to Rio. He was watching Kiara, who was trying to waddle up the stairs, letting out a hiss with each step.Okay, now I am worried too.

"I don't know . . ." I murmured when she finally sat on her spot.First row, middle seat.

"Okay, horny sharks. Listen up!"

A bunch of us snickered walking toward our coach, thirty-six-year-old Jamaican Mrs. Bennet. She was the one who kept all of us together without punching each other's faces or dicks—in some cases.

"Where's Lee?" Coach asked as we surrounded her in a semi-circle, some of us removing our goggles and caps.

"He is in the locker room, Coach,” Rio replied with a smirk.

Lee was from Tokyo and he was one of our transfer students. He was the leanest guy among all of us but still ate more than us. And it was his time to slack off and eat some snacks in the locker room.

"Liam? Go and drag him out of the stalls. Even if he's naked. I have to—Oy, Kiara! Close your eyes. You might not want to see Lee's schlong," Coach yelled, looking behind us, where Kiara was writing something in her diary and looked up to give a smile to the coach.

I sure as hell didn't want her to see anyone's penis, even Lee's.

After Liam dragged Lee out of the stalls with a big packet of Doritos in his hands, we all sighed in relief because he was still wearing his swimming trunks. The coach explained to us that next month, Winter High—our nemesis—would be coming to our school for the swim competition.

I badly wanted to win against them. Because: a) To prove Liam I was faster than him; b) To defeat Paul, their best swimmer, in one of the competitions.

When we were thirteen, Kiara had the biggest crush on Paul Corey, the golden boy of Winter High. They both had been together since then because they shared the same piano class. After romancing for a year, she told him she liked him, and he agreed to take her out on a date. She was over the moon, but after a month she found out that Paul was already dating someone else and stringing her all that time.

I had held her in my arms when she came back crying to me after seeing Paul with another girl in an ice cream parlor, kissing her. Of course, I walked there with Kiara shuffling behind me and punched him. Then I bought Kiara her favorite ice cream and went to the roof, kissing her for the first time.

Now, Paul was eighteen, still the same with more douchery. And I would do anything to beat his cocky ass.Again.

???

I had already changed into my clothes after our evening swim practice and was waiting for Kiara to wrap up her piano classes. I thought back to last night and fought off a smile, biting the inside of my cheek. I loved making her happy and laugh, especially when we had sex.Fuck, she was beautiful and it was amazing.

As soon as I heard the soft piano playing, I opened the door a little and peeked from the little space to watch Kiara. Her fingers flew over the black and white keys, a few of her hair strands framing her face, her eyebrows drawn in concentration. I smiled watching her. Even though I hated the way Paul smiled at her while adding other notes building the music sitting beside her on the seat, I adored listening to her play.

They finished and talked about the music as their music teacher cheered them. I waited for her to pack up and was surprised that she was scribbling something in her diary. I knocked and the teacher let me in. I sat beside her, ignoring Paul, who was organizing the sheet music.

"So, what are you writing about?” I asked. “Another story idea?”

Kia quickly hid it, narrowing her dark brown eyes at me, "Privacy, Ethan. It's nothing important.”

I frowned and asked, remembering the way Liam had looked at her after the morning practice. "What's going on between you and Liam? It's fucking me up."

She sighed and closed her book, turning to me. "It's nothing, E. He is trying to talk to me, but I am ignoring him. Just the usual. How was practice?" she asked after keeping her diary safely in the backpack.

I knew she was hiding something from me. But I also knew she would eventually feel comfortable sharing that secret with me and tell me about it, so I let it go.

"If you say so. It was good. But the coach said I should help you in your swimming."

"But why? I do know how to swim."

I shrugged, running a hand through my damp hair. "After what happened with Liam, she wants to make sure you don’t drown,” I said and clenched my jaw. “Even though we all know, I’d never let that happen."

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