Rio came back with loads of books in his arms and when he saw Paul, he grimaced. "Ugh, why are you here?"
Volt finally looked up from his notes. "Because he has nothing better to do than harass other people."
I stood up from my chair and kept my palm over Ethan's clenched fist. I said with a firm voice, "Leave, Paul."
Paul clenched his jaw and he narrowed his eyes at my hand. "So you're fucking him now?" He chuckled dryly and looked at Ethan. "I bet she is a screamer—”
We all took a sharp breath when Ethan grabbed Paul's collar across the table and pulled him closer, almost painfully as I saw Paul hiss in pain. I swallowed the lump in my throat when Ethan's eyes darkened glaring at Paul, who was trying to get rid of Ethan's clenched fist on his collar.
"Say that to my face." Ethan's teeth gritted in anger and I lost my focus when I saw veins bulging in Ethan's forearm—oh Lord. I came back from my fantasy land when Ethan added, "Idareyou."
Paul's eyes flickered to my face and back to Ethan's and for a moment I saw a hint of fear blinking in his dirty green eyes when he met Ethan's stare. Paul's throat bobbed up and down and he pursed his lips, clenching his jaw and safely deciding not to reply.
Ethan pushed him away, nodding at himself. "Thought so."
I would've jumped on him and kissed the shit out of him, ripping his shirt awayifwe were alone.Sadly, we weren't.
Paul angrily straightened his shirt and looked between me and Ethan. "I'll see you both in the competition. Don't run back to her lap when you lose." He clicked his tongue and walked away.
"I hate that guy," Katherine grumbled under her breath.
"Feeling’s mutual." Rio asked as he settled beside Katherine, "What did you see in him anyway?"
"Even I don't know. I could do so much better," I said, looking at Ethan, and squeezed his hand. He squeezed my palm in return, which was much better than any words.
After what seemed like hours of studying, I decided that meeting Arianna would relieve me from all the stress of pre-calculus and upcoming tests.
I tried to ignore Ethan's scorching gaze burning holes in my back when I walked to the washroom, which was on the other side of the library. I waited for Ariana in the bathroom.
"I didn't know you were so impatient."
My heart dropped when I saw Ethan enter the washroom with a big grin on his charming face as he closed the door behind him.
"Ethan," I stuttered. "What are you doing here?"
He marched toward me and swept me up in a hard, passionate kiss. I held back my moan when he placed me on the counter, squeezing my ass and kissing me desperately, tugging my shirt away.
In between the kisses, he asked softly, "Were you scared?"
I furrowed my eyebrows, my palms brushing his jaw. "Scared of what?" I knew what he was talking about.
Ethan sighed deeply, hiding his face in the crook of my neck, his hands going under my tee and massaging the skin on my waist when I bit my lip. "Of me." His voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. "I-I saw how you looked at me." He raised his head to look at me, his eyes gleaming with . . .tears?Were those tears glistening in his eyes? "I don't want you to be scared of me, Kiara."
I held his cheeks to make him look at me, staring into his unmatched glassy eyes. "I can never be scared of you, Ethan. You can never hurt me, okay? And I-I wasn't scared of you.” I pursed my lips and kissed the corners of his lips, breathing in his woodsy, musky scent. "Remember I was the one who wiped all the wounds off your face and knuckles, E. I am not afraid of you. You are my best friend."
His jaw clenched under my palm as heat radiated through our body and I felt my insides churn when I realized I made him remember about his bullies. Growing up with unmatched eyes as a child, he was bullied by other kids. Sometimes, I found him with blood splattered on his face behind the school or they would lock him up in one of the lockers in the swim locker room. Me, Rio, and Liam scared bullies and tried to save Ethan whenever we could, but then Ethan stopped talking to us, hated how he wasn't normal and hated his heterochromatic eyes.
One day, Ethan stopped cowering and hit them so badly that one of the bullies transferred to another school, scared of him. When his mothers weren't happy about it, I took him to my room, and wiping his bloody knuckles, I kissed his Spider-Man bandaged knuckles.
I waited for him to reply and gently brushed the pad of my thumb on his cheekbones when he finally looked up at me. My breath hitched in my throat when I saw specks of dark green and blue swirling in his eyes. Ethan was beautiful.
"So you are not scared of me?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
I bit my lip and shook my head when his eyes lowered down to my lips and I instantly released my lip. "I was actually thinking about fucking you on that table." I smiled at him, pulling him closer, and whispered in his ear, "Or ride you to orgasm on that chair." I licked his earlobe and bit down his earlobe when his fingers dug on my skin. "Orworship every inch of your skin until the only name you remember is mine."
I pulled away to stare at his face and a small smirk tugged on the corner of his lips. He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. "Potty mouth."
He shook his head and chuckled deeply, brushing his lips on my neck. "You have such a crude, dirty, and filthy mouth." He met my eyes and cupped my face as humor crinkled in his eyes. "You're lucky I like you anyway."