Page 94 of Unfolding Ethan

My dad couldn’t get a day off and I was fine with it. He found his solace by drowning in his work and not talking to his daughter because it reminded him of a harsh truth that I looked like my dead mother. I was fine with it. I had Ethan. My best friend.

I sat beside Katherine, who was making different faces and talking to Eveline in a baby voice. “Do you want Kiara to be your sister? Aw, you little munchkin, ask your brother to marry her then.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Can you not?”

“What? I am serious. You should see how his mothers coo and talk about you as if you are their own daughter . . . in-law,” she added quickly and I blushed furiously, looking over my shoulder to see them sitting two rows back grinning and talking about the swim competition.

“Let’s just enjoy the match,” I managed to say and easily found Ethan from the crowd of shirtless men and girls in a swimsuit because he was wearing a black cap and swim goggles.

We sat through different matches and I got extremely nervous whenever Ethan appeared in a match. Not to mention, I would cheer loudly for him and jump from my chair when he would win. It was the last butterfly stroke and Winter and Sumer high school were on a tie. We needed to win this match. I crossed my fingers and saw Liam and Ethan walk to the edge of the pool with Paul and his friend.

I swallowed the lump in my throat when Liam, Ethan, and Paul turned my way. Liam looked away first, Ethan smiling at me with assurance and Paul winking at me.Oh, God. I slouched in my seat, nudging Katherine when she snickered at me.

They took their positions and when the horn blared off, I watched them dive in the water. I gripped the edge of the seat, watching Ethan and Paul race each other, Liam behind them. I held my breath until I saw Ethan’s head out of the water with a wide grin on his face.

I didn’t think twice before leaping from the bleachers to the pool. He had just stepped out of the pool, towel around his chest, when I slammed into him and hugged him tightly. “You won!”

Ethan chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Technically, Liam scored first, but yeah, we won. Babe, your dress will get wet. You should’ve let me change first.”

“I don’t care,” I said and pulled away, grinning at him. His hair was damp and cheeks flushed. I tipped on my toes and kissed him. “I am so happy right now!”

He smiled and hugged me again, hiding his face in my neck, and kissed my skin, his lips cold against my warm skin. “Can you wait for me for a while? Then we will go out together with my parents.”

“Of course, Ethan.”

Ethan kissed my cheek one more time before walking to the locker room. When I turned, I saw Paul glaring at me and he walked away angrily. I sighed and congratulated our swim team before walking to the lockers room where Ethan told me to wait for him.

I leaned on the wall outside, excited for tonight. He’d get the scholarship for the NYU swim team and he could follow his dreams. I had never been so happy, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

“Kiara, come with me.” Before I could reply, Liam held my arm and dragged me to the corner of the empty locker room.

“What the hell are you doing, Liam?” I asked, scowling at him and noticing no one was here.

His gray eyes bore into me. “Tell him, please. I am begging you to tell him about everything that happened on that day.”

I huffed, “And what? Can’t you see how happy he is? And if I tell him, he will get mad and probably never talk to me again. I can’t lose him, Liam.”

He held my shoulders. “You don’t understand, Kiara! You need to tell him right now, or when he will get to know about it, he will do something irrational.”

“I know, I will try to tell him about . . .it,” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “But I can’t tell him everything.”

Liam looked over my face and said, “Of course you can’t. Pretend as if our kiss didn’t happen. Run away from it. Like you always have.”

Hurt and anger coursed through my veins. “Not because I ran away from you, Liam. You kissed me that day and then you—”

“You both kissed each other?”

Liam looked over my shoulder and I closed my eyes hearing his deep voice.Shit. I turned to see Ethan, who had already taken a shower and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. But right now, he didn’t look happy for his win, he looked angry and hurt, glaring at both of us.

“No, it’s not what—”

I interrupted Liam and stepped toward Ethan. “Yes, we did kiss, Ethan.”

I saw how his anger and hurt turned into a poker face and knew he was closing off, ready to fight with Liam.

“Ethan, listen to me, please. We did share a kiss, but it was before our senior year started. Before we got together. I would never—”

“We were never together, Kiara,” he said, his voice devoid of any emotions. He clenched his jaw and said with a small smile, “It was just sex. We were using each other's bodies and fucking around. It was never more than sex.”

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