Page 9 of Unfolding Ethan

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Katherine asked, “Does Ethan have a crush on Kiara?”

Like an involuntary action, Rio nodded. “Of course he does! He even l—YO! You did not just hear that.” His brown eyes widened and looked between the two of us.

Oh, no.

???

“And that’s how I am hoping it would go,” I said, putting down the glass of water Mrs. Helen, one of Ethan’s moms, handed me when I arrived.

Her afro was tied up in a bun and her dark chocolate skin was glowing when she rocked a very sleepy Eveline on her shoulder. A wide grin split her face. “So, you both are going to spend the night together?”

Blood rushed to my neck and cheeks, but I tried to play coy and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I suppose so.”

Eveline mumbled something in her sleep, wanting attention from one of her mothers. Lilly was in the hospital as one of their patients went into labor.

Helen pecked the blond curls of her daughter. “He didn’t speak much when he came back and I knew something was wrong,” she said worriedly, glancing at his room. “I hope you get him to talk about it because I know my son and he likes to bottle it up.”

I nodded, knowing all too well how he would rather hide his feelings and get hurt than express his emotions.

“Wish me luck,” I said and pecked Eveline’s bubbly cheek.

“Of course, sweetheart.” She smiled. “I will take this one to sleep.”

I wasn’t surprised when I found his back to me, his notes spread on the desk. His bed was made and the clothes that were dumped in the corner this morning had disappeared and probably were hanging in his closet. His room was too clean and I knew the reason why.

“Why were you buttering my mom and sister?” he asked, not turning back to look at me as I closed the door and smiled at the polaroids on the wall.

It had our pictures since we were born to the latest one. We were standing together and my mom had given us ghee-shakar for the first day and clicked the picture. I was grinning at the camera and Ethan was smiling.

I walked toward his desk and plopped myself on it. “I don’t need to butter them, Ethan,” I said with a smirk, my eyes flickering from his Chemistry notes to his sharp face. “We’re going out.”

He finally looked up, fixing his glasses, and leaned back in the chair. “Why and where?”

“It’s a surprise, E. Come on, get up and get dressed if you want to, we will be leaving in ten.”

His eyebrows furrowed and before he could protest, which I knew he would, I interrupted. “If you won’t come with me, I’ll burn your algebra notes you handed me this afternoon.”

“You wouldn’t,” he whispered, his eyes widening with disbelief.

“I just might.”

Of course I was lying, but he didn’t need to know that. I could be very persuasive if I wanted to be. Like when I wanted him to sneak out with me to go to a gay club, or the time when we trespassed at someone’s bungalow in Italy to swim in their pool, or the time when we collected money from people and gave it to a homeless woman, or when we tried marijuana for the first time.

He removed his glasses and ran a hand through his dark locks. “Do I really have to? Can’t you take Katherine or Rio or Volt?”

“No, Ethan, I’m doing this for you.” I took his palm and held it in my hands, mustering my best sad eyes. “Please?”

His gaze didn’t waver and his jaw twitched. “Fuck, Kiara. You know I can’t resist that look on your face. Where are we going again?”

He stood up, placing his notebooks in organized order in the corner, and opened his closet, checking different shirts and T-shirts. I smiled at the dark blue waves we had painted on the ceiling and remembered playing with paint when it was done. It took us two whole days to make it, including the details of transparent droplets with white paint.

“It’s a surprise, Ethan, and I’m driving,” I said and closed the window behind me, which was attached to my room’s window through a fire escape. We always kept our windows open so we could sneak into each other’s room to either study, cuddle, or talk.

Ethan removed his T-shirt and even though I had seen him shirtless almost every day because of his swim practice, I couldn’t help but stare at the contour of his abs and how his muscles tensed when he wore a darker color shirt.Damn, it should be illegal to look this good in a simple shirt and pants.

“Are you taking me out on a date?” he asked teasingly.

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