Page 9 of Runaway Girl
I gave him my girl-boss face. My take-no-shit, kick-ass, business face. Even though my eyes wanted to roam down his body, to catalogue where I’d lay my hands to pull him closer.
No. Have some dignity, woman.
Ethan stood frozen before me as if he had been knocked off balance.Good.Taking advantage of the reprieve, I rolled my shoulders back and folded my arms, waiting for his grand speech.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted. His demeanour calmed immediately post as if he had unloaded some huge revelation. For him, I was sure it was since that was probably the first time he had ever apologised… to anyone.
Silence fell heavily between us as I refused to budge.
Was that it?His remorse was laughable at best. I pitched a sarcastic brow, prepared to wait him out.
Ethan cleared his throat and his dumbstruck expression, finally collecting himself.
“Can I come in?”
“Nope.”
“Did you see the video?”
“Yep.”
“Are you only going to give me one-word answers?”
“Maybe.”
I could see his features spasming from my monotone responses. Despite everything that Ethan said, he had miscalculated one vital piece of information. Iknewhim.
After being intimate with someone for four years, it’s hard not to learn all their tells, the subtle nuances that made them tick.
And Ethan… By his tone and expression alone, I could tell he was getting frustrated. This was new territory for us. He expected a reaction out of me, which I wasn’t going to give him. Ethan deserved nothing, so I gave him nothing.
“Where have you been?” he said, his tone on the verge of rudeness.
“None of your business.”
“Can you give me more words and actually talk to me?”
“I just gave you four,” I said with a confused frown.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair in irritation.That’s right, boo, get angry.“Alicia… That video…”
“I don’t care about the video,” I said with a straight face, although my insides shrivelled up at the blatant lie—but I powered through. “Ethan, if that’s how you felt about me, you should have ended things ages ago.”
A stagnant pause stretched forth as he processed my uncaring front. Ethan had never seen me so passive, and for once in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
“That’s not how I feel, love.”
“Well, all evidence to the contrary.”
“Alicia, I came here to tell you—”
“I think I’ve heard all I want to hear of what you have to say on the subject, actually, thanks. I’m done now.”
Ethan flinched as if I’d just slapped him—he would have deserved it if I had.
“Well. I guess that’s it, then?” He phrased it as a question, putting out feelers for any change around. Ethan was probably expecting me to beg him to stay or something.Never.
“Yep. That’s it.”
