Page 30 of A Certain Step
“You’re right,” Willa exclaimed.
Did they look alike? People had said that about her and Sahar sometimes. But she wondered about her and Ethan now.
She mentally swatted away the thought, returning her attention to their friends. “They also have such a sweet opposites attract situation. Miles was telling me how Clyde is a massive introvert and an accountant. But they share so many similar morals.”
Ethan smiled and leaned against the settee’s cushion. Willa wanted to recline, but instead, she looked forward for a beat.
She thought she spotted... no.Wait. She shut her eyes briefly, then opened them again, but much to her regret, the last man she thought she would ever run into again was also here tonight.
Please be a nightmare.
Alden Price. Shit shit shit. What the hell was he doing here? Had he seen her? God, she hoped not.
Willa took a deep, painful breath, trying to contain her dismay. She turned toward Ethan, but he was saying something to Christian.
She swung her wavy hair fully to the side of her face and tilted her head at an angle that would keep her hidden from people on her right side.
As though he caught her head in his direction, Ethan faced her, his eyes widening immediately. He drew closer to her, his arm lowering from the top of the cushion to her back. “Wills? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s up?”
She bit back a curse, trying not to rile herself up. Alden Price, with his starchy tailored suits and slicked-back hair, didn’t deserve a fraction of her attention anymore. What on God’s green earth had she ever seen in him?
She brought her hand to her temple, hiding her face as naturally as possible while leaning closer to Ethan. “Alden is here.”
“Where is he?” Ethan asked, a hint of rage in his voice—something dark and unlike him.
“He’s at the bar with two other people. I don’t think he’s seen me yet.”
“And which one is he?”
She forgot that Ethan had never met Alden. They’d been so close that she sometimes failed to remember there were parts of her life and people who’d never crossed his path. “The one with black hair,” she answered.
Ethan looked forward subtly.
Willa tried to exhale, but something sharp pierced her gut. The music was suddenly too loud, the bass too sufficient in its thumping. It was all inside of her. Panic rose in her chest; tinnitus made its way through her ears.
She couldn’t,wouldn’tlet this happen. He wouldn’t get to her like this. She’d spoken to her therapist, Marie, about this after everything Alden did; she had healed from it. Or, at least, she thought she had.
The anxiety boiling inside of her said otherwise.
Ethan’s voice torpedoed through the rising quakes. Safe and serene, he had moved closer, his knee brushing against hers, his hand hovering over her arm. “What can I do? Talk to me.”
She closed her eyes for a beat, willing herself to focus. “I need air.”
He speedily stood in front of her, blocking her body, and then extended his hand out to pull her up. She took it, warm and comforting under her now clammy fingers.
He turned to Innila and Christian, who were sitting beside them. “We’ll be back,” he said. The two of them bopped their heads to the music while simultaneously acknowledging they’d heard him.
Ethan methodically shielded her body from where Alden and his friends stood, placing his hand against the small of her back as they walked out. Willa was 5’8, and even in block heels, Ethan could still hover over her with his 6’1 frame.
They stepped outside to the dingy corners of the hidden speakeasy. Willa braced herself against a wall, and Ethan stood in front of her, covering her body from anyone who’d come out the door. “Of all the bloody places in this enormous city, he had to show up here tonight. I haven’t seen him since things ended,” she noted.
She tried to calm herself, breathing in and out.
“Are you ever going to tell me what he did to you?” Ethan asked, his voice low and gentle.
Willa shook her head, fear shooting up her spine.
He looked empathetic, his eyes cascading a warmth straight into her. “Does anyone know? Sahar, at least? Your family? Or your therapist?”
