Page 80 of A Certain Step
Willa nodded, parting from him.
In an unsurprising turn of events,despite how close they’d been before they began dating, sneaking around was more challenging than either of them imagined. First, when Naomi returned, she took one look at them and stated that something had changed. They denied it. Then there was the incident with Declan three days ago, and they weren’t sure he bought their excuse.
Ethan leaned against the vanity in his dressing room while Willa sat cross-legged on his couch.
“Naomi knows, babe. She one hundred percent knows. She’s just not saying anything because she loves us both too much to pry. I’m pretty sure they all do at this point. Dec’s not buying the fact that you needed painkillers,” Willa commented.
Ethan laughed, shaking his head. “It’s your call, beautiful. I’d shout about us being together from the rooftops if I could.”
“No rooftops yet, but let’s do it. Let’s tell the cast. They’d keep quiet if we told them we didn’t want it getting out yet. I trust them all fully,” she replied.
“I’m good with that,” he concurred.
She moved her lips in thought, then picked up her phone and started writing something. “Done,” she said, putting the device down. He caught the sight of his lighting up on the coffee table.
He arched a brow at her. “Did you just text it in the group chat, or is that something else on my phone?”
She dipped her chin up and down. “Give it a minute. They’re all going to barge in here screaming.”
He reached for his phone and quickly read the text:
WILLA
PSA: Ethan and I are dating. Please keep it solely between us. We’re very tired of sneaking around all of you. ??
Sam charged in first. “Iknewit!” He took Ethan into a headlock.
Ethan pushed him off, stifling a chuckle. “Fuck off. No, you didn’t.”
“Bro.Bro!You know Dec and I made bets. My wife and I made bets. Dec and Carmen have one going. We’ve known longer than you two have.”
Willa gasped with a sardonic huff. “Would’ve never thought our romantic lives would be so exciting.”
Naomi ran into the room with a big, goofy grin spread across her face. “What did I say? Something had changed between you two. It’s cute how you tried to hide itand failed.” She bounced toward Willa, sat beside her on the couch, and hugged her. “I’m so stinking excited for you two!”
Sahar stood by the doorway. Declan came in and turned to her. “You obviously knew,” he remarked.
“I live with her. Of course I knew,” she answered.
Ethan’s dressing room had become a circus; oddly, he didn’t mind it. He turned to Willa, holding her gaze for a beat. He winked at her. She scrunched her nose and smiled.
It was the sweetest sight, a picture to frame deep in his most sacred memories: the love of his life, looking up at him and all their friends thrilled for them.
Miles peeped into the room. “I swear I was going to say something the other day. Did you idiots not realize you’d been holding hands for a solid ten minutes at one point? I straight up counted.”
Willa barked out a laugh. “When did we do that? We thought we got caught because Naomi was onto us, and Dec saw us hugging three days ago.”
Miles nearly howled and shifted his body toward Sahar to demonstrate by playing with her fingers. “Legit, you were standing in the wings pulling this shit repeatedly. I almost said something, but I let it go.”
Oh shit. They thought they were in early on that day, carelessly assuming that no one had come into work yet.
Christian nearly bolted into the room with Innila. “I had to text Dan to tell him it’s official. His response was ‘finally!’” he affirmed, patting Ethan on the shoulder. He already knew, but it was different now that it was out in the open.
“Who wasn’t taking bets on our relationship?” Ethan huffed.
They all laughed, answering his question without any words.
Miles took out his phone and snapped a photo of the entire room. “This is only for our eyes,” he clarified before continuing.
