Page 71 of Love Unavoidable
Chapter 19
Sadie
I hear Ethan pause outside my door. All I want is for him to come in. Just pull me in his arms one more time and convince me that everything is okay. But he doesn’t. Instead, I hear him head into his room and close the door. The sound of the latch clicking into place echoes in my mind, reminding me of the finality of my decision. So, I roll over, clutch my pillow, and cry.
* * *
I wake up feeling a little better. Then again, I’m one of those people who resets at night and the next morning is a whole new day with new possibilities that gives me a fresh outlook on things.
I usually sleep in a t-shirt and underwear, so I pull on some yoga pants and socks to head to the kitchen. Ethan has made coffee, but I don’t see him anywhere. Part of me wants to apologize for everything that went down last night. But at the same time, I don’t know what I would be apologizing for. I haven’t done anything wrong.
I’m ninety-nine percent sure that Ethan was eavesdropping on my conversation with Aaron anyway, so he knows we aren’t back together, and he should have been able to gather that I didn’t invite Aaron to his home.
I grab a cup of coffee and head back to my room. My phone rings before I’m there, so I try to run to get to it before it goes to voicemail, my socks sliding under me. Coffee sloshes over the top of the mug, burning my right hand. I try to switch the mug to my left hand, so I can pull the right one up to my mouth to lick or blow on it and make it feel better. But the commotion causes more coffee to spill over the edge of the mug, on my left hand and the front of my shirt. It’s when I move to set the mug down that my feet slip right out from under me. My mug flies in the air, swirling coffee around like a pinwheel, then shattering on the floor. All while I fall directly on my ass, feeling about as graceful as a pig on ice at this point.
Ethan’s bedroom door opens, he’s in a towel and his skin is damp and hair wet, fresh out of the shower.
All I can do is stare. So caught up in ogling his bare chest I don’t even realize that he’s at my side and talking.
He smells good. Like eucalyptus maybe, and mint.
Mmmmm.
“Sadie!”
I look at Ethan, apparently he’s been talking. “Sorry, I zoned out for just a sec, what did you say?”
“Are you hurt? Did you fall? What happened?” Ethan gently squeezes my limbs and touches various body parts to make sure I’m okay.
I nod.
“Why the nod? You are hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. I was trying to get my phone, and I spilled my coffee, first on one hand then the other and down my front, then my socks slipped and here I am.”
“You shouldn’t wear socks on wood floors, you know.”
“Sure, you say that now,” I tease. He smiles at me, and the iceberg that has taken residence around my heart melts.
“Were you burned?”
“Not really, I think it was just hot. I’m okay, I promise.”
“Okay, well, just be careful. I’m going to get a mop and broom to clean this up, you may want to go change your shirt, I can see right through it.”
I look down, and sure as shit, there are my nipples, standing tall and proud and visible through my white shirt.
Well, fuck!
I scurry to my room and shut the door. Eager to find a shirt and get back out to the hall before Ethan cleans up my mess. He’s halfway finished by the time I return.
“I’ll get it, Ethan.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m practically finished.”
“Oh . . . okay.”
Say something, Sadie.
