Page 14 of Ethan
I sighed and answered. “What, checking to make sure I haven’t burned the place down yet?”
“Have you?” Carter asked, amusement heavy in his voice. “Killed anyone by accident?”
“Har har,” I muttered. “You should really have more faith in me.”
Carter was quiet for a moment. “How are you doing. Really?”
The sarcasm melted out of me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, picking at the corner of my sandwich. “It’s weird. People are different here. The way they train. The way they talk to each other. It’s not what I’m used to.”
“Different doesn’t mean bad,” Carter remarked.
“No,” I said, staring at the condensation on my water bottle. “It doesn’t. I’m just not sure I fit in here.”
I hesitated. Then said it before I could chicken out. “But I want to.”
I thought of Ethan. His voice, his hands, the way he scowled like he couldn’t help but care.
“I want to stay,” I said, more quietly now.
Carter didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, softly, “Good.”
I blinked. “Good?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I hoped you would. You deserve better, Dean. Maybe this place… maybe it could be it.”
I didn’t say anything. Didn’t trust myself to, because I really hoped that too.
Chapter 4
Ethan
I bit back a laugh.
How could someone like Dean, all brawn and bravado, get caught off guard by a simple sweep? I’d spent enough time around enforcers to know better.
Sure, they were muscular, built for battle, every inch of them exuding power, but there was a grace to their movements too.
They were precise, deliberate, almost calculated, especially during sparring. But Dean hit the ground like a sack of flour, limbs flailing before landing flat on his ass.
As I walked back to the office, the memory replayed itself, and my first thought was about his ribs, barely patched up yesterday. Hopefully they weren’t any worse for the fall.
The rest of him, though… thick thighs, solid legs, pure strength and force. And of course, my brain decided now was the perfect time to notice how annoyingly shapely his ass was.
Heat crept up my neck at the memory. I shook my head, hoping to clear my thoughts.
“Why are you smiling?”
Devon’s voice startled me. I turned sharply, not realizing he’d come out of his office.
“I wasn’t smiling,” I said, maybe a little too quickly.
Devon’s brow arched.
“Are you heading out for the day?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.
“No,” he replied, crossing his arms. “I was actually going to look for you. Didn’t you see the meeting I added to your calendar?”
