Page 7 of Unless It's You
That she said yes.
I wanted to tell him what had happened right then and there. I should’ve. I bet he wouldn’t have gone out with her if I had.
Stella tried to talk to me later that night. She saidheyat the bar, then had the audacity to say,can we talk? I fucking ignored her. I know I came off like an arse that night, too, but I didn’t know what I’d possibly say to her.Have fun with my best friend, who everyone prefers anyway?
Ben’s always been the ideal boyfriend—classic good looks, outgoing, makes everyone laugh, and has an aura of relaxed success that only comes with family support and money behind it.
I didn’t say a thing to her. And I never told Ben about that night. A few months later, when we were out, after a few drinks, I caved and asked Gemma how Stella was doing. She gave me a funny look and pointed out how happy Ben and Stella were. She was right. They did seem happy.
Me? I was single, as usual. Most women want me for a one-night stand or a quick fling. I don’t have that long-term boyfriend glow that Ben has.
“I’ll get the schedule together and send out invites for the decision meetings we’ll need you for, Ethan,” Chloe says, giving Stella a side-eye.
“Thank you, Chloe.” Stella regains her voice and composure. “And I will send you a draft brief later today.”
She’s talking directly to me now, and this time, there’s no ignoring her. We lock eyes in some kind of to-the-death staring contest. First one to falter gets pushed in front of a London bus.
“I can write a brief. I’ve done it a million times.” Shite, but I sound like a petulant child, insisting on my competence. I’m screwing this all up. I clench my jaw and breathe in deeply through my nose, trying to ground myself.
“I’m sure.” Stella’s gaze is unwavering, her voice calm, like I’m a toddler with a pair of scissors in one hand and a chunk of his sister’s hair in another. “I’ll get you a draft by the end of the day, then you let me know what you think. I’ll integrate all your feedback before sharing the brief with our creative team.” She nods her head to Graham and Luke.
“Great.” I pull at my beard again, then force my hands down onto the table. There’s a slight shake in them that makes my face heat.
Stella looks down at her laptop, breaking our staring contest with a flush in her cheeks. She bites her lower lip and types something.
Dammit, she’s beautiful. I hate that I still find her attractive, after all this time, after all the rejection. I swallow and am sure the entire room hears it. Someone sighs, and I think it comes from Chloe.
I don’t want Stella to ever find out how I really feel about her. I don’t understand why her mere presence bothers me so much. Just like when they were dating, what I feel—felt—makes me a bad friend to Ben, an arsehole to her, and a terrible person overall.
I’d rather she thinks I hate her than know the truth.
4
STELLA
“Oh my god, Stella, Ethan is so fit!”
I lift my head to stare at Chloe, hoping she can read in my eyes how dead her words just made me.
Girl doesn’t notice. Now that she has my attention, she dramatically drops her jaw and widens her eyes cartoonishly big, like the bottom of a venti Starbucks cup.
“Did you see those tattoos? Those muscles? They were, like, dying to escape from the confines of his clothing. And he used to be a professional rugby player, Tessa told me? He looks like one, doesn’t he?” She draws out the words in her Aussie accent, each sentence ending as a dramatic question. “Holy smokes. He’s like straight out of a movie.”
“No.” Make it stop. “No. I didn’t see the tattoos or... whatever else you said.” While I absolutely didnotnotice his rippling biceps or his romance-novel-hero-like presence, no one can convince me he didn’t roll up the sleeves on his button-down shirt with the explicit purpose of showing off his gorgeous tattoos and distracting the entire freaking room. Not me, obviously. Chloe ignores me and chatters on.
“And the way he was staring at you, Stella, at the end there?”She runs her hand through her hair and closes her eyes for a second, as if she’s reveling in the thought of his gaze.
“What do you mean?” I narrow my eyes. Damn, but I know exactly what she means.
“He was, like, not just staring at you. More likesmolderingat you.” She extends the word smoldering. “I would have melted in a puddle on the floor.” She fans herself with her hand.
I violently move my head from side to side. “Stop being dramatic. He wasn’t smoldering at me. He was glaring at me.”
“But... why?” She furrows her brow. “Why would he glare at you?”
Why does Ethan hate me? Because I kissed him and then got with his best friend. Not a great look, I know, but I also didn’t realize Ethan had a kinda girlfriend the night we kissed.
And before today, I also didn’t know what his past had been like. His childhood. The way he depended on Ben and his parents... Ben had never said much to me about him and Ethan growing up together. No wonder Ethan hated me so much when it looked like I wasn’t being honest with his best friend.
