Page 23 of Sliding Into Love
“Yes, damn it, now give me the fucking phone.” Ethan grabbed for it, but Jen ducked away.
“Hmm, no, I don’t think so.” She began typing a message, singing about trees and kissing. Derek joined in.
“Jen. We areadults,” Ethan snapped.
“Could’ve fooled me.” Jen laughed, waving the phone in his face. “When was the last time you had a conversation with a woman who wasn’t me?”
Ethan’s face burned, giving him away.
Derek was still singing, and he’d begun twirling around the room with a pillow.
“I thought so,” Jen said. “I’m going to help you.”
“Help me how? She just said ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’ and that’s it.”
“I think she likes you too,” Derek piped up.
“What?” If his voice weren’t so deep, Ethan would most definitely have called the sound he’d made a squeak.
“Just her reaction to seeing you last night.” Derek shrugged as if it were obvious. “She went and changed out of comfy clothes because you were there.Nobodycan get the girl out of her pj’s, that’s for damn sure. Except she changed her clothes when you showed up.”
The world stopped spinning.
The world stopped spinning and chucked him off it.
Shit shitshit.
He’d shoved thoughts of her aside because he’d assumed she wasn’t into him, but if she was…
But no. He couldn’t afford to get close to her. Anyone. Marshall would bench him.
But texting didn’t count, did it?
“Give me the goddamn phone, Jen.” The growling voice was one he hadn’t used since the team learned to leave him alone.
Jen scowled but handed it back.
“I’m not scared of you, Ford,” she said, standing up to her full height to look him dead in the eyes.
“Good.” Her statement was jolting. Ethan hadn’t wanted to be the person he’d become under Marshall’s influence; it had just been easier to become something he wasn’t. To let himself believe it too.
Scowling, he turned and walked back to his and Derek’s room, slamming the door behind him.
Tell Jase I said hi. And you don’t have to keep thanking me. It was fun.
And I never have fun.
Shit, why had he said that?
I do have to thank you! I’ve been having such a hard time getting him to relax and open up and he’s had the biggest smile on his face the past few days. if you stick around us, you’ll probably have more fun than you’ll know what to do with lol.
Unsure how to reply, he scrolled back to her first messages, amused to find the cursing. He’d missed it before, and he immediately fixated on the image of her pretty mouth saying the filthy words.
What did she mean by ‘if you stick around us?’ Did she expect him to come around a lot? What did any of it mean?
I’m happy to help.
It must be hard seeing someone you care about struggling so much.
