Page 45 of Sliding Into Love
“Yeah, pretty.” But he was looking at her, not the water.
A delicate blush swept across the apples of her cheeks as she eased off the bench and offered her hand. His laughter—light and unexpected— rang out through the night air when she tried to pull his oversized frame to his feet.
The moment was perfect until she rose on tiptoes and brushed a kiss on his cheek, and Ethan wondered what could be past perfect. Was it possible to implode from howgoodit felt? As they strolled along, fingers interlaced, Ethan nearly forgot about his injured knee, though she hadn't. He nearly forgot about anything that wasn't her.
After Ivy declared Ethan walked enough, he drove them back to his apartment. He’d planned to take her straight home, but she left her phone at his place. She apologized a hundred times, but Ethan chose to think of it as a sign. Because he enjoyed being with Ivy. And he didn’t want the night to end.
Ethan Ford having fun with a woman. Who would’ve thought?
And then her words about moving on came back to him.
“Ivy,” he said while they were stopped at the red light nearest his apartment.
“Hmm,” she said dreamily. She rested her chin in her hand, leaning her head against the window.
“My real name is Ethan Fisher.”
“Fisher? Not Ford?”
“Yeah. Ethan Fisher.”
“Is this a Marshall thing?” Her nose crinkled in confusion.
“Yeah.” Ethan ran his right hand through his hair, driving one-handed with his left arm braced against the door. “Yeah, he said if I wanted to earn my place, I had to make my own name. Literally. So, I became Ethan Ford.”
“I like Ethan Fisher better.” She looked at him with big sad eyes and reached over to take his hand where he’d laid it on the center console. “Ethan. Ethan Fisher.” She said it a few more times, and hearing his name, hisrealname on her lips loosened something inside him he hadn’t realized he’d locked away. “Thank you for telling me.”
“I wanted you to know, in case this—” he trailed off, not willing to finish that thought. “But I don’t know if I’m ready for the rest of the world to know. Who I am, I mean. The team might be weird about it.” Ivy gripped his hand tighter.
“Okay,Fisher.I’ll be sure not to tell anyone,Ethan Fisher.” She chuckled. “Where did Ethan Ford come from anyway?”
“You’re going to laugh.”
“I might not. Okay, I probably will. But come on, tell me anyway.” Ivy jabbed him in the arm with a finger, then winced and shook her hand.
“Fine.” Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “My dad had an old sixty-six Mustang we’d tinker with sometimes, and it was the first thing I thought of when Marshall told me to choose a new name.” He didn’t look at Ivy as he spoke. It’d been years since he’d thought of that car. “My name was almost Ethan Mustang.”
“You’re not serious.”
“No, I’m not.”
She doubled over in laughter, her forehead nearly resting on her thighs. It felt sogood, knowing he’d been the one to make her laugh.
“It’s notthatfunny.” Ethan scowled.
“It kind of is, I mean, it’s on yourjersey. It’s in programs and shows up on the giant screen. And you named yourself after acar?”
“Okay, fine. It’s a little funny.” He still scowled half-heartedly as he pulled into his parking space in the apartment’s garage, put the car in park, and turned to look at Ivy.
Wide, blazing, hazel eyes stared into Ethan’s as she slowly unhooked her seatbelt and leaned toward him. Her face was a breath away from his as she reached with both hands and slid her fingers through his hair. She cupped his face, her thumbs tracing lightly over his cheekbones. Gently, she pulled his face to meet hers and pressed her lips to his. He tried to restrain himself, he really fucking did, but she was so warm and soft when he ran his hands down her neck and over the soft skin of her shoulders that he slid his hands to her waist to hoist her over the console into his lap.
Instantly, Ivy moved closer, pressing her body into Ethan’s, chasing his lips when he backed away to look down at her. Too gently, he pressed his lips back to hers, and seeming to want more, Ivy gripped his hair to keep him in place as she ran her other hand up his chest. He made a sound deep in his throat, and he didn’t know if it was a groan or a plea, butoh godshe was everything he needed her to be, and he needed more of her.
His hands sank into her hair and wrapped around her nape as she molded the softness of her body to the hard angles of his. Without breaking the kiss, she moved to bracket his thighs with hers, and with her on his lap, they were the same height. It was nice, he thought, being on even ground with her. A soft sound escaped her, and taking it as encouragement, Ethan slid his tongue along hers. She sighed as she opened for him. His tongue swept into her mouth, devouring her, and she gave it right back to him, her tongue dancing with his.
Ivy tasted like wine and chocolate. Kissing her was watching the fireworks after scoring a winning run on the Fourth of July. Kissing her was the scene inThe Sandlotwhere the night sky was lit only with stars and sparks, and the whole neighborhood watched in wonder.
Shifting again, Ivy’s legs eased further apart as she leaned closer to fist one hand in his hair and trace the other down his chest. Heat radiated from her center as she molded her upper body into his, and he let his hips rock against her. She gasped his name against his lips, so he did it again.
