Page 23 of Taking Care of You
“I said?—”
“I heard what you said, bitch,” Ethan snarls at him, “I’m wondering why you said it.”
Whoa. This is definitely not the friendly Ethan I know. Is he really that upset about it? Even more upset than I am? It’s a fucked up thing to say to someone’s face, but my mother has said way worse shit to me.
Kenneth opens and closes his mouth several times, but nothing comes out.
Ethan stares him down and his voice gets low, still growly. “I’m hanging with him because he’s myboyfriend, so you don’t get to say shit like that to him.”
I try to keep a straight face so Kenneth doesn’t know I’m as shocked as he is by Ethan’s admission.
Ethan kisses my forehead and I melt into him, something I don’t have to fake. I’ve been wondering what his lips would feel like on my skin. They’re just as soft as I imagined.
He looks back at Kenneth, whose mouth is hanging open like he can’t believe what he’s seeing or hearing. “And if I hear you or anyone else call my boyfriend that disgusting name again, I will beat your ass. We clear?"
Holding his hands up, Kenneth says, “Yeah, clear. Damn, man. I didn’t know.” He looks me in the eyes and almost looks ashamed. “I’m sorry.”
“Now, what do you want?” Ethan asks, like I’m not standing beside him almost hyperventilating. I know he only called me his boyfriend to protect me from people calling me names, but my heart is leaping out of my chest at the thought of him being mine.
They stand there and talk about something to do with the homecoming game, and I stand beside Ethan, tucked under his arm. The warning bell rings and Ethan cuts Kenneth off. “I gotta get creep to class. We’ll talk later.” He turns away without another word, hustling me off to class.
I let out a breath and glance at him. “Boyfriend?” I whisper.
He gives me a nervous glance. “Umm…yeah, I didn’t think that through.” My heart drops. Of course he didn’t. He doesn’t want me. Why would he? He’s Ethan fucking King, the most popular, most good-looking guy in school. And I’m … me.
His next sentence almost makes me swallow my tongue. “I should have asked you first. Is that cool?”
I’m sure my face is the picture of confusion. “Huh?”
The bell rings, and we’re the only ones left in the hallway. He guides me to the wall and stands beside me. “Look, people won’t bother you if they think you’re with me. I don’t like hearing people calling you slurs. Let me protect you from that. Please?” He leans down to look at my face. There go those puppy dog eyes.
Why does he want to do this for me? I know he said he wants to be my friend, but this is too much.
“Why, Ethan?” I ask in a small voice.
He looks incredibly sad when he meets my eyes. “I didn’t know people said things like that to your face. I want it to stop. If I had known before, I would have stopped it. I can help now, so you can at least have a peaceful senior year.”
I don’t think anyone besides Crystal would have my back like this. It means a lot. And I won’t let him blame himself for other people being assholes. That’s not on him. He couldn’t have stopped anyone from being hateful to me.
“Aren’t you afraid…” I pause for a moment, trying to get my words in order. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll lose friends? People may start calling you names like they do to me.”
He shrugs. “No. If people want to stop being my friend because I have a boyfriend, it’s their loss.” He sounds like he knows what he wants. I like the idea of him being my boyfriend, but not the thought of him losing friends. From the set of his jaw, though, I’m sure there’s no talking him out of it.
Sighing, I hike my bag higher on my shoulder and say, “Okay. Yeah. I’ll play along, Ethan. Thank you.”
He smiles at me and pulls me into a hug. “Okay,boyfriend.” A shiver runs down my spine at him saying that, even though it’s not real. “I made you late for class.”
“It’s fine,” I murmur into his chest. I pull away from him and open the classroom door.
Of course, Ethan has to be extra and practically shouts, “See you later, creep.”
I roll my eyes and walk to my seat, face flaming because everyone is staring at me now. I plop down in my seat after I apologize to the teacher standing at the front of the class. With Ethan telling Kenneth we were dating, and him making me late to class, the rumor mill will be churning in no time.
I guess that’s the point, huh?
9
Iwas right. The rumor mill is fast as fuck. By the beginning of the next day, it’s gotten around that Ethan and I are a couple. Crystal is back and I told her what to expect when we got to school, so she knows it’s fake to help me not to get picked on.
