Page 4 of Taking Care of You
“Oh. You want me to walkyouhome?” I look at him quickly, to see if he’s really worried for me or if he’s being a dick because of where I live. It’s neither. His eyes are twinkling and he has a small smile on his face.
He’s teasing me. But the good-natured kind of teasing.
I shake my head and put my hands in my pocket. “No, I’m good. I’ll call Crystal.”
Saying her name makes me realize I just left a party we came to together and didn’t tell her. Groaning, I stop on the sidewalk and pull out my phone to give her a call. I should have done that as soon as I left.
She answers on the second ring. “Hey, where’d you go?”
“I stepped out for a minute, but now I’m going to head home. I’m sorry I left. Do you have someone to ride home with you?”
“Mhm. Jenna asked for a ride. I’m just going to stay at her place tonight. We’re actually leaving now. You okay?”
“Um. Yeah. I’m fine. Just didn’t want to be there anymore.” Ethan smirks and I flush, turning away from him. “I have a ride home. Don’t worry about me.”
I, in fact, do not have a ride home. But she doesn’t need to know that.
I hang up with Crystal and turn back to Ethan. He’s staring at me with a raised eyebrow. “What?” I ask, hoping I don’t have something on my face.
“Wanna just crash at my place tonight?” he asks. “I can give you a ride home in the morning.”
“Huh?”
Another chuckle from him. “You can stay with me. You’re a long way from home and your friend left. I can give you a ride home in the morning. If you don’t want to, I can get you an Uber.”
He pulls out his phone, but I cover it with my hand. “No,” I rush to say, my voice coming out scratchy. I clear my throat and try again. “No. I’ll stay at your place. If that’s fine with you.”
The smile he graces me with is breathtaking. The butterflies in my belly fucking riot and I have to duck my head so he doesn’t see how much my face is flaming.
“It’s fine with me, creep. It’s only about a twenty-minute walk to get home.”
I nod and walk beside him, still not believing this is happening.
2
Just as he said, it takes about twenty minutes to get to his house. We didn’t talk much on the walk here, mostly because I’m still in disbelief that I’m even hanging out with him.
The houses are huge and elegant looking, tall with sprawling lawns and manicured shrubs and what not.
Despite how large the other houses are, Ethan’s house is only one-story, even though it looks just as spacious and no less beautiful. But it looks normal. It’s not intimidating and unapproachable. It looks comfortable.
Ethan jogs up the few steps of the porch and slides his key in the door, pushing it wide and motioning for me to step inside.
The first thing I notice when I step inside is how good his house smells. Like lavender and cinnamon. The smell makes me immediately feel comfortable and at ease.
There’s a living room to my immediate left, a large sectional taking up most of the space. It looks like it can seat about ten people comfortably. Across from the couch is a television that spans most of the wall. It’s the perfect place to hang out and watch movies or TV shows or whatever.
The kitchen is off to the right, although I can’t see much from here, only able to make out the granite countertops. Straight ahead is a massive sitting room with double doors that lead to a back patio, with a large yard that I can just make out in the dark. Branching off from the foyer are two halls that look like they lead to separate wings of the house. This place is fucking dope.
“Follow me,” Ethan says, walking down the hallway on the right. I trail behind him, looking in some of the rooms that have the doors open—a bathroom that’s about as big as my entire house and a library overflowing with books with a comfortable-looking chaise in the corner of the room.
We make a left at the end of the hall and enter the last room. I realize it’s his bedroom. I stand frozen at the door, feeling stupid. He didn’t want me to stay the night because of where I live or because I followed him outside. He’s a guy that wants to experiment with a gay dude. There’s no reason for him to bring me to his bedroom. I can easily sleep on the couch or we could hang out in the living room until he’s ready for bed.
My lip trembles as I realize just how foolish I am. Just because he’s good-looking and I have a crush on him doesn’t mean I should have been so blinded to think he wanted to be my … friend.
He turns to look at me when he notices I haven’t walked further in. “What’s up? You good?”
I drop my head and shake it. I really thought he would be different from the bi-curious guys when they start drinking. I thought I could avoid getting in a situation like this again. I wanted him to be a good person and not use me for sex.
