Page 46 of Taking Care of You
“I don’t think that,” I tell him. I don’t. Not now, anyway. But I might have if he’d come right out and said he wanted to date me. “After the party, when I walked you home, you didn’t want to…”
He leans up and meets my eyes, an incredulous expression on his face. “No. I would never do that to you. I really wanted to get to know you. That’s it.” He bends down and kisses me again. Until I’m breathless and panting against his lips. “When I did get through your wall, I knew I wanted more.”
After I catch my breath, I cover my face. He pulls my hands down and kisses my cheek. “Don’t hide from me, creep. What are you thinking?”
Tentatively, I place my arms around his middle and lean more into him. “This is…surreal. Like, why me? I’m so…plain. I’m not very interesting. I’m not rich. I’m not…much. I’m just Jakoby.”
“Your smile.” Ethan scoots us higher on the bed, our backs to the headboard. I look over at him with a raised eyebrow. “We were at a party once and I saw you talking to Crystal. She must have said something funny because you smiled really wide and your face…man, you looked so happy and kinda vulnerable. When you came outside to check on me, I knew that was my chance to try to get to know you. The more time I spent around you, the more I liked you. And, I don’t know,” he shrugs, making my head rise and fall on his shoulder, “I felt like you needed someone to protect you.”
“Maybe I do,” I say quietly.
When I needed him, Ethan has been there for me. Even if it’s just his company. He’s been nothing but kind to me. He’d stood up for me, wanting to say something to Tim about how he'd treated me, claimed me when Kenneth talked shit to my face,comforted me when my mom’s words and actions got to be too much, and took me to get some privacy when it did.
In the weeks we’ve known each other, he’s been my protector in more ways than one.
“There’s more,” he adds, “but I’ll tell you some other time. I’m not ready just yet.”
I nod.
“What do you need?” I ask him. While Ethan is popular and kind and everyone knows him, he doesn't seem like he’s truly happy.
“A friend,” he answers simply.
“Okay.” I wrap my arms around him again and he pulls me to him. We sit like this for a while. It’s very comfortable. I’ve never felt this level of comfort with anyone. I feel appreciated. I feel seen. I feel important.
“Koby?” Ethan says my name. When he doesn’t call me ‘creep’, I know he’s serious. I take a deep breath and hum my acknowledgement. “What happened this time? What did she do?”
Dammit. I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now. I’m still too raw and in disbelief.
“Can I talk about it some other time?” I dig my hands more into his side, my fingers clutching at him for dear life. “I just…can’t. Not right now. Please?” I know I don’t have to beg. If I ask for time, Ethan will give it to me, no questions asked.
“Of course.” He kisses my forehead, then untangles from my arms. “Come on, let me feed you,boyfriend.” The way he emphasizes that makes me grin and I place my hand in the one he has outstretched. He pulls me close to him and frames my face in his large hands. He bends down to kiss me softly.
When he pulls away, I sigh gently, blinking my eyes open slowly, not realizing I closed them. He looks about as breathless as I feel. He rubs his thumb over my lower lip, making a shudderrun up my spine. He plants another soft but chaste kiss on my lips, and I melt into him, wanting more.
Smiling, he grabs my hand and leads me out of the room and into the kitchen, where he goes to a drawer and pulls out a menu. Chinese this time. I can’t remember the last time I had Chinese food.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” I tell him, not wanting to be a burden or waste money on anything extra.
“You wanna eat spicy food?” he asks with his eyebrow raised.
Damn him.
I told him weeks ago I hate spicy foods. I don’t think there’s a point. To me, there’s no reason to dump a bunch of hot sauce and use a bunch of peppers on food. It doesn’t enhance the taste; it masks it.
“No, thank you,” I say.
He laughs at me and hands me the menu. “Then pick something. I’m getting Hunan spicy beef. I’d hate for you not to eat.”
Shaking my head again, I pick shrimp fried rice and he places the order.
While we’re waiting, I try to find a movie for us to watch. I make sure I actually pay attention to what I select.
I settle on an old movie that I’ve seen dozens of times. Ethan doesn’t mind, so we sit in the living room, me on the couch and Ethan on the floor leaning into my leg, his head on my knee. My heart flutters at the simple display of intimacy. Something I’ve never felt before.
After twenty or so minutes, the doorbell rings. Ethan gets up to grab the food and I take a seat on the floor, moving closer to the coffee table. I’ve never felt comfortable eating on his couch. It looks expensive and I would hate to spill anything on it.
Ethan puts the food on the table and sits on the floor beside me. He pulls containers out and slides mine in front of me,along with a fork he grabbed from the kitchen. He drags his food closer and opens it up, inhaling the spicy fragrance obnoxiously. I wrinkle my nose, making him laugh. He picks up his fork to spear food onto it, but I grab his hand. When he looks at me, I duck my head, but don’t let his hand go.
