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“Oh, she did. Then she told my parents, who just handed me a box of condoms. Thankfully, they’re doctors and logically know that preaching about abstinence doesn’t work. But yeah. Anyway, next.”
“Make it hard,” I say.
Ethan gives me a mischievous grin. “When did I get my first real boner?”
My eyes go wide. “Ethan! I didn’t mean literally.”
He snorts. “No, but I bet you don’t know.”
The truth is I don’t. Not sure how I would’ve known without him telling me anyway. “Uh, I don’t know. Thirteen?”
“Sweetheart,” Ethan drawls. “Earlier than that.”
“What? Ew.”
With a devilish smirk, he turns to me. “So I stumped you. Ha!”
I roll my eyes with a groan. “Well you gotta tell me the answer now.”
“Ten,” he says. “It was quite an experience.”
“I’m sure it was,” I say, raising my brows. “Puberty was a really awkward time for us.”
“You’re telling me. I mean, my dad did explain in great detail what it meant and the changes my body was going through. Another conversation I probably could have lived without.” He shudders.
“At least your parents had the talk with you. I learned what sex was from Hadleigh when I was twelve. One wrong click on the internet, and we were traveling down a one-way street to hell with all the porn we watched,” I admit.
“No way. Y’all looked up porn, huh?” Ethan almost gasps.
“Yep. Mom was too naïve to block those things, so it was free rein. I could’ve sworn I’d told you that, but then again, it was Hadleigh’s and my dirty little secret.” I chuckle.
“Oh, Riley and Diesel introduced me to the dark side of the internet around the same time. I couldn’t unsee what they showed me,” he says. “So you failed. I think it’s official. I know more about you than you know about me.”
“There’s no way. That’d be like me asking you when I had my first orgasm—which I’m not telling. So now, ask me another one then.”
“You sure about that?” he questions.
I nod.
“What was one thing that I wanted to happen before we graduated college?”
“That’s not fair because that could be anything. But don’t tell me.” I try to take a quick stroll down memory lane. It’s so hard to remember the small details because we’ve spent so much time together over the years, and we had a handful of conversations about our future.
“You wanted to figure out a way to expand the ranch so you could start on it as soon as you moved back home,” I say confidently. It was all he ever talked about.
He grins. “Alright, that one was too easy.”
“Maybe. But I know a lot about you, Ethan Bishop. I know you like comfort food. You’d rather be up to see the sunrise than stay up and watch the sunset. Whiskey is your drink of choice. You’re a softie for romantic comedies even though you’ll deny it till the day you die, and you cried during The Lion King when Mufasa died. Also, your favorite color changes every couple of years. I think it’s green right now. Your favorite season is summer, even though you complain about the heat, and when you retire from the ranch, you want to buy a winery.”
His eyebrows raise. “Impressive. You cried at The Lion King too, by the way. And how many kids do I want?”
My breath hitches, and I realize it’s not something we’ve ever discussed, though I’m pretty sure I know the answer. “With the right woman, you’d have as many as you could.”
Ethan throws me a wink, and tingles course through me.
The interstate curves, and in the distance, I can see the green giant, an iconic building in downtown Dallas. By the time we pull up to the hotel, I realize how quick that drive went by. Though I’m not really surprised. I could spend every waking minute with Ethan and never get bored. He keeps me laughing, and we always have a good time. I think it’s why we’ve been friends for so long. That, and because he gets me on a level that no one ever has. He knows what to say and when, but he also doesn’t take my shit when I’m in a bad mood. Something else I appreciate.
When we get out of the truck, Ethan grabs my suitcase and his small duffel bag. He hands his keys to the valet, and as soon as I come around to meet him, he wraps his free arm around me and kisses my forehead. My arms snake around his waist, and I smile, knowing he’s putting on a performance but enjoying it nevertheless.
Ethan dips down and whispers in my ear, “Ready for this?”
I nod with a breathless, “Yes.”
My heart pounds so hard, I halfway wonder if he can hear it. When he pulls away, Ethan takes my hand and interlocks our fingers. We walk to the front desk like we own the place and wait in line. I love the confidence Ethan brings out in me, and I know there’s no other person who could pull this off as well as him. Right now, all eyes are on us, so Ethan hams it up and kisses my knuckles.
