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By the time the credits rolled, I was more than ready for the movie to be over.
We headed back to Ethan’s house in my car, and when I pulled up to the curb, instead of pulling into the driveway, he glanced at me like I had just punched him. “You’re not coming up to hang out?”
I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated, and suddenly annoyed at him. “I don’t know. Should I? You’re not exactly talking to me. I figured you didn’t want me around.”
A moment passed before Ethan’s gaze softened, and he was my best friend again. “Come on. When do Inotwant to hang out?”
I debated in the brief silence before turning off the ignition and following him out of the car and into the house.
“You hungry?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll take some water, though.”
Ethan headed for the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water. “Here.” He handed it to me. “My mom says hello. She’s working on the bills at the table, or she’d come out.”
I cupped my hands around my mouth and hollered, “Hello, Mrs. Brooks.”
“You wanna take these up?” Ethan asked, nodding toward the stairs.
“Sure.”
I followed Ethan up to his bedroom, where I took a seat on the edge of his bed, cross-legged. He flopped down next to me, and the awkward silence that plagued us all evening came back. His glaze-over expression returned, and I couldn’t take it anymore. Something was up, and I wanted to know what. “What’s going on?”
Ethan wouldn’t meet my eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Are you serious, Ethan?” I paused, waiting to see if he’d help me out. When he didn’t, I hesitated before I took a deep breath and plunged right into what I thought was the crux of the problem. “Are you really that mad at me for hanging out with Carson?”
His eyes slid to mine, the hazel turning amber under the soft light.
But he said nothing, which only annoyed me more. “Because if you are, that’s seriously unfair. You’ve been spending time with Beth, and I’m not all bent out of shape about it.”
“That’s different,” he said.
My mouth dropped.Seriously?“How so?”
“Because I like her. You’ve always hated Carson and now all of a sudden you guys are best buds?”
Best buds?My thoughts drifted to our kiss, and I averted my gaze, unsure of how to respond because the way I felt about Carson had grown. It was big, beyond friendship, beyond anything I had ever felt before. My heart didn’t race when I saw Ethan like it did around Carson. A flock of butterflies didn’t threaten to riot when Ethan looked into my eyes. And my skin didn’t tingle when he touched me. Not like it did with his brother.
“We’re working on the Angel Program,” I said in a feeble voice. It was a crap excuse, and I knew it. Luigi’s, his meet, lunch, even hanging out the nights we organized the supplies, both ignoring the fact that we had been dragging it out for days, were far beyond the scope of the Angel Program.
“Okay.” Ethan scoffed, his tone bitter. “The least you could do is be straight with me.”
Frustrated, I curled my nails into my palms. “Why does it matter, anyway? We’ve always had other friends. We’ve dated, too. Why does my spending time with someone else matter now?”
“Because, Mia, isn’t it obvious? He’s my brother. Mr. Life of the Party, swim-star. You guys always hated each other. And you were always the one thing he wanted that was mine.”
I flinched, and my stomach crumpled in on itself. “So you’ve been friends with me this whole time because I hated Carson? Because I was something he couldn’t have?” I shook my head, trying to understand. “What’re you even saying?”
“No, course not.” Ethan stood and started to pace, kicking a dirty pair of gym shorts on his bedroom floor before he turned toward me. He closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened them again, staring into my eyes. “It’s just. I always liked that it was you and me, ya know? I mean, sure, we have other friends. We’ve dated, but . . . I don’t know. Everything feels like it’s changing now.”
“It is. We’re older. I’ll be going to school soon. But just because I realize Carson is different than I thought, that maybe he’s not the bad guy I made him out to be, doesn’t mean things with us have to change. Aren’t you the one all these years that’s been telling me he wasn’t so bad? To give him a chance?”
“Yeah, but I never thought you’d actually listen,” he muttered. He reached up, clasping his hands behind his neck. “But now . . .”
“What?”
“You like him, right? Like, really like him.” He searched my expression for the truth, his gaze earnest.
