Page 3 of She Was Mine First

Our small town knew who my father was, and he never let me forget it. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great dad and I loved him very much, but appearances were his top priority. He constantly reminded me that my bad decisions would reflect on our family, and I took that advice seriously.

Ethan’s life was very different from mine. He lived a few blocks from my house, outside the gates of the private community where I lived. His mom passed away from cancer when he was a baby, so he didn’t remember her at all. His father didn’t handle her death well, and Ethan’s uncle adopted him instead. He moved in with his mom’s brother before he started preschool. So his uncle was raising him and worked a lot.

Despite how often I asked Ethan over the years, he never spoke about his father. Since his uncle was not part of my father’s elite country club or an important figure in our town, my dad wasn’t fond of our friendship.

However, this was where my mom came through for me. She stepped in to remind Dad that this was my life, and I could choose who I wanted to be friends with as long as they weren’t a bad influence, which was the only reason my father didn’t object. Ethan’s family wasn’t on the same status as mine, but he was wicked smart. His grades and academic achievements were in the top 10 percent of our middle school, and everyone knew who he was.

Teachers.

Principals.

Parents.

They all wanted their kids to use him as an example. My mom always had my back when it came to our friendship. I think what bothered my father the most was that Ethan was a boy instead of girl best friend like most girls my age had.

Thank God he worked around the clock, so I never really worried about him running into Ethan in our house, but even when they did cross paths, my mom was the housewife and caretaker at the end of the day. My father might make the rules, but she enforced them, and lucky for me, she liked Ethan a lot.

“Come on, Livvy!” Ethan shouted. “You’re dragging your feet!”

“I’m just trying not to break my neck on this dumb skateboard!”

“Stop being so dramatic and kick your foot faster like I taught you!”

It didn’t matter how fast I kicked my foot. I’d never be able to catch up to him. My legs were much shorter than his, and he knew it too. Ethan was baiting me. It was one of his favorite things to do, along with endlessly teasing me.

I yelled back out of breath, “I am kicking my foot, Ethan!”

“Stop being a girl and kick your foot faster!”

“Ugh!”

By the time I caught up to him, it was only because he stopped at the end of the street to wait for me. This was Ethan to a T. One minute, he was picking on me. The next, he was handing me a ladybug that he always seemed to find for me. They meant love and good luck, and he knew how much I loved them.

I smiled. “How do you always find them?”

“What can I say?” He grinned. “The ladies love me.”

I rolled my eyes, scoffing out a chuckle. “Humble much?”

“I’m just stating facts.”

He wasn’t lying. Girls had been flocking to my best friend ever since I could remember. They never mattered, though. Ethan didn’t show any interest in their attention. He wasn’t like normal fourteen-year-old boys obsessed with boobs and getting to second base.

Despite being popular and having friends who were exactly that, Ethan was quiet.

Reserved.

Kind of broody.

Very serious.

Especially when we were around other people.

He could always read them for what they were, and he didn’t let anyone see the sides of him that he openly showed me when we were alone. I loved having him to myself when I didn’t have to share him with anyone. I never thought anything of it.

What girl wants to share her best friend?

I thought the feelings I had for him were normal.

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