Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
I close the distance, and our mouths are almost touching. “I don’t need your help or your pity, E. Now, get out of my room.”
Ethan cups my shoulders with his big hands. “I’m calling my personal shopper at Boyds whether you like it or not.”
“You’re impossible,” I counter. “Whatever. I don’t see why you’re so insistent on me going out with you and Will tonight. The last thing I want to do is watch skanky women grind on you.”
“Good,” he growls. “Because the only woman I want grinding on me is you.”
I gasp at his comment.
Ethan is making this living situation too hard for me. And we’re only less than twenty-four hours into the arrangement. I won’t last a month with him invading my personal space, all while forcing me to confront my feelings for him.
“You can’t turn this on and off whenever you see fit, Ethan. Will is your best friend, and I’m his sister. He will kill both of us. Don’t act like you like me one minute and hate me the next. Even Will is starting to notice the subtle things you do and say to me. When Will saw your hand on my knee at the Wells Fargo Center, I thought he was going to rip your face off.”
He cups the side of my cheek with his hand and whispers, “He doesn’t have to find out. You’re a big girl now, Mia. You can make your own decisions without your brother there to hold your hand.”
I lean into his touch and sigh. “Stop torturing me, Ethan.”
“I think I’m torturing myself more than you,” he says under his breath.
“Are you ready?” Will says from the doorway.
When I step back, Ethan removes his hand from my face and shoves it into his jeans pocket. Pretending around Will is hard for both of us. I have no idea how to handle the sexual tension that burns like a lit match with Ethan. My brother senses it. He’s not stupid. Despite our attempts to conceal the truth, my brother will eventually walk in at the wrong moment and kill us both.
I turn my back to Ethan and sift through my closet, dragging the hangers along the metal bar. “Give me a few minutes. Okay?”
“You don’t have anything to wear,” Ethan points out. “Let me call my girl at Boyds. What size do you wear?”
I glance at him over my shoulder. “None of your business.”
His eyes rake over my body. “Size two?” He stops when he reaches my breasts and takes in the size of them. I almost laugh at his comment. There’s no way in hell my curvy ass is fitting into a size two.
“We don’t have time to fuck around in department stores,” Will says, throwing his hands on his hips, his jaw set in irritation. “Find something to wear and let’s go. We’re going to a club, not a wedding. No one will care what you have on as long as it’s passable to get in the front door.”
This time, Ethan doesn’t bother to argue. He keeps his mouth shut and follows Will out of my bedroom. I close the door behind them and lean against it.
With Ethan out of my sight, I can finally breathe. For now.
After we leave Mia in her room to get dressed, I follow Will into the living room. He kicks back on the couch across from me, shooting daggers in my direction.
Fuck, how much did he see and hear? I lose my head when I’m around Mia. Despite my feelings for her, I can’t lose my best friend over unresolved issues from the past.
We hold each other’s gaze for a few seconds before I lean back against the couch. I cough to clear the lump forming at the back of my throat.
Will studies my face as he reaches for the television remote on the coffee table between us. “What were you doing with my sister?”
“I was only trying to help her get ready.”
Will clicks on the television and flips through the channels, shaking his head. “That’s not what it looked like to me. Do you like Mia? You know, you can tell me if you do.”
Yeah, right. The second I say I do I’ll catch a fist to the jaw. I know firsthand just how dirty Will plays on and off the ice. And I would deserve every single punch for the thoughts I’ve had about his sister.
“No,” I lie. “I don’t like Mia. Not like that. She’s too proud to admit she needs help from us, and she has nothing decent to wear. I offered to have my girl at Boyds pick something out for her. It wasn’t a big deal. Don’t read into it.”
“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. Thanks for helping Mia out. She won’t take anything from me.” He blows out a puff of air and drops the remote onto the coffee table in front of us. Will folds his arms over his chest and leans back with his eyes focused on the flat screen. “You ready for next week’s game?” Will asks without looking away from the television. “We barely made it into the playoffs this year.”