Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Thirty-One - Ethan's POV

It had been a full five minutes since Mia had chased Damien around the side of the lake. After Mia started yelling at him to stop hitting the ducks, the little nightmare had done a runner on her and the two had now disappeared out of sight.

Never in my life, had I been so grateful that Dylan was such an angel of a child. I'd honestly stab myself in the face if I had to look after Damien the little brat.

Suddenly I heard a loud childlike whine. "My ears hurt," a voice cried.

Looking up from the bench, I locked eyes with little Damien who was being dragged by his ear by a very pissed-looking Mia. A still hot Mia, of course, but still undeniably pissed.

That wasn't the only thing that struck me about Mia. I also immediately noticed that every last inch of her body was now soaked, and her hair had fallen free and was now dripping profusely everywhere. Damien, on the other hand, was unsurprisingly completely dry.

The second I locked eyes with her, I couldn't help myself and immediately burst into laughter, having a strong hunch about how she got that way. Something told me it had everything to do with Damien.

"What the hell happened to you?" I choked out between cackles of laughter.

Mia looked more irritated at the sight of my amusement, but this only made me laugh harder. I know I was supposed to be trying to get officially back in her good books, but it was just too funny not to laugh.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a dick...

Mia threw another dirty look to Damien who she still had in a tight ear grip. It reminded me clearly why it was best not to get on her bad side. As much as I loved the idea of Mia dragging me around after her; ear squeezing wasn't really my thing.

"Well, Damien here, thought it would be funny to chuck me in the lake. Didn't you?" she snapped as she threw him a heated glare.

Damien started to giggle hysterically, clearly not giving one gram of a fuck about pissing Mia off.

"Why the hell didn't you just stay in the playground?" Mia yelled.

"I wanted to go swimming," Damien shrugged as though this was a completely justifiable reason.

Mia closed her eyes and looked like she was trying to hold herself back from bitch slapping this child.

Suddenly, my mind went back to his earlier words. He wanted to go swimming. And I had a pool at my house...

The mechanics of my brain immediately started turning, and soon I discovered the perfect plan to trick Mia into coming home with me. If I lured the little brat that was Damien into my home, then Mia would also follow. Then boom, I get multiple hours of alone time with Mia which after a week of not talking to her, I really needed.

"I have a pool at my house. You can come and use ours if you want," I intercepted in while throwing a fake smile Damien's way.

Take the bait kid. Take the fucking bait so I can steal your hot babysitter.

Mia's brows furrowed in worry. "No, Ethan. I'm not sure that's a great idea...," she said with slight hesitancy. It took all the strength in the world, not to slam my head into a brick wall after she spoke. Why the hell was she not cooperating with my plan to trap her with me?

"Yes, please. I want to go, I want to go," Damien begged as he jumped up and down in excitement.

Yes, Mia listen to your cousin and come home with me where you belong.

Mia scowled at Damien. "You don't deserve to go swimming; you've been incredibly naughty. And besides, I'm soaked to the skin, thanks to you."

Immediately seeing yet another opportunity to get my way, I cleared my throat. "Chubs, it's fine, you can borrow something of mine," I quickly added with a smile.