The Rules of the Game

Chapter 22 - Don't Fall In Love With Me

"But then again, some things start as unrequited. But if you find something you want so much, then you have to fight for it," he told me.

I looked at him but the light turned green and he fixed his eyes forward once more. Was he talking about his ex? Was this exactly why he was still fighting for her? Did he think she was the one for him?

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded.

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."

My eyes widened.

"Wow. A quote from Shakespeare!"

He turned towards me briefly and flashed me that smile that made my insides melt. Then, he ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, since we're blurting out random quotes, you know?" he said in a teasing tone.

I burst out laughing. "So you believe that?" I mimicked his earlier question.

Ethan nodded. "The popular interpretation is that it's just a fancier way of saying love is blind and does not look at the physical. For me, it means that sometimes, what you're looking for might be directly in front of you but you don't recognize it until you look deeper."

Whoosh.

There it goes again.

I smiled. "You should write a book about that," I teased. Ethan shook his head and looked horrified. "God, no. I don't know the first thing about writing a book. It will turn out scattered like my thoughts," he said.

"I don't think your thoughts are scattered. Actually, I enjoy our conversations very much. I feel like I could talk to you about anything and neither of us will get bored."

His face got serious and his hand gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Don't fall in love with me, Alexis."

I wasn't sure I heard him right. "What?"

He turned to me and smiled. "I was kidding," he answered and then laughed. Hearing that did strange things to my equilibrium.

"Ha-ha. Is that a line from A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks?" I replied. I heard him loud and clear, though. He was right. He wasn't somebody I should fall in love with.

"That goes both ways, Ethan. Don't you dare fall in love with me," I whispered.

Don't fall in love with me. I know you'll break my heart like the others did. But I have this feeling that with you, I'll never recover.

Yet again, he laughed and a shiver slid down my spine. He thought I was teasing but if he only knew what was going on inside my head, he'd be out of here so fast he'd be gone the moment I blinked.

"Why don't you tell me about her?" Yes, I know what I'm doing. I'm opening the proverbial can of worms but I'm doing it to safeguard my heart the only way I know how.

"Her?" he shot back.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I loved her the only way I know how. It wasn't enough. She wanted my time and that wasn't something I was able to give her enough of."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing."

"Time is relative, you know," I told him. He raised an eyebrow as though asking me to continue.
"Life is busy and we're all busy. We could only have an hour to give but to someone that understands and appreciates, that hour could equal days."