I shifted nervously in my seat as I finished explaining, or more accurately lying to Dylan about why Mia was on my back.
I couldn't exactly tell him that I had blackmailed Mia into sitting on me, so I could mentally live out my shamefully perverted fantasies. Instead, I vaguely explained to him that I had a sore back which Mia had kindly offered to stretch out.
Dylan blinked back at the three of us, all our words seeming to pass straight over his little head.
Then before I knew it, the look of boredom in his eyes vanished, and a giddy smile overtook his face.
At once, he skipped his way over to my sofa and launched himself onto me. I anticipated it easily and caught him with a laugh. Deciding to torture him a little, I started to tickle him, causing his arms and legs to flail about as he shrieked with laughter.
As I moved about, I briefly caught Mia's eyes from where she still lay on the sofa across from me. She had a loose smile upon her lips and was watching the two of us intently with visible amusement in her eyes.
Shit, shit, shit. She thinks it's cute. She thinks it's cute. Act cool. Act cool.
Trying my best not to smile too wildly, I averted my eyes and focused my attention back on tickling Dylan.
"Stop, Ethan, Stop," Dylan screeched out, his words interwoven by laughter. I eased up a little, deciding to let him catch some breath.
Dylan looked up at me. "Can we play Mario-Karts?" He asked with eyes all widened and innocent. I playfully rolled my eyes at his request, knowing how obsessed he was with Mario karts.
"Yeah, sure, little D," I said with a light chuckle.
As soon as the nickname departed my lips, I shifted my eyes over to Lucas who was sat on the armchair to my left. Lucas looked as though he was on the brink of laughter, and the two of us exchanged a brief knowing look.
The two of us had decided to give him that nickname because we thought it would be funny when he grew to be a teenager and realized how offensive it was. I honestly had the most beautiful image of Dylan bringing home some girl or boy one day; and then me ruining it with a 'Hey, little D' greeting. It would be priceless.
Yeah, I know, I know, we were bullies...
Shaking my smile off my face, I set up the TV. Grabbing the control remotes from the cupboard, I handed one over to an eager Dylan who had moved to sit cross-legged on the floor.
Before I pressed play on the game, I snuck a look at Mia. I was surprised to find her looking at me, but she rapidly averted her gaze the moment our eyes met. My lips tugged up a little, liking that I had caught her staring at me.
Now, all there was left to do was to impress her with my racing skills...
Okay, long story short, I lost to a 6-year-old. And even worse, with an audience present.
As Dylan's baby Mario character did a victory lap around the track, an awkward silence drowned the air. I didn't even dare look in Mia's direction, not wanting to face the humiliation.
"Ethan, you suck," Lucas cackled rudely.
His words only intensified the shame I felt, and I prayed to every god I knew of that I wasn't turning red.
"Why don't you try and beat him then, Lucas? It's harder than it looks." I bit back.
"Okay, I will," Lucas smirked, not seeming the tiniest bit intimidated.
Approximately five minutes later, I laughed my arse off as Lucas crossed the finish line at eighth place, which just so happened to be seven places behind Dylan.
Lucas frowned. "Whatever, man, this game is rigged," he whined as he threw the remote control onto the floor angrily.
"Do you want to play?" Dylan asked.
I swerved my head towards him in confusion and found him staring at Mia with big and pleading eyes.
The sight of their interaction was warming, but that feeling soon faded as Mia's ankle caught my attention. It was still startlingly red and propped up on a cushion on the footrest. The idea of her tossing and turning on a couch worried me.
I looked down at Dylan softly. "Sorry, little buddy, Mia can't play; she needs to rest. She has a poorly foot," I explained gently.
Mia narrowed her eyes. "Relax, Ethan, I hurt my ankle not my hands. Pass me the remote, of course, I'll play," she said, all the while rolling those soft brown eyes of hers.
The look she was giving me was both fierce, yet hypnotizing so giving in, I picked the remote off the floor and walked over to her sofa to hand it to her.
God, she made me such a push-over...
Flopping back down onto the sofa opposite, I watched as the game between Dylan and Mia begun. It didn't take long for the two of them to start laughing and giggling as a character they both agreed they hated got blown up with a bullet.
Despite the sinister and odd nature of their bonding, I couldn't help but smile along with them. There was something special about watching the two people I was most protective of in the world play happily with each other.
Abruptly, a heavyweight dropped down beside me. "Fits right into the family, doesn't she?" a voice whispered in my ear.
I jumped a little in surprise before swerving my head to the side to find a smirking Lucas sat right beside me.
Calming myself down a bit, I rolled my eyes. "Don't even start," I said, knowing exactly where he was going to go with this.
Lucas chuckled softly. "You're a terrible person, you know," he mumbled, with a wisp of a smile on his face.
I furrowed my brows. "Why?" I asked cautiously.
He shook his head with a tut. "Poor innocent little Mia was just giving you a nice friendly massage, and you had to make it all inappropriate with that overly keen dick of yours, didn't you?" he whispered.
My face heated up like crazy at the reminder of what I had done.
It certainly wasn't my most honorable of moments...
I quickly stole a look over to Mia to check she hadn't overheard her name. I eased up when I saw her eyes, still focused on the television.
"Shut up; she might hear you," I hissed, pushing him on the shoulder roughly.
"Good, she deserves to hear, what your horny-arse has done," he whispered, smirking his head off.
When I sent him another warning glare, he started to cackle softly under his breath.
Officially fed up, I lifted my foot up and gave Lucas a solid kick to the stomach, so he went flying off the sofa.
"Oomph," he groaned as he landed with a thud on the ground.
Neither Dylan nor Mia looked in his direction, still focused on their race. Lucas soon brushed himself off the ground before mouthing bitch at me.
I sent him a little wave goodbye and watched in satisfaction as he returned to his seat on the armchair.
A few minutes later, I watched with a snort as Dylan crossed the first-place finish line once again. Mia followed shortly after in second place, and I couldn't help but feel a little impressed.
Weirdly, her being better at video game racing than me was oddly hot...
Interrupting my horn-fess, Dylan came bouncing up to me, turning my attention his way. "Can we play soccer now? Please...," he begged.
My heart softened as he jutted out his bottom lip; and widened his eyes as big as they could go. The cuteness of his face made me want to say yes, but then I thought of Mia and her broken ankle. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to leave her here all by herself.
Okay, fine, and maybe because I liked hanging out with her...
I looked down at Dylan with a guilty smile. "I'm sorry buddy, but I can't. Mia needs to rest, and someone needs to stay to keep her company. Lucas will play with you though," I said, throwing Lucas a look that quite clearly communicated: 'Please do me a solid, so I can shamelessly flirt with Mia in private.'
Lucas's eyes sparkled with humor, receiving my message loud and clear. Standing up, he smiled down at my little brother. "Of course, I will," he laughed.
Grabbing hold of him, he playfully threw a giggling kicking Dylan over his shoulder. Then off the two of them headed towards the direction of the garden.
Before they rounded the corner, Lucas threw us a smirk over his shoulder. "Remember guys, no glove, no love."
Embarrassed burned through me like a wildfire, and all I could do was freeze and stare as Lucas trotted off like the little shit stirrer that he was.
I was going to kill him.
I sat rigidly on the sofa as several seconds of awkward ticked by, then several more. Eventually, I plucked up the courage to move to the armchair by her side, hoping the movement would dissipate the rising tension.
Soon enough, Mia moved her eyes over to me. I swallowed, feeling a little intimidated under her gaze.
She raised up an eyebrow. "You know you didn't have to stay with me, right? I'm more than happy by myself."
Her eyes, big and beautiful watched me carefully, and seemed to be hypnotizing me in a way that made it hard to look away from. "Yeah, I know, but I wanted to," I mumbled, the words leaving my mouth before I could stop them.
Her eyes widened, and she looked me up and down, looking a little freaked out.
Shit, she's realizing you like her, look away, look the fuck away!
I rapidly averted my eyes to collect myself before turning back to her with a more easy expression.
"But only because I still haven't finished tormenting you," I added in quickly. " That's the whole reason you're here. Remember?" I said, cracking a loose grin.
And so I can pathetically live out my fantasies of this being a date...
She gave me a deadened look. "Yeah, how could I forget," she muttered drily, clearly thinking back to the mess that got her into this in the first place.
The memory of it brought a smile to my face. Mia Collins had truly and willingly broken into my room. And even better left her phone.
Suddenly remembering all the fun I had with her phone, I chuckled and looked over at her teasingly.
"Did you like the little surprise I left for you on your phone?" I questioned. My heart thumped a little in excitement, secretly hoping my half-naked photo got her at the very least to blush.
She shot me a glare. "Which one, the photo or the ringtone?" she said, letting out an incredulous scoff.
"Both," I laughed, my smile widening even further.
"Well, the photo was nauseating enough to put me off my lunch, and I don't even want to talk about the ringtone. What the hell is wrong with you Ethan? The my neck my back song. Really? How old are you five?" she said while shaking her head at me in disbelief.
Though she was trying to hide it, a wisp of a smile rested on her lips as though secretly amused.
I sobered my face up. "The song speaks to my soul," I said, nodding my head along in an attempt to appear serious.
"If that's the way your soul speaks, that explains a lot," she laughed, cracking a grin. My gaze immediately dropped to her lips, unable to help myself. She had such a beautiful smile.
My gaze soon drifted to her ankle – it was still propped up on the edge of the sofa, and though the ice pack concealed most of it, it still looked as sore as ever.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital to get your ankle checked out?" I asked cautiously, feeling a little paranoid that it might be broken after all.
She let out a break of a chuckle. "No, it's fine. I think I'll live."
Clearing my throat, I let a lazy smile overtake my face. "Just to let you know your punishment is over, Chubs. I think you've suffered enough today to satisfy me."
"You think?" she scoffed sarcastically.
As she shook her head at me, she rummaged around in her pocket before pulling out her phone.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, crap, is that the time? I need to go home. I said I would be home for dinner," she said as she rapidly pocketed her phone.
An embarrassingly large wave of disappointment washed through me, but I kept my eyes still in an effort to come across as nonchalant. If I let my mask drop even the tiniest bit more, who knows what embarrassing shit I'd spit out in an effort to keep her with me.
Mia looked over at her ankle and shifted in her seat as though preparing to get up.
Barely needing to think, I was off my seat and by her side in a second. "Woah, who said you could walk on it yet?" I scolded, my words coming out harsh to the sound.
She was out of her fucking mind if she thought I was going to let her walk on it and hurt herself some more.
Instead of biting my head off for scolding her as I suspected her to, her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Sorry, Dr. Ethan," she snickered.
Her words made me pause for a fraction of a second, feeling strangely turned on by how those words sounded on her tongue.
Hmm, maybe there could be a little doctor-patient role-play session in our future where I could...
Focus, you horny fuck, focus! Get your mind out of the gutter for once in your life.
Turning my face away so she couldn't see my rapidly burning cheeks, I grabbed my car keys and put my jacket on in preparation to leave.
"I'll carry you to the car," I announced, perhaps a little too abruptly. She gave me a hesitant look.
"You really don't have to -"
"No, don't even bother arguing," I interrupted with a frown, knowing she was going to justify that she could walk there all by herself.
Before she could get another word in, I bent over her. Scooping, one hand under her legs, and the other around her waist, I lifted her to my chest.
She stiffened slightly with surprise and hooked an arm around my neck on reflex. I swallowed nervously, enraptured by the electrifying warmth of her. Her face was excitingly close to mine, and she spared me a brief look before rapidly looking away. Adjusting her a little in my grip, and selfishly wrapping my hands a little tighter around her, I started to make my way out of the house.
And I would be lying if I didn't admit I walked there way slower than I needed to. After all, only a fool would shorten the length of time they get to hold their crush.
To my disappointment, we eventually reached the car. Being as careful as I could, I lowered her down into the passenger seat, and once she was all snugly in, I reached over for the seatbelt and clicked it into place.
As I pulled away from her, I found her looking at me as though I had magically grown two heads.
"I've been doing my seatbelt myself for a while now Ethan...," she snorted. I paused, realizing how weird what I did truly was.
Great, going, Ethan, now she thinks you're a freak.
"Oh yeah, Sorry. I kind of forgot you could do it....," I just about mumbled out. I rapidly avoided eye contact, not wanting to lie victim under her likely judging gaze.
With an awkward cough, I closed her door carefully before making my way to my side of the door and climbing in.
As I peeled the car out of my driveway, and onto the road, a comforting silence settled between the two of us. It wasn't awkward, more reflective, and it was kind of nice.
Every once in a while, I felt her eyes move my way. I hadn't a clue what she was thinking, but if I were to guess, she was probably wondering why I've been acting like such a weirdo. I had broken act terrible tonight, perhaps worse than ever. I had acted like the most love-struck, moon-eyed boy of the century.
It was pathetic.
So, deep in thought, I barely even registered that we were already on her road, and with a disappointed sigh, I pulled up in front of her house.
She paused slightly before whipping her head my way. "Ethan, how do you know where I live?" she asked abruptly, confusing lacing her tone.
I froze.
Shit. Shit. Shit. This is bad. This is so fucking bad.
My eyes widened in panic, not knowing what to say. I mean, was it even possible to explain to a girl why you knew where she lived without scaring the fuck out of her?
The reason I knew where she lived wasn't because I had full-on stalked her of anything.
But I may have maybe, seen her waiting on her porch swing one time when I was driving to school...
And yes, maybe I didn't have to take note of the color of the door or recite to myself her house number, or the name of her road, or how long it takes to get there from my house to her house (which is ten minutes by the way).
But anyway, the point was I was merely being observant.
Realizing I needed to come up with a less scary answer and fast, I tried to relax my face so that I appeared calmer. "I think you mentioned living on this road a little while ago, and I know a buddy who lives on this road," I explained slowly, in what I hoped was a cool and unsuspecting tone.
A tone that hopefully said, please don't get a restraining order from me.
Her eyes still looked over me a little warily, but to my absolute relief, she didn't question me further.
Pulling the car into park, I unbuckled my seatbelt before making my way over to the side of her door.
Again, trying not to smile, I lifted her back into my arms and welcomed back the familiar warmth of her. Once we reached the front door, I quickly reached over to give the doorbell a ring.
The second I did, Mia stiffened in my arms and swiped her head towards me. "Why the hell did you do that? I have a key," she cried, her eyes widened in what looked like heart-stopping fear.
I furrowed my eyebrows deeply, worried why she was so worked up. I was amazing with adults.
I mean, not to sound cocky, but what parent wouldn't like a boy who outwardly presents as a straight-A, athletic, respectful boy. I was literally a virgin and everything! I was basically every parent's wet dream.
You know besides my minor stalking issues...
And the violence issues...
And the whole, being partly raised by a psychopathic piece of shit...
But you know besides, all that internal shit, I appeared pretty good externally.
Before I got a chance to question, the door swung open, and I looked up reflectively. I was just about to smile and introduce myself in a one-day-I'll-be-your-daughters-boyfriend kind of way, but then I froze.
Stood on the doorstep was a completely unfriendly-looking monster of a man who I instantly recognized as Mia's father. He was an averagely built man, with tufts of dark brown hair sprouting from his scalp and a mean line of a frown on his face.
His eyes narrowed in on me almost immediately, and his hate-filled eyes scanned me slowly from head to toe.
Every cell in my body was screaming at me to run away, and I would be lying if the thought of dropping Mia like a sack of potatoes and bolting didn't run through my mind.
Swallowing thickly, I shifted from foot to foot with Mia still tucked in my arms. Correction, with his only daughter, still tucked in my arms.
Disgust flickered through his eyes as he finally brought his eyes back to mine. "Who the fuck are you?" he spat.
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Author's note:
Yay, so that's chapter nine all done for you. Hope it amused you and I can't wait to share with you some more.
P.S How the hell am I making these chapters like double the original length lol? I probably need to learn how to shut up haha. Or actually, maybe Ethan needs to learn how to shut up. Yeah it's Ethan's fault..