But I had to admit he was fun. And when one of the upperclassmen in theater club tried to take credit for something I’d come up with, Ethan stuck up for me, proving to the teacher-sponsor that it had been my idea. So, when he’d asked me out to the homecoming dance, I’d said yes.
And when Alexis had met him the night of the dance, she’d flirted with him. At the time I just rolled my eyes and Ethan was polite to her. I never thought that I needed to keep an eye on either of them. If I remember correctly, the following week Alexis started hanging out with another boy, so she was just a born flirt.
I shake my head and step away from Alexis’ room, forcing myself to go to the bathroom, to take the bath I promised myself. Ethan never ever did anything to show that he was even remotely interested in Alexis while we dated all through high school. He practically ignored her. That was part of why it had come as such a shock that he’d hooked up with her years later.
I head into the bathroom, trying to push any thought of Ethan out of my mind. Seeing him again, without my sister at his side, had thrown me into a tailspin. I need to get my bearings. He’s actually looking really good, some quiet little voice in my head points out, but even thinking about him that way turns my stomach. How can I think the guy who broke my heart is looking good? Especially when he’s in mourning for my sister? It’s wrong, I’m obviously just under too much stress, reacting to the news that my sister wanted me to take care of her daughter if she died.
I turn on the water and close the door and start taking off my clothes, intent on putting Ethan, as well as the situation with raising Riley together, out of my mind for at least an hour.
Chapter Six
Lara
I’m in bed, and in spite of the long bath, my legs still feel heavy and sore, my arms a little achy, but I can’t fall asleep no matter how I try. I’m just too restless. I turn over onto my side and try to not think about Ethan, only a few doors down the hall away from me.
I wanted, and want, nothing at all to do with Ethan. My sister’s request in her will means that if I honor it, which seems like the best decision for everyone, I’ll have to talk to Ethan, and be involved in his life on at least a weekly basis, if not more often than that.
I finally figure that there’s no way I’m going to get to sleep any time soon, and decide that it would be better to just go downstairs to the living room and maybe read or watch TV for a little bit, until my mind is a bit more at ease.
I get out of the bed and pad out of my room, listening hard to make sure that I’m the only one awake in the house. I can’t hear Dad, or Riley, and by now I assume that Ethan has gone to sleep with his daughter, so I should be in the clear. I have no idea what books Dad still has hanging around, but there should be something worth reading.
But as I get to the bottom of the stairs, I see light coming from the living room and sigh to myself. Dad must have left the lamp on, I think as I reach the end of the stairs. Of course, I remind myself quickly, that just means that it’s more convenient for me to read something, and there’s no risk of running into the coffee table or anything like that.
Instead, I see Ethan sitting in the living room, looking at something on his phone. I consider retreating back up the stairs, pretending nothing happened, and maybe taking another bath in the hopes that the second one will make me fall asleep. Ethan looks up from his phone and that option evaporates.
“Hey,” I say quietly.
“Oh, hey,” Ethan says. “I didn’t wake you up coming down here, did I?”
I shake my head. “No, I just couldn’t sleep,” I admit. I sit down on the couch and immediately feel uncomfortable.
“Yeah, same,” Ethan tells me. I look at him and notice how the past week has changed him. Ethan is a tall muscular guy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He usually had a smile on his face, but after what he’s been through, I can tell that he is carrying the weight of everyone and everything on his shoulders.
“It’s gotta be hard, after…” I press my lips together.
“I’m just used to her being there, you know?”
I nod at Ethan’s statement because just the thought of it makes me want to cry. I’m not even sure anymore if I’m more upset for him, and Riley, or at the fact that I’m having to relive some of the worst moments of my life, of when I found out that Ethan and Alexis had hooked up.
“Riley’s sleeping okay?”
Ethan picks up a baby monitor and waggles it with a wry smile. “How are you holding up, Lara?”
I think about it for a moment and don’t really know what to say. “I’m… okay, I guess,” I say finally, a little touched that he asks after me considering that his entire world has just been rocked and nothing will ever be the same.
I look around the living room and all I can think of is the day I found out that Alexis had seeing Ethan. I’d come home after getting my degree, and right there in the living room, Alexis and Ethan had
