What the hell is she thinking?
She knows that I’m moving in to take care of a child, a young child that will probably be curious enough to go through my stuff. Imagine if she found it, I’d be mortified.
Besides, he's my boss. I can't think about him like that. I don’t want to think about him like that.
Putting the packaging in the wastepaper basket next to my dresser, I decide to stash it in my underwear drawer — It’s the top drawer in a tall dresser so hopefully, if I bury it towards the back, she won’t be able to reach it if she ever tries to use my clothes for dress up or anything.
It's got to be a joke.
Lexi is always teasing me about how embarrassed I get when it comes to talking about sex, but it’s supposed to be something that is private. A sensual experience that stays between the two people involved. That’s how different we are though— I believe that sex is something that should be reserved for someone you really care about and she just looks at it as some kind of hobby.
Picking up one of my favourite books I curl up on the bed, my back against the black buttoned headboard pulling the heavy knitted throw over me and beginning to read.
I get about six pages in and then there's a light knock at the door.
“Two seconds.” I call, picking myself up off the bed and trying to straighten up my clothes but as I take a step, Ethan's head pops around the door. I hope he doesn't make a habit of just inviting himself into my room.
“Madison should be home in about an hour and I'm ordering food. I thought we could go over everything while we eat.” He pauses, “Unless you have other plans.” he rubs the back of his neck, waiting for me to respond.
“Oh, I... yeah sure.” The words stutter out before I have time to think of an excuse.
What is it about this guy that turns my brain to mush?
“Pepperoni pizza okay?” he asks with a warm smile that puts my nerves at ease.
“Sounds good. I'll be right there.”
Trying to find my way to the kitchen is a lot easier than I thought it would be and while we're waiting for the food to arrive, Ethan shows me around the place.
As big as the house looks from the outside, I realise that the main living area is all off the same corridor, with the exception of Madison's room which is up on the mezzanine floor along with her play area.
The rest of the space is filled with gym equipment, a small octagon surrounded by training mats and excitement bubbles up inside me when he shows me the swimming pool. All of which I have full access to when he is not training.
I'm not really sure when I'll get to use it, between the extensive schedule he's given me for Madison and the three training sessions he has almost every single day, my time is going to be pretty limited but I'm sure I'll figure it out once I've settled in.
We make our way back to the kitchen, and he fills me in on his gruesome training schedule. I had absolutely no idea how much dedication and hard work it takes to be a professional fighter. I'm still not happy that it's even a job that someone can do in the first place but at least it requires a bit more discipline than I originally thought.
“Drink?” he asks, pouring himself a glass of syrupy amber liquid as we stand in awkward silence.
“I'll just grab a water, thanks.” I make my way to the fridge as the doorbell echoes off the high ceilings and Ethan disappears momentarily before returning with a huge, steaming pizza.
“I thought you'd be into all this super healthy stuff.” I watch him stuff slice after slice into his mouth. "You know, because of your training." How the heck does he eat like that, and still look like that!
“Training officially starts tomorrow so this weekend has been a bit of a blow-out, but my diet doesn’t get too strict until towards the end of camp. I'm just glad you're not one of those girls who like pineapple on their pizza.” He retorts, stuffing another slice of pizza in his mouth, we hear the front door open and seconds later, a little brunette runs in.
“Daddy!” She throws her arms around his neck, grinning from ear to ear.
“Well doesn't this look cosy.” Suddenly Sarah is behind me and I can feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. She doesn't seem pleased to see me.
“Ethan's just been going over my schedule with me, so I'm all ready for tomorrow.” She doesn't respond but I sense some hostility towards me, nothing like the welcoming woman I met when I arrived for the interview.
“Sarah, go wait in my study. I need to speak to you about the fight.” Sarah stomps away and Ethan pulls Madison into a huge hug before introducing us.
She eyes me curiously, before shrugging and walking away without saying a word.
“It's okay, she probably just needs some time to adjust to a new person being in the house.” Ethan reassures me but my heart is heavy and the fear of not being able to handle this hits me like a ton of bricks.
Excusing myself, I go back to my room to try call Lexi but there's no answer, so I decide to call my mum, hoping she'll give me one of those pep talks she used to give me as a child. It rings five times before she eventually picks up. “Mum.”
“Oh, hello darling. Is everything alright? Hang on a second dear.” She seems distracted and I can hear lots
