Page 18 of Lovestrung

“Wait, are those Mama’s cookies?” Parker yelled after me. I nodded quickly at him, but I didn’t have time to answer Daddy’s question, figuring Mama would fill him in.

“Hey, you need to share them.” Max was hopping around on one foot, struggling to get his waders off, but I just rolled my eyes at him.

“There’s plenty of cookies to go around,” Mama said as she joined us in the hall, but my patience had run out, and I resumed running back to the sitting room. I was consumed with spending time with Ethan now that he seemed to want my company, and I couldn’t get to him quickly enough.

* * *

The rest of that summer was spent with Ethan. Every day, he’d tell me more about himself, and we could spend hours outside in the garden up in my treehouse that Daddy had built years ago. Sometimes, Parker and Max joined us, but even though they were closer to Ethan’s age than I was, they didn’t want to spend all their free time with their little sister.

Fine by me.

I had Ethan, and he had me.

4

Hurt Hearts

Present Day

Exhausted in both mind and body, I fell down on my bed after having taken a quick shower. My pillow felt like heaven and yet I couldn’t fall asleep.

The night had been a whirlwind of emotions, all raging for first place in my head, and now, I was wondering if I’d been better off taking Ella up on her offer and head to her place after my failed date ended.

Then again, if I had, I wouldn’t have seen Ethan and gotten the chance to clear the air between us.

Well, if you could call our argument and our subsequent truce clearing the air.

Now that I was alone, my thoughts veered off to many moments in our childhood, running through me in flashes of images as if it was a movie.

Ethan smiling excited at me the first time Dad took us out on his boat that first summer when he came to live with us.

Ethan climbing an apple tree in the orchard because I was too scared to do it myself, handing me one delicious apple after another.

Ethan helping me with my math homework when I was twelve, and I couldn’t figure out geometry. To this day, I still felt it was a complete waste of my time.

I grabbed a pillow and placed it over my head, the urge to scream in frustration difficult to overcome, but I didn’t want to risk waking up the house so all the sound I let out was a muffled grunt.

A knock on my door made me spring up in bed, my long hair crackling with static.

It had to be Ethan knocking on my door at – I glanced at the clock on my bedside table – almost midnight.

When the knock came again, this time a bit louder, I pushed my hair away from my lips.

“Come in,” I called out softly.

When he peeked his head inside, I attempted a smile but when the rest of his body came into my line of sight, my mouth popped open in shock.

Bare-chested, small droplets of water clung to his skin, making my mouth water at the sight of his chiseled abs, but when my eyes locked in on the towel wrapped around his lower body, I swallowed hard.

I’d had sex with a couple of guys before, but none of them had had a body as glorious as Ethan’s. Despite having muscles, he was not bulky in any way. Lean and toned, with a six-pack that made me want to shake my fist at the heavens, demanding an explanation for putting temptation in my path, and finally, a narrow, dark-haired happy trail that disappeared down…oh, lord, my eyes landed on his crotch hidden behind the towel. I could practically hear the crackling as my brain short-circuited.

Immediately, I lifted my head, determined to get my befuddled brain to start up again.

“What do you want?” I squeaked as Ethan opened his mouth.

He frowned at me.

“Are you all right?”