Ethan (Face-Off Book 5)

by Jillian Quinn

  My nipples harden from his breath on my neck and the connection we share. I missed Ethan when he was in Boston, but that man is long gone. In place of the boy I fell in love with, I got a hockey star and an arrogant one at that.

  Ethan nestles his face against my neck, his lips grazing my skin. His kisses send chills down my spine. Is he too drunk to realize he’s kissing me? Ugh. And why do I like it so much? Because I’ve wanted him to kiss me for over ten years. I can’t go from hating to liking Ethan all over again. That ship has sailed.

  Ethan perks up, taking in his surroundings with one eye open. As if we’re still kids, I place my hand on his knee. Why does everything feel so natural with Ethan? I shake the thought from my head, but the nagging in the back of my mind won’t go away. My feelings for Ethan never dissipated. The love I once felt mostly turned to hate, and on occasion, those emotions turn to lust. And I despise myself for thinking of Ethan this way.

  He sensually runs his calloused fingers down my forearm, causing the tiny hairs to stand at attention. Even in his drunken state, Ethan knows exactly what he’s doing. Everywhere our skin meets leaves a trail of fire in its wake. I want to throw him off me, but instead, I allow him to massage me. We don’t speak or make eye contact.

  “Your skin is soft like a baby,” he whispers. “I could touch you all night, my little lamb.”

  You haven’t called me that in years.

  I raise a curious eyebrow. My little lamb. My three favorite words in the English language.

  “You’re only saying that because you’re drunk. Don’t think I’ll forget about you bailing on me.”

  He sighs and leans back against the couch pillow, still rubbing my skin. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s not what you think. No matter how many times I tell you that, you don’t believe me.”

  “Then tell me why you left?”

  He moves his hand to the sofa, and I already miss his touch. “Forget it! Just go to bed, Mia.”

  Ethan pulls his shirt over his head and throws it on the floor. I lick my lips at the sight of his muscular chest and abs that make me want to bounce quarters off them.

  He rolls onto his back and looks up at me. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to have a little fun every once in a while. Stop being such a pain in my ass.”

  “I wish I could, Ethan, but I have to work hard if I want to get anywhere. I’m not as naturally gifted and perfect as you.”

  He snorts at my comment. “I’m not perfect, far from it. Stop pretending like you know shit about me…” His voice sounds sad before he trails off. “No one does. Not anymore, anyway.”

  I suck in a deep breath and blow it out, frustrated and somewhat upset by our exchange. “You have one chance. That’s it. Continue to act like a jerk and you’ll have to find another place to crash. I don’t even know why either of you would want to stay with me when you can both afford to sleep in a hotel. I’m sure your insurance policy will pay for it.”

  He sighs but doesn’t respond, hopefully letting it sink in, though I’m sure he’s too drunk to absorb anything I’m saying.

  After a long, awkward pause, Ethan clutches my waist and pulls me to his chest. I attempt to break free from his grasp, but my desire to fight him only causes him to tug harder at my tank. He turns me so that half of my body is on top of his.

  “What are you doing, Ethan?”

  With my head next to his, our mouths only inches apart, his glassy green eyes meet mine. I wish I could find the courage to pull away from him. He makes me weak. Being this close, I want to kiss Ethan and find some form of comfort in him even if it’s only for one kiss.

  Ethan raises his fingers to my cheek and begins to cup my face with his big hand. “You’re beautiful, Mia,” he whispers, his voice low and sensual. “Not kissing you before I left is still one of my biggest regrets. And now… you hate me.”

  I don’t respond to his comment because it’s probably for the best.

  He props his head on a stack of pillows, his eyes slowly closing. “Stay with me. For the night.”

  Ethan moves around to get comfortable, giving me some room. He’s in such good shape. There’s not an ounce of fat on him, making me feel self-conscious in my pajamas. Distracted by his abs, I stop for a second to take in the sight of him. I stare for far too long and have to remind myself not to gape at his pelvic muscle or think about what he must look like naked.

  “Ethan, I want to sleep in my bed.” I lift his heavy arm off me.

  His eyes shut. A few minutes pass where I listen to him breathe before I give in to him. I can sleep next to Ethan tonight. I won’t fall for him again.

  My hatred for Ethan only fuels the sexual tension between us. Will picks up on it, too, most of the time having to get between us. When I visit my brother, Ethan doesn’t usually come with the package. I purposely plan my trips to the luxury apartment they share on the Camden Waterfront around Ethan’s schedule.

  My eyelids flutter. The stress of my new living situation, combined with the fact it’s now three o’clock in the morning, coaxes me into a trance. I need sleep. Without overthinking it, I close my eyes and press my palm to Ethan’s chest, cocooning myself in his warmth.

  Overcome with exhaustion, I tell myself not to dwell on Ethan and the past. No longer denying the affection I have for Ethan, I fall asleep to the sound of him breathing in my ear, wondering what my brother will think if he finds us together.

  Chapter Five

  Ethan

  When I wake up, I have a weight on my chest that digs into my stomach. One more hour of sleep, I tell myself as I slide my hand up a girl’s thigh, slowly making my way to her big tits. For the second time this week, I’m in bed with a strange girl. Anymore, my life is turning into one big party with hockey in between. The last thing I remember, I was at the bar with Will, pounding a beer with a girl on my lap, and the rest blurs together.

  I prop myself up on my right elbow to lean over the woman next to me and slip my hand beneath her shirt. She backs up against my chest, and I move her hair out of her face and off her neck, allowing me access to plant soft kisses on her neck.

  My dick hardens as I palm her left breast in my hand and continue to leave a trail of kisses on her skin. She feels amazing, her nipple responsive to my touch.

  “Five more minutes, Mom,” she mutters under her breath.

  I laugh, but then stop touching her the second I recognize Mia’s voice. I would know that voice anywhere.

  Sitting up, just enough to look at her, I open my eyes and sigh. Fuck. If Will sees us together, he’ll kick my ass across the living room. I have too much of a hangover to explain why I accidentally fondled his little sister. Well, there’s nothing little about Mia anymore.

  She’s wearing a black tank top without a bra and pink polka dot pajama pants that curve to the contours of her delicious body. It doesn’t occur to me until she stirs in my arms that my hand is still cupping her breast, which isn’t helping my usual morning wood that’s tenting my boxers. Slowly removing my hand from beneath her shirt, I lean against the couch and stare up at the ceiling, blowing out a deep breath.

  “Ethan,” Mia growls and then elbows me hard in the chest. “What are you doing, you pervert?”

  She sits up, hugging her knees to her chest as she shoots daggers in my direction. Her blue eyes are so beautiful even though they’re lidded and slightly glassy from sleep. The longer she stares, the more I wonder if she’s going to punch me or kiss me. While I’m hoping for a kiss, I’m not holding my breath. She still hates my guts and rightfully so. I would hate me too if I were her.

  She holds my gaze for a few more seconds before she blows out a puff of air that I can feel on my face. “Why, Ethan? Huh? What is wrong with you?”

  “It was an accident,” I admit. “I woke up with you in my arms and thought you were someone else.”

  Her face twists into disgust. “You’re so gross. And who would I be… the hockey hooker of the week?”

  I love her sense of h
umor, though I don’t think she’s trying to be funny this time. Ever since I walked away from her, I haven’t been able to redeem myself. No amount of apologies or explanations work on Mia. Because the stories I tell her are complete bullshit. I still can’t admit the truth about my past.

  Will is the only person other than my family who knows everything, and it took me years to confess all of my secrets to my best friend. His sister is a different story. Mia used to look at me with so much love and admiration. Now, she glares at me like I’m a piece of used gum under her shoe. I hate that the secrets of my past have destroyed what we had. But I can’t lose my best friend over the feelings I once had for his sister.

  “I’m sorry,” I say and mean it. “I really did think you were someone else.”

  Will is going to murder me. This cannot be happening. As much as I’d wanted to hook up with Mia years ago, I always stopped myself because of her age and because of Will.

  “Please don’t say anything to Will,” I add, hoping she won’t spit in my face.

  Mia gets so close our mouths are several inches apart. “As long as Will didn’t see us, we can pretend this never happened.” She extends her hand. “Deal?”

  A smirk touches the corner of my mouth as I shake her hand. “Deal.”

  Our team meeting with the local newspaper starts in a few hours.

  Her cheeks flush with embarrassment when she looks down at the tiny buds poking through her shirt.

  “Ugh, I can’t believe you were groping me in my sleep.” Mia’s nose scrunches as if she’s just eaten rotten food. “You’re so gross.”

  “Don’t act like it wasn’t good for you,” I joke.

  Mia laughs so hard it shakes the couch. “I knew you were into some kinky shit…” she quips, “… but necrophilia isn’t one of them.”

  “I prefer my women awake and breathing,” I shoot back. “And willing…”

  Mia snorts. “My God, you’re such an ass, E.”

  She hasn’t called me that in years. Not since the last time we hung out in her parents’ backyard.

  I roll my shoulders. “It’s part of the charm you love so much.”

  “Whatever.” She dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “Don’t let it happen again.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  Without another word, she nods and slides off the couch as if this conversation never happened.

  I shouldn’t stare at her ass as she walks away, but it’s hard not to. She was a beautiful girl, and now she’s a woman with curves for days and even more gorgeous than I ever could have predicted. Her body is made for sin—made for me—and I want to do lots of sinning with Mia.

  When she catches me checking her out, she frowns. “Try to behave yourself while you’re living here.”

  “I never behave,” I counter with a wink.

  She shakes her head. “If you’re going to live here, we need to have some rules.”

  I smirk. “Like what?”

  “For starters, a shirt. Do you own one?”

  I glance at my bare chest and then roll my eyes. “I guess walking around naked is out of the question.”

  Biting her lip, she thinks over her response and then says, “As long as you keep your hands off me and your dick in your pants, we’ll get along fine. And no skanks in my apartment. That’s not negotiable.”

  “I could check into a hotel,” I offer. “Since you don’t want me here.”

  She throws her arms out at her sides and groans. “Go right ahead. Be my guest.”

  Then, she walks out of the living room as if I don’t even exist, making me wish I had told her the truth ten years ago.

  Chapter Six

  Mia

  Ethan Waters is the most annoying man on the planet. First, he shows up at my apartment, unannounced. Then he crashes on my couch, trapping me under his big body, forcing me to sleep next to him. And now, he’s hogging up my bathroom and using all of the hot water.

  “Ethan, get out of the bathroom!” I make a fist and bang on the door. “I have to get ready for work.”

  I hear the loud shower knobs turn on the other side of the door. Ethan laughs, and then the water stops running. Bastard.

  A few seconds later, Ethan cracks the door to allow me to push my way inside. He’s standing in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist, slung low enough for me to see the V of his abs that lead down to his…

  OMG, stop it, Mia. Get your shit together. It’s just abs… and muscles bulging from… everywhere.

  Ugh, someone help me because Ethan Waters is pure fucking perfection. I hate myself for allowing the thought to creep into my mind. But it’s hard to deny his sex appeal. My older brother’s best friend has always had this power over me. No matter how much I want to hate him, I can’t forget the person I once knew. He has to be in there somewhere, I’m sure of it.

  Steam from the shower clouds around him, reminding me of a commercial for body wash. Ethan could model no problem. Water drips from his shaggy brown hair and trickles down his handsome face. A mist dots his thick chest and muscular arms, drawing my attention to every curve of his defined stomach. I bite my bottom lip once I get to the well-defined muscles that trace down to his package.

  “See something you like, princess?” His deep voice pulls me from my sex-induced haze.

  I look up at Ethan with my jaw clenched in anger. “Nope, not anymore.”

  He reaches behind me, pushing my face into his wet chest to shut the bathroom door. “Don’t let Will hear you say that.”

  I step back and roll my eyes at him, wiping the water from my face. “Like he would ever believe we were friends.”

  “You didn’t sneak outside to talk to me every night because you wanted to be friends.”

  “Don’t act like you know what I wanted from you,” I spit back. “You bailed on me without a second thought and still won’t admit why you left. It’s not like you would’ve been interested in a kid. You were on your way to college, and now look at you.” I wave my hand at his body. “You have plenty of women falling all over you, and why wouldn’t they?”

  Damn, my stupid mouth and my inability to control saying my thoughts aloud.

  Ethan flashes one of his panty-dropper grins even I’m not immune to after all these years. “If things were different, I would have waited until you were older.” He lifts a razor from the sink. “I didn’t move on. I had my reasons for going back to Boston.”

  I lean my back against the wall and stare at him, folding my hands over my chest. “Whatever. You don’t owe me an explanation. We were two kids who needed someone to talk to about our shitty lives.”

  “And now you hate me because I left.” He says it more as a statement.

  I nod in answer.

  Ethan lathers his face with shaving cream, staring at me out of the corner of his eye. “You hate me for the wrong reason.”

  “I don’t want to live in the past anymore.” I remove my toothbrush from the holder and nudge Ethan with my hip to make him share the sink with me. “I have to get to work before I don’t have a shithole apartment for you to crash.”

  Without another word, Ethan glides the razor along his jaw, his gaze still fixed on me. I wish he would stop looking at me. The intensity in his eyes pricks my skin with tiny bumps. A strange feeling stirs inside my chest, and if I’m being one hundred percent honest, he’s doing something between my legs, too.

  I want to ask him so many questions. But what’s the point? My brother still has no clue we used to meet every night in my parents’ backyard. Since his return from Boston, we’ve pretended to hate each other to keep Will from seeing the sparks between us. So, why stop now? Let’s keep this charade going.

  Ethan shaves his face as I brush my teeth, all while we continue to stare at each other in the mirror. Electricity pulses between us and sets fire to my skin. I spit and rinse. He washes his face, peeking up at me from between his fingers.

  Even though the hatred I feel for Ethan is re
al, I still find him attractive. And it’s not just his body that holds my interest. Ethan is smart. He graduated at the top of his class in both high school and college. On occasion, he would even help me with my homework. I struggled with math during my freshman year of high school, and Ethan was the only reason I passed algebra.

  I wish I could shake the way my body responds to him when he places his hand on my hip. I should be able to control my breathing when he moves his palm over my ass. But I can’t move or think. Ethan has always thrown me off my game.

  “What are you doing?” I choke out once Ethan moves behind me and grips both of my hips, pulling me back against his… erection.

  “Testing your limits,” he whispers in my ear.

  He smells of shaving cream and my shea butter body wash, the two scents now burned into my nostrils.

  His breath on my earlobe causes me to still. “Who said you can touch me?” I glance at him in the mirror. “And why are you hard?”

  “I’m horny, and you look good in this shirt.” He slides his hand up my side and cups the side of my breast. “You’re not a girl anymore, little lamb.”

  “Thanks for noticing, Captain Obvious.” I shove his hands away from me. “Will is in the living room, and I have to get to work. Just because you’re staying here doesn’t mean I have to like you or let you touch me. When I get home tonight, we’re going over the rules.”

  He laughs. “What rules?”

  “The ones you and my brother will follow if you plan to sleep here for the next…” I squeeze my eyebrows together in thought. “How long will you two be here?”

  He shrugs. “Two weeks to a month. Our apartment is trashed, and the association doesn’t have any vacancies to move us.”