Page 2 of Sin

I suck in my lips to fight a smile. I wasn’t expecting him to play along with me. “They had to warm me up first,” I say. “Lots of foreplay and?—”

“Okay.” He lifts a hand. “No more about your non-existent orgy. I don’t need to know where you were, but you do need to stop doing this. Promise me in the future, you won’t walk home alone at night.”

I let out a long sigh. I can’t make a promise like that. Wandering the streets at night is the only thing that stops my brain from buzzing. It might not exhaust me enough to sleep, but it’s far more pleasant than lying restlessly in that bed.

“No, I can’t,” I say firmly.

Ethan’s jaw clenches. “Then how about you stop partying on weeknights? I already know…” His lips purse. “Noah told me you’ve been struggling in school lately.”

A wave of irritation ripples over my skin. I know that Noah has been worried about me since my grades started dropping, but how dare he talk to Ethan about it?

Ethan is the last person in the world I want to see my struggles. He’s too damn perfect—a star athlete with excellent grades, and most annoying of all, a devout Christian who made a chastity pledge. Practically a celebrity on campus, he has hundreds of women throwing themselves at him, but he’s saving himself for his future wife, whoever she might be. His perfect, gorgeous, and chaste future wife. A woman who would never date a man like Mason. Never let a man like him come into her bedroom and…

I’m spiraling. I did nothing wrong that night. And why the hell am I comparing myself to Ethan’s faceless future wife? She’ll be boring and straitlaced, just like him. I don’t envy her at all. All his gorgeousness can’t make up for how insufferable he is .

I let out a sigh. “Of course you brought up my bad grades. You’re my reliable joy vacuum. You saw me coming home and figured I had a wild night. So you had to rush out here and suck up all the good vibes before I go to bed.”

Ethan stares at me, his eyes locking onto mine. There’s a flicker of something in his gaze, and the corners of his mouth twitch, as if he’s fighting to keep a straight face.

My God, is Ethan holding back laughter? How unlike him. He generally rolls his eyes at the numerous nicknames I’ve called him over the years.

“Your joy vacuum,” he mutters almost to himself. “I like that better than Grumplestiltskin. It’s almost…poetically mean. Like you spent hours trying to figure out the biggest insecurity of an overachiever like me, and once you figured it out, you went straight for the heart.”

My skin prickles. Insecurity? Ethan doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. Self-doubt doesn’t exist in his world. Confidence is his default setting, because life has never given him a reason to feel otherwise.

“I wasn’t trying to be mean,” I say, softening my voice. “I’m just tired of being reminded about my grades. I get it enough from Noah.”

Ethan takes a step in my direction. “He’s worried about you. I am too.”

I snort. “Don’t pretend like you care about me. You just enjoy bossing me around.”

“When have I ever…” He shuts his eyes, inhaling a shaky breath. He can’t even try to refute what I said, because he’s too principled to tell a lie.

Ethan is bossy. He’s even more overbearing and protective than Noah. Over the years, whenever we’ve been at the same party—which is often since we’re both in the Greek scene—Ethan has inevitably stepped in and ruined my fun, especially when I’m with guys.

It’s like he has a sixth sense for when I’m starting to enjoy myself. I’ll be talking to someone, maybe even flirting a little, and then suddenly, there he is, his presence a dark cloud over my evening.

“I’m sorry if I haven’t been good at showing it,” Ethan says, “but I do care about you.”

Right. He cares about me the way he would a distant family member he can’t stand.

Ethan’s gaze flickers over my shoulder. “Were you planning to climb through the window?”

My skin prickles. “I don’t want to wake the house.”

His eyes narrow. “I see lights on. I don’t think they’re all asleep.”

How can I explain my behavior? I hardly understand it myself. Why do I need to keep it a secret that I stay out late every night? My sorority sisters can’t see the turmoil inside me. Just because I’ve been acting differently lately doesn’t mean they’ll jump to the conclusion that I’m broken inside.

I’m not broken inside, and yet I want to hide.

“I’ve been stressed lately,” I say. “I go out at night to clear my head. I’d rather not have the whole house know my business.”

He scoffs. “You’re stressed out about your grades, so you deal with it by partying. Great way to cope. You’ll be off academic probation in no time.”

Heat rushes through my veins, making my jaw clench. How dare he judge me when he has no idea what I’ve been through?

“Great talk, Ethan,” I clip out. “I feel so much better. Really energized to turn my grades around. Now please leave.” I point to his frat house.

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