Page 3 of Sin

His stern expression falters. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was…judgmental.”

I shrug. “It’s okay. Making me feel bad is your one job as my joy vacuum. Well, you’ve succeeded. I feel like shit. You can go now.”

His face falls. “I really wasn’t trying to make you feel like shit. I’m sorry.”

I wave a hand. “Then make me feel better by leaving.”

He stares at me for a long moment. “I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe inside that house.”

I laugh humorlessly. Just what I need. Ethan watching me clumsily hoisting myself through that window. As if I’m not embarrassed enough for planning to climb through it in the first place.

“No,” I say. “I want you to leave.”

His eyes grow hesitant for a moment—just a flash—but then he takes a few steps back and onto the side yard of the frat house. “I’m just getting some air,” he says with a smirk. “Carry on with your business.”

I roll my eyes dramatically. Fuck, he’s the worst. So smug and self-righteous. He thinks it’s his duty as Noah’s best friend to make sure I’m safe, and he doesn’t give a damn about my feelings.

In a snap decision, I march forward until I’m inches away from him. His head jerks back in surprise, but I don’t let it deter me. I grab his shoulders and shove him in the direction of the front porch of his frat house. He doesn’t budge, so I press harder, to no avail. “Go. Now.”

His dark-blue eyes grow huge. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I want you to leave.”

“Why do you even care if I watch you go inside? I already know you’re planning to crawl through the window.”

I keep pressing against his shoulders, but he stands firm. When I use all my body weight to shove him, my feet slide back on the damp lawn. Damn, he’s built like an ox.

“You’re acting insane,” he says. “Calm down.”

Insane. Calm down. Such simple words, and yet they hit me in the chest like hailstones. Didn’t Mason say something similar the morning after it all happened?

“You’re acting crazy, Lily,” he’d said.

I lift a hand high in the air, aiming it in the direction of Ethan’s face.

His eyes grow impossibly huge as he grabs my wrist. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I hate you,” I say through clenched teeth.

Except I don’t hate him. Why am I taking my rage against Mason out on Ethan? Is it because Mason is Ethan’s teammate and Noah’s roommate? Do I subconsciously blame them for not knowing the truth about him?

Crazy. I haven’t told anyone what he did for a reason. I want to forget it all.

Ethan’s eyes flash as he grips my wrist tighter. “You hate me because I want to make sure you’re safe?”

I raise my chin, searching my brain for any excuse to explain my odd behavior. “You want to watch me crawl through that window so you can delight in how perfect your life is compared to mine.”

Anger fills his eyes. Shit, I must have hit a nerve, and I wasn’t even trying to.

Ethan yanks me against his hard chest, sending a jolt of shock through my veins. The air between us changes in an instant, crackling with electricity. His eyes settle on my mouth.

My head grows fuzzy. What is happening?

The thumping of his heart pulses against my chest, and my anger evaporates into the night. The warmth and hardness of his body makes heat pool in my belly.

No. I’m not attracted to Ethan. He’s not attracted to me. We can’t stand each other.

Then why are his eyes glazed and hooded as he stares at my mouth, like he’s been drugged?

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