Page 84 of Falling for You

“Little? You know I could kick your butt,” Conner says, chuckling. He just finished his freshman year of football and he’s gotten big. Which is no surprise considering how large his dad is. But, he put in a lot of work in the gym before school every day and kicked butt on the field.

Austin’s family went through an incredibly hard time and Ethan was there for them to get the family through it. Tonight is all about their family, actually. We’re raising funds for a shelter, of sorts, that Austin and his wife Samantha are working to build for families in need or crisis. It’s their way of giving back after Ethan stepped in to help them when their house burned to the ground and they were left with nothing.

“You’re so full of it,” I tell the little punk, laughing, and wrangling him in by the neck. He pushes out of my hold easily and darts out of my reach rather than let me introduce him to Chloe.

I grab Chloe’s hand and as soon as Liv spots us, she shouts, “Chloe?!”

Chloe leaves my side, moving quickly to greet Liv, who, apparently, she knows. “Oh my gosh! Liv! Look at… wow! Look at you! What are you doing here?”

“Ethan! Come here. This is the Chloe I was telling you about who did my hair for Lily’s wedding!” she shouts excitedly then adds, “this is my husband, Ethan. The one I was telling you about. Rex! Why didn’t you tell me it was Chloe?”

“Uh, because I didn’t know?” I’m genuinely confused by what’s happening, but one look at Ethan tells me he’s even more so. He takes two steps toward us then stops.

“Chloe?” Two syllables come out scratchy and I look between my girlfriend and best friend, wondering what in the world is going on.

Chloe’s as white as a ghost when she turns to face Ethan.

“Ethan?” Liv asks, coming to stand next to her husband, looking between Chloe and him. Then she steps closer to Chloe and gasps. “I knew your eyes looked familiar,” she says, bringing her hand to her mouth. Chloe hasn’t moved a muscle. Her body stiff, I can almost feel the nerves radiating off her body.

“What am I missing here?” I finally demand, moving in next to Chloe and placing a protective hand on her lower back.

“Rex, I’d like you to meet my sister, Chloe. But maybe I should introduce myself to her, first, being as we’ve never met, either.”

“Holy shit,” I hear Owen, Olivia’s brother, say from somewhere behind me but no one seems to give a shit that he’s here, even though none of us get to see him often.

“I… I didn’t know,” Chloe says.

“No?” Ethan’s voice is full of anger, a challenge. It makes my hackles rise up. I don’t like the way he’s looking at her, with disdain and bitterness. The day he learned his mom had passed away and that he had a sister who didn’t want to meet him, he really lost it. Instead of leaning on Olivia, he took it out on her, acting as if they were a foregone conclusion and she would leave him like others had in the past. I can see the worry creeping in, uneasy over her being here. Rightfully so, he doesn’t trust people easily. And Chloe showing up here, that’s a game changer.

“No,” Chloe whispers. “I promise you, I had no idea.”

“And you?” Ethan asks me, blame heavy in his tone.

I stand up taller, toss my stupid cowboy hat onto the bar because it’s just annoying me at this point. “What the fuck, man?”

He points an accusing finger at me. “You’re going to tell me that you’ve spent the last however long fucking this chick and you didn’t know she was my sister?”

“That’s right. Neither of us knew. And I’ll only say this once. Watch your mouth. You know damn well that’s not the way to speak to anyone.”

He blows out a breath and looks away, calming himself down.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Chloe. But… I need some more information here. How did this happen? You’ve been with her for a while and there were no clues? Seriously?” he turns and faces Chloe completely. “Is this some sort of game to you? Were you using Rex to learn about me?”

Chloe gasps. “What? No! Of course not!”

I clench my fists and growl. “You ass. No, there were no clues. You think I would hide that from either of you? You know me better than that. And don’t get me started on how offensive it is for you to suggest that she’s only using me to get to you. I’m a mother fucking catch.”

Ethan snorts but otherwise shows no emotion.

Liv steps over to Ethan, wraps her hand around his bicep and he relaxes immediately. “Ethan,” she says quietly. “Let’s all go to your office. Austin and Samantha can take care of stuff out here for a while.”

Without a word, he pushes past us with angry steps, even wearing the fairy godmother costume that takes away a lot of his credibility, the fury he’s feeling at the moment is still radiating off him.

Once we’re in his office, he wastes no time launching in.

“Explain,” he points between us.

“You know the story already,” I remind him. He knows exactly how we met.

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