Page 43 of Unfolding Kiara

* * *

“What? More books?” Jake asked, shocked when I lifted the duvet and the cover of my bed and pulled out the boxes of my books which I had kept underneath the bed because I had no space to keep them.

“How many more are there? Should I check the attic?”

I snorted, opening up the box. “We don’t have an attic in the apartment, Jake. Come on, help me with them. You promised you would.”

He huffed and sat beside me on the floor. “I was thinking more of finding your old pictures, diaries, and even lingerie.”

His look was heated when he whispered the last word, making me shiver.

“I already packed most of them except my lingerie and books,” I replied and awed at the old Harry Potter book set my mom had bought me on my birthday. It was old but still held so many memories. Memories of me and Ethan sprawled on my bed or my bedroom floor reading books together, guessing each other’s Hogwarts house.

It was Friday afternoon. As the classes were over before noon, I had called Jake over to help me pack all my stuff for the move. Anya would have helped, but she was in her office and had called in to make sure Jake and Andrew were behaving.

“Is that Harry Potter?!” Andrew exclaimed, rushing into my room and leaning down to see the books with his big brown eyes.

I grinned at him and let him see the books. “My mom gifted it to me when I was ten.”

He grinned at me, “No way! My mom gifted it to me too. I love Ron Weasley!”

Our book fangirling came to a stop when my cell phone started ringing. As I was on the floor, Jake passed it to me from the dresser. Not before seeing the name flashing on the screen and raising his brows at me. I saw the name and my heart came to a halt.

I picked it up, “Hello?”

“Hey, Bella, what are you doing right now?”

My cheeks burned under Jake’s eyes as I replied, “Oh, um, I am packing my things and books with Jake. I have to move into his house next week.”

Ethan didn’t reply for a second, and I heard a shuffling on his side. He finally said, “Oh, that’s good. I called you to meet up with you. We can do this later if you’re busy.”

I almost forgot about this.Okay, I am lying. I didn’t forget about this. We had been texting each other since that gala, and even Jake was happy that we both were getting back on speaking terms. Jake presented the idea of meeting up with Ethan and catching up with him, so we had been planning to meet up even though I turned into a nervous wreck whenever I saw a text from Ethan.

This was the first time he called me.

I looked at Jake who was smiling at me with a raised brow and he mouthed at me, ‘Call him over.’ I stared at my fiancé and back at the phone in my hand.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed it back to my ear and said, “I-if you don’t mind, why don’t you come over?”

God, I sounded like a nervous teenager asking her crush to hang out at her place when her parents were away.

I held my breath and waited for Ethan to reply.

“To your apartment?”

Even he was confused by my offer.

“Yes, if you want.”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “Text me the address, I will be there in half an hour.”

I sent him the address and exhaled a deep breath after keeping my phone aside. I waved off Jake’s grin. “Stop smiling like that.” I paused and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why do you want me to get along with him so bad?”

Jake came closer and pinched my cheeks until I batted his hands away. “Because I know he is important to you, and I know he is a good man despite what the media says. I would like you to have him as your friend because our wedding is next month, and I have already invited him.”

I knew that, we had already talked about it. I also knew how many tabloids turned him into a person he was not. Yes, he had a wonderful taste in dating a new woman every month, but that didn’t mean he was a heartless player. Not once had I read an article that his relationships were bitter with any of the women he dated. Paparazzi only shared what they wanted with their audience to feel about him. He had a bad rep as he had punched one of the famous reporters, Richard something. But I knew he wouldn’t just go around punching reporters for no reason.

Ethan arrived at the apartment sooner than expected, and it was Andrew who opened the door, exclaiming, “Hey, Kiara! An Olympic Swimmer is at our door. And he is asking for you.”

---