Page 82 of The Surprise

It is a warm day. Maybe he’s not even wearing a shirt. . .

“Beth?” Izzy asks.

I jump like I’ve been caught hiding pills or something.

“Coming.”

Maren’s laugh follows me into the house.

For the next forty minutes, I’m worse than useless for Izzy. She’s probably wishing she hadn’t even invited me over.

“—just go out there.”

“Huh?”

Izzy’s smiling. “He asked me to be your friend, you know.”

Suddenly I’m all ears. “Wait, who did?”

“My brother. He said I’d like you, and he was right.”

So it was charity, then.

“But really, he just wanted you to have a reason to come over.”

My mouth goes dry.

“You should just go out there and find him. Clearly you’re not paying any attention to the parking spot assignment stuff. It doesn’t help that it’s literally the most boring article ever.” Izzy laughs. “Just go.”

I stand up before I realize how incriminating that is. “The thing is—”

Izzy shrugs. “For the record, I think that liking you is the first time Ethan’s ever really had good judgment, so just go find him.”

My heart races. Am I really going to just wander out in the pasture, like I’mlookingfor him? Like I just want to see him? I mean, friends do that, right? Icould.

But it would be weird.

Just then, the front door bangs open and Ethan walks through, peeling his shirt off as he does. It’s coated in mud and something reddish—probably blood. Birthing’s messy. “Geez, we can’t catch a break,” he says. “First it’s storming, and now the mosquitos—” He freezes. Then he swallows, his Adam’s apple shifting slightly.

I’ve always known he was fit, but it’s hard to see much under sweaters, sweatshirts, and coats. But with his shirt off, his hands extended over his head, I can seeeverything.

Abs. So many abs.

Arms. Rippling arm muscles.

And his chest. Ermagosh.

Ethan’s face is frozen, his eyes darting between me and Izzy. “Give me a little warning. Geez.” He throws his filthy shirt toward the hall in front of the laundry room and sprints to the bathroom.

Izzy, meanwhile, busts out laughing so hard that I worry she may asphyxiate. It would serve her right. I’m blushing so hard my face feels like it’s going to melt and drip onto the floor.

“That was epic,” Izzy says. “If you didn’t know he liked you before.” She slaps her thighs and descends into maniacal laughter again.

I walk out the front door faster than I ever have before, my heart beating out of my chest. Why did I just stand there, staring? Why did my mouth fall open? Why didn’t I look away or act like it was no big deal? Could I have possibly looked more idiotic? I thought I was going to storm out there and let him know I liked him, that I was done pretending that we were just friends.

But instead, I feel like a complete idiot.

I’m in my car, my fingers turning the keys, when Izzy reaches me, her hands slapping against my window. “Hey.” Her face looks distraught. “What are you doing?”

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