Page 69 of Ignite

“It’s been a night,” Ethan said, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around my shoulders. It had a tinge of cologne and manly sweat and grilled food and beer. All the scents I associated with Ethan. But it also had been infused by the buttered popcorn he had insisted on making while the girls and I found the perfect hiding spots.

We didn’t talk about all our issues.

We didn’t talk about why I’d stormed out of his hotel room.

We didn’t talk about the auction or the hundreds of texts that kept something between us alive.

But when he led me over to the long couch and extended his arm, I snuggled up to his side and we started watching The Last Kingdom.

“You like men of action?” he asked me when one episode ended, and I wanted one more.

“You could say that.” I looked up and felt another moment. The chemistry between us had been building and I was running out of excuses. “Rose said that she tried to coax you into bed.”

“Rose is a very attractive woman and deserves more than a man who’s interested in someone else.”

“Do I?”

He brushed his nose against mine. “Do you, what?”

“Do I deserve more than a man who’s interested in someone else?”

“You deserve the world, but all I’ve got to offer you is me.”

Almost by design, the lights from Shar’s car illuminated the loungeroom just as I thought Ethan was going to kiss me.

“To be continued.” He wasn’t asking.

The drive back to my place had never seemed so long.

Even though I was sober enough to drive, I’d tossed my keys to Ethan. He didn’t flinch when I casually dropped my hand to his knee, and as we reached the main town, he covered my hand with his.

“Shar’s an amazing mother,” he said. “I heard about Rob Curren from the guys, but didn’t put the pieces together until tonight.”

“Yeah, she was pregnant with Lily and got the call that her husband wasn’t coming home from work.”

“Is she a close friend of yours?”

“Not really. She and Zoe are closer.”

“But she called you to look after her daughters.”

“She knew Glenn would be pissed at Zoe if Shar called her out and assumed I wouldn’t have been out drinking.”

“So, you dropped everything to be a good friend?” Ethan pulled into my street. “It’s just one of the things I like about you.”

“The whole town is like that. That’s why joining …”

“Please don’t.” His fingers gripped around mine. “I get it. I do. I also get that the whole RFS thing is more than just me signing up. I’m being stubborn, you’re being stubborn and one day I hope we sort it out. But tonight I just want to pretend we have a chance.” One-handed, he turned into my driveway and came to a stop. He dropped his head to the steering wheel before lifting up and looking at me. I recognized the weeks of torment in his eyes because I saw it every day in the mirror.

“Rylee, please invite me inside. Please let me kiss you. Just for one night, can we pretend that we could be something?”

One night couldn’t hurt, could it?

Hoping I wouldn’t regret this tomorrow or next week, I leaned across the handbrake and lightly brushed my lips across his. I could taste the choc-chip cookies we’d had with ice cream. I felt his restraint and gave up mine.

“Ethan?” I wanted to say so much, but nothing at all. “Can you walk me inside?”

His arm didn’t move from the small of my back. Not when he walked me up to my front door. Not when he opened the door, and turned on the light. Not even when we walked up the hallway to my bedroom.

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