Page 10 of My Sweet Cherry
“Fair point.” Ethan pointed to the never-been-filled cup in my hand. “It looks like you need a drink. Can I get you one?” He leaned casually against the wall, nodding toward the crowd still gathered around the keg. “Or maybe you want to get to know each other somewhere a little quieter?” he added when I didn’t immediately agree.
“I was hoping you’d ask.” I looked briefly around the room to see if Amy and Isabella were going to be concerned when I walked away with Ethan. The last thing I needed was for them to interrupt my plan. When I saw Benny glaring, I knew the plan to get his friend alone was going to work perfectly.
“Let’s go.” Ethan put his arm around my waist, nodding his head at the friend he was standing next to before he gently led me through the crowd.
We walked up the stairs to the second floor, and the music was quieter when we got into the hallway. It was easy to hear the lips smacking from couples kissing against the wall. At the end of the hall, Ethan opened one of the doors. “We can go in here.”
The room glowed with pink mood lighting that could only be caused by a thin scarf draped over a cheap lamp. “Whose roomis this?” I asked, looking at the lava lamp that drew attention to a collection of posters behind it.
“It’s mine.” Ethan put his hand on my hip, and he scowled when I took a step back. “Where are you going? Come here.” When he grabbed my other hip and tugged me more forcefully, I tripped forward. My chest crashed against his, and a quiet huff fell from my lips.
“Wait a second,” I said, flattening my hands against his chest. His hold on my hips was stronger and when he leaned in to kiss me, I arched my back.
Ethan pulled me closer to him, bending down to try again to kiss me. I turned my head at the last second, so his lips pressed against my cheek instead. He tried again, huffing when I pushed harder on his chest. “Ethan, wait.”
“What are we waiting for, baby?” He wrapped his arm around my waist and yanked me toward him, catching me when I lost my balance. I was trapped between his arms and the determination in his chest. “We both know what you want, don’t we?”
Panic flooded my veins. When I had decided to bring Ethan into this room, I was imagining that we’d just be talking. I didn’t think about him actually expecting more than that. I closed my eyes when he grabbed my chin and forced his lips to mine. Then I shook my head. “It’s not like that,” I pleaded.
Ethan ignored me. He was more interested in the involuntary whining that came with his tightened grip. “It is now. Just relax.” His lips made their way to my neck; when he traced his tongue along the side of my neck, an uncomfortable chill traveled my spine. “We’re going to have some fun. I can’t wait to feel that mouth of yours.”
I gasped. “I can’t.” Ethan took a step forward, forcing me back a step toward the bed. Then he did it again, repeating the action until the backs of my legs hit the mattress.
“From what I’ve heard, you can.” He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a nudge, knocking me back onto the bed. My stomach dropped to the floor. “Don’t get shy on me now.”
When Ethan climbed on top of me, my heart beat erratically against my chest. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. The pressure of his expectation weighed too heavily on my chest for me to catch my breath. “I don’t want to do this.” I pushed against him, thrashing against the bed. “Please.”
“You came up to me, you can’t change your mind now.” What was I going to do? The music was still loud enough I could hear it through the floor and over the heavy breathing that accompanied our struggle. If I yelled, would anyone hear me? I pushed harder against him and when he didn’t budge, I knew I wasn’t going to get out of it. I closed my eyes.
“Please don’t do this.”
Chapter 11
Carter
She stuck out like a sore thumb. There wasn’t anything about her that said she was ready to party—or that she had ever been to one before. She even walked around with an empty cup. When she sidled up next to Ethan, I glared. Why did I care what she was doing? At a party like this, I shouldn’t even care that she was here.
Except I couldn’t stop watching her deer-in-the-headlights stare while she searched for something in the crowd. Even as Ethan’s confident-he-was-going-to-get-some smirk stretched across his face, she looked past him. Her eyes paused on mine, and there was something a lot like embarrassment in the lookbefore she moved on to Benny. I knew the look then—it was stubbornness.
“Dude, are you even listening to me?”I’m definitely not.Benny furrowed his brow.
“What’s up?” When I turned to look at him, I watched from the corner of my eye as Ethan wrapped his arm around Beth’s shoulders.
Benny groaned like having to repeat himself was a chore and he didn’t love to hear himself talk. “What are you staring at?” He moved to put himself in my position, glancing directly at Beth and chuckling. “Whoa, I’m surprised she’s here.”
“Me too.”
“Slightly less surprised to see Ethan set his sights on her.” When Benny shrugged and drank the last of his beer, my stomach tightened. Why did I care? I knew that Benny had made up the story about his night with Beth, but he had made up stories about nights with a lot of girls. What made her different?
Maybe it was the way she was fluttering her lashes at a man that wasn’t going to take no for an answer as easily as Benny did. Where Benny would just say it happened anyway because all he cared about was the clout, Ethan was the type to want exactly what she was likely hinting he was going to get. Then Ethan draped his arm over her shoulder and led her out of the living room and away from the boombox playing loudly enough to drown out any conversation more than an arm’s distance away.
“Where do you think they’re going?” I asked, knowing when Benny lifted a single brow that it was an out-of-character question. We both knew where they were going. We had all done the same go-somewhere-a-little-quieter-to-talk move that got us into a bedroom—even if it wasn’t our own.
“If I had to guess, probably to do the same thing she wanted to do the other night. Know what I mean?” He turned and high-fived Anthony. Anthony clapped his hand against Benny’s witha grin. He had just walked up with a fresh beer—he had no idea what we were talking about, but he was usually pretty quick to enthusiastically agree.
“Hell yeah!” He nodded excitedly, then took a long gulp of cheap beer. “What did I miss?”
Benny nodded toward the hallway like it explained the last few minutes. “Beth is here,” he said.
