Faking the Play (Hot Mess Harems #2)

13. Amelia

Chapter thirteen

Amelia

I wasn’t sure which was worse, how sore I was from yesterday, or how awkward it was to come over to the guys’ apartment after Ryan and I slept together. I’d gotten myself worked up to the point where I was almost nauseous, and it was all for nothing because when Ethan opened the door, I found out that Ryan and Logan were both out at some extra class thing that would keep them away from the apartment for a while.

Perfect for helping Ethan with his presentation because we wouldn’t have to worry about being interrupted. And it should’ve been perfect to calm me down, but now that I wasn’t freaking out about seeing Ryan again, I started freaking out about whether or not Ethan knew what Ryan and I had done and if he did, how he felt about it and then if Logan—

“Earth to Amelia.”

Ethan’s voice jolted me out of my head. “What?”

He laughed. “You were staring off into space for like, a full minute. I know this isn’t the most exciting thing. Do you need to take a break?”

I shook my head to clear it and smiled even as I had to force my shoulders to relax. “Sorry. I’m just tired. I’ll focus better.”

“I think we need to take a break,” Ethan said, standing up and stretching.

His T-shirt rode up, exposing a very nice set of washboard abs that I would love to trace with my tongue…and I was a horrible person. I’d literally had sex with one of Ethan’s best friends less than twenty-four hours ago and now I was ogling his abs.

“Behave yourself,” I muttered.

“Did you say something?”

“No.” Heat flooded my face. I’d gotten so much better at thinking before I spoke, but being around the guys again turned me right back into that awkward little girl who spent her whole childhood hearing that she talked too much and said things that should’ve been kept inside her head.

“Here.” He handed me a beer. “I know you don’t drink beer that often, but something tells me you need it. I just hope it’s not because I’m that bad.”

“No,” I said quickly. “No, of course not.”

“Do you want to talk about something random?” he asked. “We could talk about going on a date.”

“A date?” My stomach twisted uncomfortably.

“Yeah, it’s my turn to take you on a couple dates, so we could talk about what you want to do or where to go.”

His words came like a punch to the gut. Ryan didn’t want to go on another date with me. Less than a day after we had sex, he decided he’d had enough. I wouldn’t have thought Ryan was the sort of guy who’d dump a girl when he got what he wanted, but it had been seven years since the four of us had really known each other. He could’ve changed. Hell, I hadn’t thought the three of them would abandon me the moment they got a taste of popularity and yet that’s what happened.

I rolled my beer between my hands, staring at it so I didn’t need to look at Ethan. “So…Ryan and I aren’t going out again.”

“Would you rather go out with him again?” Ethan suddenly looked uncertain and I hated that I’d done that to him. “We didn’t really talk about what would happen if you decided—”

“It’s not that,” I cut in. “Going out with you will be really nice.”

“‘Really nice’ isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement,” he said.

“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his knee for a moment. “I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t want to go out with you too.”

“Okay, then we need to talk about what’s going on,” he said, “because you’ve got me worried. Ryan said things went good with you guys yesterday, but did something happen after that?”

I shook my head, taking a drink to avoid talking for as long as I could, but Ethan was surprisingly patient.

“You can trust me, Amelia,” he said quietly. “We told each other secrets all the time when we were kids. Hell, you know more about me than anyone but Logan and Ryan.”

He was right. He always seemed like the guy who just coasted along without a care in the world, but his childhood hadn’t been a good one. That easygoing attitude wasn’t because he didn’t care. It was a defense mechanism. It had been talking to him growing up that first got me interested in psychology.

But if Ryan had changed, then Logan and Ethan could’ve changed too. No matter how sweet they’d been, I didn’t really know the sort of men they’d grown into. Not really.

“I can’t,” I said finally. “Not because I don’t trust you to not say anything, but because I’m still working it all out in my head.”

“If you need to go do that instead of helping me, that’s okay,” Ethan said. “You’ve already given me a lot to work with.”

I shook my head. “No, I want to help. And it’s good for me to get out of my head. Maybe it’ll help me come at it from a different angle.”

“Are you sure?”

“Let’s get to work.” I set down the beer.

“Okay, but how about when we’re done, we watch a movie? Get us both out of our heads and not having to think about anything complicated,” he suggested.

“You get through the presentation without flirting, and you’re on.”

Ethan put a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Amelia Fine.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Get to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

For the next hour, we worked on his speech, picking at pacing and enunciation, making sure every point was clearly made. Only after I was completely satisfied with that, and he got through the whole thing without smirking or winking at me, did I announce that he was ready.

“Pick something to watch and I’ll make some popcorn,” he said, heading for the kitchen.

A part of me wanted to know when the other guys would be back, but I didn’t want Ethan thinking I didn’t want to spend time with just him. If Ryan showed up and things were weird, I’d deal with it.

“This one? Really?” Ethan sat down next to me and stretched his arm along the back of the couch, barely touching me.

It was enough to make me very aware of it, but I didn’t ask him to move. I liked having his arm there.

“It’s a comfort movie,” I said, hitting play. “And if we get interrupted, it won’t ruin the movie.”

As the familiar scenes began to play out on the screen, I found myself leaning closer and closer to Ethan until the popcorn was forgotten and I was snuggled up against his side. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but just as the hero started giving his big inspirational speech, I found myself drifting off to sleep. And because I knew I could trust Ethan, I stopped fighting and I let myself fall under.