Shirtless Ethan

Chapter 4

Kierra's POV

It's not every day you walk in on your crush making out with someone else on a couch in the living room. Even if that someone is his girlfriend, it sure doesn't make it hurt any less.

It took a while for me to recover from the shock of seeing Ethan and Liliana kissing passionately on the couch in the living room. Actually, it took Emily shaking me out of the daze I was in. I could feel myself blushing hard and instantly darted my eyes to the floor.

"For the love of God, Ethan! Get a room!" Emily yelled angrily at him before grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of the stairs.

Just before we turned a corner, I glanced at Ethan who hadn't moved and our eyes met. His usually clear blue eyes seemed darker as though concealing a mystery beneath its blue depths.

My curiosity was piqued but I had already lost sight of him by then so I just gave up and cleared my head of the thoughts now clouding my mind.

Emily pulled me into her room and slammed the door behind us a little harder than I expected causing me to jump just a little.

"Can you believe those two? You'd think twenty different rooms would be enough but no, they just had to do it in the living room. Yuck!" she spat, shuddering slightly to show her disgust.

I could feel my throat tighten as I struggled to speak clearly.

"You don't think— They're not actually doing it, right?" I asked carefully. Emily shrugged as she settled down on her bed.

"How would I know? Judging by what I saw down there, they probably are. Then again, it's not like you care or anything... right?" She peered at me with just a little bit of suspicion in her eyes.

"No, no!" I was quick to refute. "Of course not. Ethan can do whatever he wants."

"Unfortunately," muttered Emily drily. There was a moment of silence just then as she glared at something in the distance. I couldn't tell what she was thinking but I knew what I was thinking.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise to me that Ethan and Liliana might be sleeping together. After all, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. It was their choice but it didn't make it hurt any less.

My attraction to Ethan began when I just got into middle school which was basically high school but with a little less drama. Back then, I was just starting to find boys less gross and kinda cute.

Ethan, who was a class ahead of Emily and me, was already garnering the popularity that would follow him until he was in high school. He was rich, cute, sporty, and smart. Everyone loved him.

And then it happened. I was heading up the stairs one day at school, on my way to the principal's office when a girl in front of me accidentally pushed me. Gravity did its thing and I was falling backward, certain I would break every bone in my body when I eventually hit the floor.

At the very last minute, someone behind me caught me by my waist and broke my fall. Ethan ended up breaking his arm because of the incident but his popularity skyrocketed afterward and as for me, it was safe to say that I had fallen in love.

My attraction to Ethan continued to blossom as time went on even as he became more and more unattainable. Even if the pact was non-existent, there was simply no chance for me.

I could imagine how everyone would react at school. Imagine their reaction when they learned a nerd managed to snag the most popular guy in school.

I would probably be found dead in the locker room one day... Okay, okay. Maybe it wouldn't be that serious but it would certainly be brutal for me. As much as it hurt to admit, Liliana was the only one who could handle being Ethan's girlfriend. Liliana and nobody else.

"So while we're here, what should we do?" I asked in an attempt to end the awkward silence that had settled over us. "Homework, maybe?" I was already opening up my backpack to take out the homework I had been given.

"God, no! I already spent eight hours in that school. At least, let me clear my head first. You can help me with my homework later."

"I guess. What do you wanna do now?" I tossed my backpack aside and walked over to her side.

"Let's watch a movie," she decided, already walking over to where her laptop was placed. "What movie?"

"I dunno. Something on Netflix, I guess."

"And by that, you mean, something on Netflix that you'll pick?" I fixed her a meaningful gaze. Whenever Emily and I tried to decide on something to watch, she always decided what we would watch. I tried arguing with her a few times but eventually, I just let her do whatever she wanted. It was easier that way.

"You know me so well," she said, glancing at me with a cute, bratty smile on her face. I rolled my eyes and fell back on the bed as I waited for her to make her choice. I found myself thinking back to Ethan and Liliana.

I wondered if they were still in the living room. What were they doing now? Why did Ethan look at me like that? Why can't I stop thinking about him?

"Hey, do you think we should watch the movie downstairs instead?" I was saying before I could stop myself. Emily glanced at me curiously.

"And why should we do that?"

"I dunno. I'm hungry and there's a much bigger TV downstairs. What do you say?"

"But what about Ethan and Lili? What if they're down there doing... you know what!" she whispered the last few words and shuddered again.

"I doubt they'd do it down there. They wouldn't want your parents to catch them, right?" I reasoned.

"Yeah right," Emily snorted. "Like my parents would ever scold their precious Ethan. My dad would probably cheer him on if he caught them having sex." The resentment, with just a little hint of sadness, was all too clear in her tone.

"I doubt Ethan and Liliana would actually do it right there. Besides, we could always stay in the den. I'm hungry, okay? Come on. Please!" I begged, jutting out my bottom lip and pouting.

Emily thought on it silently for a few seconds before she gave in and sighed, "Okay. Let's go. But if I lose my eye virginity because of you, I'll kill my brother."

I snickered and rolled my eyes at her threat while also thinking to myself that I definitely wouldn't mind losing my eye virginity because of Ethan... I might have a problem.

Emily and I stealthily made our way out of her room, down the stairs, and to the kitchen before heading to the den which was not too far from the living room.

As we settled down on one of the chairs in the room with our bowl of popcorn, I listened for any suspicious noises but heard none.

"See, I told you your brother and Lili couldn't have stayed here after we left. They probably went to his room," I said to Emily even as the reality bore down on me.

However, it was at that moment that Ethan and Liliana walked into the room and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.

For some reason, Ethan had walked into the room with his upper body exposed. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of shorts and oh, my! It was a truly glorious sight.

I had always known Ethan was fit but as this was my first time seeing him shirtless, I truly had not been expecting him to be so... ripped.

There was something so appealing and attractive about his toned abs and broad chest. His shorts also gave me a view of his lean legs and his arms looked so strong and inviting.

I was turned on just staring at him and it was taking all my willpower to keep from throwing myself on him and burying my face in his chest.

What snapped me out of my daydream was Liliana. She came in with him and I recognized the shirt she was wearing. It was one that belonged to Ethan. I knew this because not only had I seen Ethan wearing it before, it also looked bigger on her.

Quickly before it became too awkward, I looked away and scolded myself internally.

What was I doing ogling another girl's boyfriend especially one that I called a friend? I wasn't about to become another Celine.

"What are you guys doing here?" Emily questioned them, not looking very pleased.

"I didn't know it was a crime to come in here, sis," was Ethan's response as he and Liliana took the chair adjacent to ours. I swallowed as it dawned on me how close Ethan was.

As though to mock me, rays of sunlight shining through the window reflected on him and he shone like an angel. It was hard to keep a straight expression at that. Thankfully, a maid came by to drop the curtains and Ethan stopped glowing.

While not too pleased with Ethan's presence, Emily relented and soon we were all watching Stranger Things together. However, I couldn't focus. Every time, my eyes would dart over to Ethan. It was becoming harder to breathe and I could feel myself heating up.

Why did he have to be so goddamn hot?!

Eventually, when I couldn't handle it anymore, I told Emily I was going to get a drink in an attempt to get away from Ethan and his freakishly hot body.

Moments later, I was in the kitchen downing my second glass of cold lemonade. After the glass was emptied, I dropped it on the kitchen island and closed my eyes as I threw my head back. An image of Ethan sitting shirtless was all I saw.

"Oh, God!" I groaned, rubbing my eyes tiredly. I just couldn't get lucky today, could I?

While I was bemoaning my fate as a nerd stuck with a friend with a hot brother she couldn't date, a very familiar voice drew my attention.

"Hey, little Key," said the voice. I went still as the voice resonated in my ear, causing a familiar flutter in the pit of my stomach. I gulped before opening my eyes and sure enough, right in the middle of the doorway stood the reason for my troubles.

My best friend's hot, shirtless brother...

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