Blonde lying on his chest

Chapter 5

Kierra's POV

The butterflies in my stomach continued to fly about as Ethan slowly made his way into the kitchen, still shirtless. All of a sudden, the air felt different and I was heating up again.

How did this guy manage to make me feel so many things even when he did absolutely nothing? Just how?

My mind was running haywire and I was thinking of different scenarios I knew would never happen. With each step that Ethan took into the kitchen, my heart pounded faster.

"Deep breaths, Kierra. Deep breaths. Just act normally and leave." That seemed easy enough. I could just leave and return safely to Emily.

But, before I could even take another step, Ethan and his toned chest were right in front of me. My breathing quickened as I slowly looked up to find him staring at me with the same look in his eyes from before.

"W-W-What a-are you d-d-doing?" I choked out, failing to speak normally. Then again, Ethan's chest was in my face. It was a miracle I was able to speak and didn't faint.

At first, Ethan didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at me with the same look in his eyes that sent shivers down my spine. He looked different now, very different from Ethan, Emily's brother.

I was reminded of the fact that Emily was waiting for me and tried to move again but Ethan blocked my path. I was about to object when he suddenly placed his hands on the kitchen island behind me, effectively caging me.

I was at a loss for words. Just what was going on and what was Ethan doing?

I was stunned again when he lifted his hand and tucked strands of my wayward dark brown hair behind my ear. That simple action and the skin contact that came with it were enough to turn my face red yet again.

To my surprise, Ethan noticed this, and I watched his lips curve into a tiny smirk before he proceeded to lean in. I was shocked but had nowhere to go.

Why was his face getting closer? What was he doing? Was he about to kiss me? What was going on?

My thoughts were a mess and my heart was beating like crazy. I didn't feel scared. I didn't know what to feel.

My eyes fell shut of their own accord and I waited for whatever was going to happen next. However, instead of a kiss, I felt Ethan's hair brush my cheek and his breath on my neck. We were so close now that I could feel his body heat and then he stepped back and it was over.

As though waking from a dream, I opened my eyes and blinked twice as my eyes fell on Ethan, leaning on the fridge and eating an apple.

I had a lot of questions and no idea how to go about asking them.

"Wha— What did you—?" I was too flustered to form a sentence.

"Oh, did you want an apple?" He extended the apple he had been eating to me. I shook my head at him, a little surprised at how normal he was acting after what just happened. I didn't even know what happened.

"Why did you— What—" I gave up on trying to speak and just glared at him with my arms across my chest. "I just wanted an apple. You know, the ones behind you."

I turned around and saw the bowl of apples placed right in the middle of the kitchen island. That explained a lot but it still didn't explain everything he did.

I turned back to look at him with questions in my eyes and found him wearing the same smirk he had when he saw me blushing earlier. It was a mischievous smirk, one that Ethan had never given me before. It was new and threw me off for a second.

"But— why didn't you just ask to move instead of..." I trailed off, finding myself at a loss for words to what happened just a few minutes ago.

He shrugged and said, "No reason in particular. You coming?" He was already making his way out of the kitchen and had his back turned to me. I swallowed again, feeling my muscles tense up as I imagined wrapping my arms around him from behind so tight there would be no space between us.

"Key!" I heard him call me again. "You coming?" he asked again. I nodded and followed closely behind him.

I stayed behind so I could collect my thoughts before we got back to the den but before I was lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize when Ethan stopped all of a sudden until I walked right into him. I stumbled backward from the impact and rubbed my forehead as I slowly opened my eyes to see Ethan stooping to my level with a look of concern etched on his face.

"Are you okay? Do you need water? Do you need to sit down?" he asked, feeling my forehead and cheeks carefully. I nodded slowly even as I felt all the blood rush to my face again, a side effect of having Ethan touch me.

After I affirmed that I was okay, Ethan finally stopped acting like a protective mother hen and we continued walking to the den side by side.

Ethan went in first and I went in a few moments later to avoid making Emily suspicious.

"Hey. Where have you been?" she demanded after I settled down beside her. I glanced at Ethan through the corner of my eye and the memories flooded my mind. I pushed them away and focused on Emily again.

"Where else? I was in the kitchen," I answered.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, Emily. Why would I lie?"

I saw her glance at Ethan over my shoulder before shrugging and looking back at the TV. I leaned back and heaved a sigh of relief. At least, she didn't ask for more information.

Unable to help myself though, I glanced at Ethan. Liliana had her head on his chest and he was holding her close. I felt my heart tighten at the sight and I was even tearing up when Ethan suddenly caught me staring.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away from his hypnotic gaze even though I was well aware of the blonde lying on his chest.

I saw him smirk at me and then wink before looking away. I continued to stare at him with my mouth slightly agape as I wondered yet again, "What just happened?"