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But the wind is biting the small bits of my skin that are exposed, and I feel like it’s literally cutting into me. I hurry the last few steps and take shelter on Ethan’s porch. I’ve barely rung the doorbell before he swings the door open with a somber expression on his face.
If there are any fleeting thoughts that I might have misread the situation, those disappear when I see the expression on his face. His eyebrows are drawn together, and his lips are turned downward.
“Come in. Are you okay?”
“Fine, just…fine.” It’s easier just to say I feel fine than to try to explain how this thing is lingering. Besides, today I haven’t really felt so bad after all. There’s just a lingering tiredness from whatever virus I’ve had.
“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?”
“No, I just want to know why you wanted me to come over here.”
Ethan sighs and motions for me to head into the living room. I sink onto the couch, and Ethan joins me a moment later with a half-finished mug of coffee.
“Are the dogs behaving for you?”
I shrug. “As well as they can. What’s going on?” If I have to ask him to get to the point one more time, I’m going to explode.
“Just… Aurora came over and talked to me.”
My heart sinks. As soon as he says that, I have a feeling I know where he’s heading. “She knows. How does she know? What did she say?”
Ethan shakes his head. He takes a moment to respond. I almost want to leap across the living room, grab the collar of his shirt, and shake him. But I manage to exhibit some self-control.
“She…it seems as though…she heard some rumors, and it was enough for her to put the pieces together.”
It seems like Ethan isn’t telling me the whole story, but the truth is that I don’t care so much how she found out as what she did about it. I remember how the group get-together felt. She was practically freezing me out. Is that what’s going to happen from now on? She’s going to spread rumors, well, they’re true so maybe they aren’t all rumors, behind my back. And…I’m going to just have to deal with it?
“She came over pretty upset, asking me how I could do that to you like I…dragged you into something.”
“What did you say?”
“The truth is that she didn’t give me the chance to say much of anything.”
“So basically, she did her Aurora thing? Throw a bunch of accusations then march out?”
Ethan smirks for a second before the seriousness of the situation settles on him again. “Yeah, that’s basically what happened.”
“Okay, I thought that was the case, but I was hoping she didn’t really know, that she was just making something up.”
“Well, if she thought she was making something up, I confirmed it in our conversation. At this point, it was better for me to be upfront and admit that we’ve been sleeping together than try to pretend it’s all in her head.”
I nod, understanding his logic. Still, I wince at the thought that Aurora knows. And if Aurora knows, all our friends know. Our chat group has had another unusually quiet day, and the feeling that I’m being cut out of the real conversation returns.
“Okay, thank you for letting me know the situation. What… I mean, something has to be done. She was mad, right?”
Ethan laughs at that, but he doesn’t sound very amused by it. His laugh cuts off abruptly. “Oh, yeah. She was mad. She was furious. She was having one of her adult tantrums where she won’t let the other person talk.”
I wince. I’ve seen those before. Aurora has a strong personality. Then, I turn my gaze to the floor and try to think about how to deal with this. Aurora has been my best friend for a long time, and despite her flaws, we share a lot of the same interests and usually have a good time together.
But now, since I’ve been sleeping with her father, I’ve been sneaking around and avoiding her as much as possible.It’s my guilty conscience. There’s really only one right way to deal with this situation.
“Well, I think the answer is easy. We need to stop seeing each other.”
Ethan’s eyebrows rise, but he doesn’t say anything.
I explain further. “That’s what’s causing the issue, right? I’ll explain to Aurora that it was a mistake and…I’ll fix things with her. You can fix things with her, too. Besides, it was just sex, so…” I don’t add, “We can get that somewhere else,” because that sounds so cold-hearted.
But that’s the truth. Ethan has stressed this whole time that it’s just sex. It’s nothing more. We don’t have a “real” relationship. Well, if that’s the case, then breaking this off should be easy, right?