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“Andrew, let him in! He is my friend.”

My cheeks were warm with blood when I introduced Ethan to him, who was inspecting Ethan as if he was a new species. Jake and Ethan exchanged a few pleasantries while I tried to focus on going through my books and deciding which ones to keep and which ones to donate.

Ethan helped me and exclaimed when he picked out the classics we had read together for our English assignments. The pages were annotated with both of our messy handwriting.

“God, I hated reading classics,” he said, closing yet another book and keeping it in the growing pile.

“I thought you were always excited to read the next one as soon as we finished one.”

Ethan looked at me, his blue-green eyes warm in the sunlight splattered across my room. He gave me a small secret smile and said, “It’s because I loved reading them with you.”

My breath hitched in my throat hearing his words. I stared at him while he picked up another book from the pile. I didn’t know that teenage Ethan was excited to read classics because he read them with me.

I did not like knowing that.

I heard Jake pick up his phone and looked at him as he stopped taking out my jewelry and accessories from the drawer. I frowned when he ended the call and looked at me.

“You have to leave?” I asked, trying to hide the fact that he would leave me with Ethan alone, even though Andrew was in the living room, playing video games.

Jake nodded, pocketing his phone and came closer to me and pecked my cheek, “Sorry, sweetheart, I have to meet my agent for an urgent meeting. Don’t wait up for me, I will call you as soon as I can.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, but I agreed because he had taken a month off for our wedding, so work was piling up for him, and he wanted to get it done before the end of this month. Jake left. Ethan and I went back to talking about books, organizing them and laughing at the old times when we used to read books together.

He told me how he and Liam were friends again, how he and Liam made it to the Olympics. How Jake met him and presented the idea of doing modelling on the side and how it worked out for him.

I told him how I moved to London, finished my bachelor’s and my debut novel. How I impatiently waited to hear from a publisher for a year while doing small, odd jobs in London and moved back to San Diego when I got the book offer. How I became a teacher and wrote part time and how it worked out for me.

I sighed, dropping the last box of books in the corner of my room which looked empty without them and turned to Ethan who had helped me arrange them and tape the boxes.

I wanted to hug him like old times. Instead, I said, “Thank you so much for this, Ethan. You are staying for dinner tonight. Anya Wu makes a mean chicken satay and you will love it.”

He flashed me a grin. “You know me, Bella. I love free food.”

Ethan and I played video games with Andrew, who was more than excited to win every round against us. Anya arrived home cursing at a racist client she had to deal with.

“Oh, wow,” she paused and looked at Ethan who was sitting beside Andrew with a gaming console in his hand. “And who must you be?” She asked, keeping her hand on her hip, giving Ethan her mom look.

No matter how handsome the guy was, she wouldn’t get wooed unless she was sure that her son was safe and sound in good care. I knew because her parents had shunned her as soon as she told them she was pregnant at the age of seventeen. I had tried to get her dates, play her wing woman, but it never worked because she was always worried about her son. Still, in the past I had seen handsome men leave her room when Andrew was staying with her sister.

“Mom, he is my new friend, Ethan. Do you know he is Kiara’s childhood friend? He even swims and has two moms and a sister. How cool is that!”

I smiled warmly looking between him and Ethan whose face was flushed. God, even at twenty-five, he blushed just the same. It was adorable, and I wanted to pinch his cheeks. I quickly scolded myself for having that thought.No. No pinching cheeks.

I knew Anya had accepted Ethan to be around her apartment when she told him to stay over for dinner. I had to excuse myself from them because I had a video call therapy session with my therapist, Sabrina Young. Ethan’s face was hard to read when I announced that.

By the time the session was over, I felt lighter, like I did every time after a session. I had told her about Ethan, and after listening to me, her suggestion was to talk to him.

Great.

When I stepped out of my room, Anya and Ethan were in the kitchen. They both paused and looked up at me as if I had interrupted their important talk. I narrowed my eyes at her while she smirked at me and showed him how to marinate the chicken. I asked her if she needed any help, but she denied. Ethan just gave me a warm smile, making my gut churn.

How could he still smile at me like that after I left him?

Dinner was served on the dining table and we all thanked Anya for it before we tasted the delicious satay. Ethan sat across from me, beside Andrew, while Anya sat beside me.

“So, I heard you punched a reporter.”

I coughed and swallowed the food before glaring at her. Ethan seemed to be amused by it.