office downtown. His family still owned the

the unimpresse

his desk, his eyes na

you to st

eed to

row bed, young and reckless. There were others. And then I played a few seconds of the d

d love these. So would the press, I imagine. 'Inve

hen flushed with ange

r last two months of bachelorhood with me. Reconnect. F

is blac

whatever y

etched. I could see the calculations in his eyes.

hair. A slow, cold smir

You want to play

d. Just

s wasn' t the Ethan I remembered

e knows. Not Olivia, not your

ed. "

f his office,

mo

two months. I didn' t tell him about

y. It was about feelin

a lie. Even i

e, hear his voice, pretend, for a

a past wort

at night. No words

we' d shared our first real kiss. Th

ed to make small talk, but i

he kis

demanding, full of resentment

as fiercely. For a mom

ough my chest. I gasped, pu

darkening. "What now,

st..." I coul

tood. Of cou

member?" he said, his v

walked to the edge of t

e pain in my ches

got in, star

d, his tone flat. He dropped me at

It was a fami

my mother called

ving a little get-together on Sunday.

ar. She' d remarried, moved to Dallas, and mostly prete

ined smiles and polite questions about why I wasn' t

t know,

s father is Carol' s cousin, twice removed, or s

. My mother neve

was as awkward

e. He was attentive to her, charming t

Before I could react, Ethan, sitting opposite, leaned over and subtly

else

' t loo

nt. But it was... something. A reflex fr

just didn' t

, my mother

t Richard. His son is a

ixty, with a comb-over

, ple

not getting any younger." Her voice

my arm aw

"You' re emba

s. Olivia raised a per

s father. He was laughing, his arm around Oliv

d happy.

st to the tension coi

able, so right, sent a fresh wave of p

just a ghost, a blackmailing

aving, he followed

your mother?" he ask

Mom bei

oked...

ncern? I al

it, Ethan. It has not

ar. He stood th

the keys, my

Av

r now, leaning down, his

. it' s just for the

s what I

vering mine on the ignitio

ood

nd kissed me again. Harder

d no, but my bo

tired of