Chapter 42

Lucy.

I tried not to think about last night. Tried and failed. The memory looped in my mind like a broken record—Ethan’s voice, the way he’d looked at me when he told me to run.

I stirred my tea for the fifth time without sipping it. The clink of the spoon was starting to irritate even me.

“Do you think this means something’s changing between you and Ethan?” Elizabeth’s voice was soft, cautious, like she didn’t want to set me off but couldn’t hold the question in any longer.

I groaned and dropped the spoon into the cup with a loud clatter. “Goodness, Elizabeth, not you too.”

Her brows lifted in innocent surprise. She was seated across from me at the dining table, her hands wrapped tightly around her own mug like it was the only thing anchoring her. “What? I’m just saying... He was there when you needed him. He didn’t have to be.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s turning into some knight in shining armor.” I leaned back in my chair, letting the hard wood press into my spine. “It means he was there. Nothing more.”

She looked like she wanted to argue, but I cut her off before she could even take a breath.

“I’m not doing this,” I said. “I came in here to avoid the chaos outside, not add more to my plate. The garden’s a mess, someone’s finally out there cleaning it, and I just wanted one quiet meal without anyone asking about Ethan.”

Elizabeth held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. No more Ethan talk.”

Thank Goodness.

The dining room felt oddly empty despite the size of it. Maybe it was because we rarely used it for anything real. But today, with the garden being taken over by landscapers, the table became the fallback. 

We sat in companionable silence for a minute, until footsteps echoed down the hallway.

I looked up just as Derek entered the room.

“Oh no,” I teased. “Are you stalking us now?”

Elizabeth burst out laughing. Even Derek chuckled as he strolled over to the table with that easy confidence of his.

“If I were, I’d like to think I’d be better at it,” he said with a grin. “But no, just good timing. You two always have the best gossip.”

Elizabeth winked. “Only when Lucy’s not grumbling about Ethan.”

I groaned again. “I thought we banned his name from the table.”

“Fine, fine,” she said, giggling. “Back to the safe topics. Like your tragic love life.”

Derek slid into the seat beside me and leaned in just a little too close. “Speaking of which... any chance I’ll have better luck getting a date out of you this time?”

I felt the smile tug at the corners of my mouth despite myself. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”

Elizabeth dramatically clutched her chest and faked a swoon. “Oh my god, he’s flirting again. I can’t take this much secondhand tension on an empty stomach.”

I rolled my eyes, but the moment was light, warm. The kind of rare comfort that didn’t demand too much from me.

Derek’s hand brushed mine under the table. Not accidently. His fingers hooked over mine and lingered. I didn’t pull away, and something about that felt... different. I was letting someone in. I didn’t know if I was ready, but maybe I was tired of holding everyone at arm’s length.

And then—

BANG.

A loud slam startled us as someone dropped their hands—no, slammed them—onto the table.

The air stilled. The ease in my chest evaporated in an instant.

“Where are my keys?”

I didn’t even have to look. I already knew that voice. That low, gravel-edged voice that still had the power to make my pulse jump.

Ethan.

I turned slowly, every muscle in my body tensing like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. His eyes were fixed on me. Not on Elizabeth. Not on Derek. Me.

I forced my voice to stay calm. “I gave them to Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth blinked, startled out of her moment of stunned silence. “Oh, right. Yeah—just a second.”

She dug through her oversized bag, cursing softly under her breath as she fished through lipstick, receipts, and at least three different kinds of candy wrappers.

Ethan didn’t take his eyes off me.

Neither did Derek take his hand off mine.

Ethan’s gaze slid, slow and deliberate, to the point where our fingers were still intertwined. His jaw clenched.

Elizabeth finally found the keys and held them up. “Here. Sorry. I meant to give them back earlier—”

Ethan didn’t even glance at her. He snatched the keys and then, without a word, reached out and—

His fingers brushed through my hair.

I froze.

His touch wasn’t rough. It wasn’t possessive. It was worse—He did that just to make Derek jealous did absolutely nothing. Like everyone is like him who can't maintain a proper friendship.

I jerked away, heart racing, but before I could say a word, Derek was already on his feet.

He grabbed Ethan’s wrist and shoved it back.

“Don’t touch her,” Derek said sharply. “Keep your stupid hands to yourself.”

Ethan barely moved. His body was like stone, but his eyes sparked like lightning. “What did you just say?”

“I said,” Derek growled, stepping closer, “don’t touch a lady like that. Not unless she asks you to. And I don’t think she did.”

A beat of silence.

Ethan's laugh was dark. Hollow. Then, in a blink, he lunged forward and grabbed Derek by the front of his shirt. Chairs scraped against the floor as they collided, and I stood up fast, heart in my throat.

“Stop it!” I shouted.

But Ethan wasn’t looking at me anymore. His entire focus was locked on Derek.

His voice dropped, venomous.

“What would people say,” he hissed, “seeing you fight over your brother’s breeder like this?”

I felt the world still.

The words dropped like ice into my stomach. My breath caught. Elizabeth gasped behind me.

Derek’s fists clenched at his sides, his whole body shaking.

And Ethan... Ethan just stared, unapologetic, his mouth curled in a twisted sort of smile.

He let go of Derek’s shirt, let the man stagger back half a step.

My hands were shaking, but I didn’t stop me from taking the next action.

I took a step forward and slapped Ethan across the face.

But then he just turned and looked at me with those cold eyes of his. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink.

He just looked at me.

And then, without another word, turned and walked out.