“It’s me,” Ethan says quietly as he steadies me, his strong hands bracing my waist.
As my eyes begin to adjust to the dim light that filters through the miniscule crack under the door, I can make out the outline of Ethan’s face hovering inches from mine.
“Hi,” he says, smiling down at me.
“Hi.” I smile back.
Then his lips are on mine, feverish and possessive. Urgent but not hurried. My arms wrap around his neck, and his hands slide to my back, pulling me tight against him.
“I’ve missed you.” Ethan’s low voice vibrates against my lips in between kisses.
“It’s only been a few days,” I tease instead of telling the truth—that I’ve missed him too.
Things have been hectic around the office this week. The acquisition of Ridgeway finally went through, but the transition has been far from smooth, thanks to their owner’s fickle demeanor and last-minute demands. There have been a lot of late nights this week, none of which were spent with Ethan donning a loincloth or with me bent over his desk.
It's been very disappointing.
Somehow, we managed not to break our no touching at work rule. Until now, that is.
“Stay with me this weekend,” Ethan murmurs against my mouth.
Nerves and excitement collide in my stomach. I pull away slightly to get a better look at Ethan’s face in the dimly lit room.
“All weekend?”
A small crease forms between his brows, clearly sensing my hesitation. “That’s not weird, is it? You’ve stayed the weekend at my house before.”
“Yeah, but that was before…” I swallow down the rest of the words, unwilling to be the first to say them out loud.
Ethan doesn’t want to do labels. He doesn’t want to define this thing between us. I’m trying to honor that and give him the space he needs. Trying to remind myself that the label doesn’t matter nearly as much as the feelings. And even though I’m unsure of what to call it, I’m absolutely certain that there are feelings involved on both our parts. I see it in the way he looks at me, feel it in the way he touches me, even taste in in the way he kisses me.
Those unspoken words hang in the air around us. Ethan shifts, almost like he’s trying to avoid bumping into one of them. His hand reaches for a wayward strand of my hair, gently tucking it behind my ear.
“No pressure,” he tells me softly. “I’ll be happy with whatever time you want to give me.”
I bite down on my lip, aiming for coy but landing closer to anxious. I’ve spent quite a few nights at Ethan’s house recently. He’s even spent a few at mine, but spending the entire weekend together feels decidedly couple-ish. It’s the sort of thing serious couples do to test the waters before moving in together, just to make sure the other person doesn’t have any weird, deal breaking habits. Things like clipping their toenails in bed or letting their tiny beard hairs turn to mulch in the bathroom sink.
It's an important step in any relationship. But this isn’t a relationship, and I don’t want to let my hopes get too high.
There’s no way I’m saying no though. Ethan is my favorite person, and I won’t turn down the chance to spend copious amounts of time with him.
“I’ll stay the weekend with you,” I tell him, “but you’re going to have to do without me for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. I really need to go look at apartments. My lease is ending soon, and it’s stressing me out that I haven’t even started looking for a new place yet.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Um, do youwantto come apartment hunting with me?”
“It could be fun…” he shrugs, flashing amaybe-we-can-have-sex-on-the-model-furnituresmile.
I tilt my head to one side, rearranging my features into a doubtful stare that he probably can’t see very well in the dark. “The fact that you think apartment shopping could be fun proves that you’ve never done it before.”
Ethan’s hands come up to cup my face. His smile transforms into the one I favor these days—the soft but bright one that tells me I’m not the only one catching feelings against all my better judgement.
“Margot, everything is fun when I’m with you.”
My heart squeezes in my chest, leaving me a little breathless.
“Even rollercoasters?”