“I’m not sure. I’d love to work on the line again, but my schedule is pretty hectic.”
“Oh, I’ll get you one. No one has to know.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know if any future shifts fall through.”
“What future shifts?”
I looked over Brown Eyes’ shoulder directly into Ethan’s narrowed eyes. His mouth was set in a tight smile and he didn’t look pleased.
“Hey, Ethan.” I turned to Brown Eyes. “I was telling... I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Jamie, this is Summer. Summer Bennett. She’s in her second year in the program.”
I gave her a polite smile.
Her smile at Ethan was all bitch with a side of bitterness. “Ethan. I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned me before. It’s not like we met last week.”
Ethan grumbled under his breath, “Summer, meet Jamie Lassiter, star of our year and chef extraordinaire.”
She smiled sweetly. When she laid her hand on my forearm, Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What Ethan failed to mention is we met during my first year at the Institute. And he’s a piece of shit who only uses people for sex because he’s too good to date.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “No. I’m not too good to date. Just picky.”
Summer glared. “You think you’re untouchable, Ethan, but you’re not. Does Kitterick know you gave one of our shifts to a trust-fund baby?”
Ethan smirked, cocky and confident as always. She looked away, losing the battle of wills. He leaned against the bar next to her. “Kitterick knows all about Lassiter’s shift. He didn’t have a problem with it. From the sound of it, looks like you’re the only one who does.”
When she didn’t answer, he continued, his voice sarcastic. “Well, this was nice catching up. Now if you’ll excuse us, I’m starving.”
Ethan winked at me and cocked his head at the bar. I stifled a laugh when Summer’s smile turned into a death glare. I slipped off the bar stool and gave her a polite smile. “Nice meeting you, Summer.”
“I’d say the same, but I’d be lying. A word of advice? I’d pick better company in the future if you want to get anywhere in this business.” She gave me another fake smile before turning back to the group.
I walked over to where Ethan stood at the bar. The music was so loud I had to yell for him to hear me. “Do I even want to know?”
He glanced in her direction and rolled his eyes at her glare. “A mistake I made during my second year. Let’s just say I had really bad judgment one night and she didn’t want to take ‘I’m not interested in more’ for an answer the next morning.”
I glanced over in her direction. The fact he’d hooked up with Summer made me wonder if any of the attraction I’d thought I’d felt was one way and imagined. Or was Ethan bi? Either way, I was confused but I wasn’t too sure about putting it all out there and admitting I was interested. “I meant the shift, Ethan.”
He turned and leaned against the bar, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You wanted a shift. I got you a shift. Kitterick knows who you are and that you’re not a financial aid student. He liked how you handled yourself in the kitchen and doesn’t have a problem with anything. End of story.”
Shocked that Ethan had put himself out there for me, I leaned in so he could hear over the bar’s noise. “Thank you.”
He regarded me for a moment and nodded. I watched as he read the menu and ran his finger down the different sauces for hot wings.
“Wings? You’re actually going to order them?”
A grin spread across his face. “Hell yes. This place makes the best wings. And twice-baked potatoes. And mozzarella sticks. Perfect beer food.” He raised his glass in salute.
After he ordered half the menu’s appetizers, we wandered to the other side of the bar near the pool tables. We found a table where we could see the action but still have enough distance from it to talk. Ethan filled me in on the people I’d met when we’d arrived and I wondered if he was feeling the effects of the beer or finally comfortable enough in my presence to let his guard down.
After ten minutes of watching a guy run the table on some of Ethan’s friends from the kitchen, our food finally arrived. Ethan’s eyes lit up with satisfaction as he bit into a wing. He closed his eyes and moaned loudly as he chewed. When he opened his eyes and caught me staring, he grinned wickedly and began to slowly lick the sauce off his fingers. His tongue curled around each finger, laving it slowly to get every last bit of sauce. Aching and hard, I shifted in my chair hoping the change in position would free up some space in my jeans. Ethan smirked at me and picked up another wing.
He knew exactly the effect he had on me. I picked up a mozzarella stick, echoing his actions as I licked the marinara sauce off my fingers. I returned his smirk and chewed slowly as he grabbed a napkin and began wiping off the hot wing sauce. He took a deep drink of his beer and cleared his throat.
“Okay. We’ve got to talk about this project at some point. I made notes about the local growers and vendors I told you about in class. We still have to come up with a marketing plan, but I think your approach of chalkboard signs on the sidewalk and seasonal menu is solid.”
I pushed my plate of appetizers away and rested my elbows on the table as I stared at him in amazement. “You put all this effort and thought into a project you complained about from first day? This is a lot of work for a fictional restaurant. Can you imagine what it’s going to be like opening up our own places someday?”
He laughed and took a long swig of his beer before answering. “If it’s anything like this project, I don’t even want to think about how many hours of sleep I won’t be getting.” He set down his beer. His expression turned serious as he peeled the label off the bottle. “It’d be worth it, though. Having a place that’s yours and yours alone. A place you worked your ass off to see succeed. I’d deal with all the blood, sweat and lack of sleep for that.”
I smiled at the intensity of his voice and picked up my bottle to tap it against his. “It’ll happen, Ethan. You’re the second-best in our class.” When his eyes widened in shock, I laughed. “Sorry you’re stuck at number two. But you’ll get your own place one day. I have no doubt in ten years you’ll have one of the most popular restaurants around. It’ll be because you’ll put everything you have into it. People like Reed Jerkoff Jackson don’t get it. Neither does my dad. But I do.”
He looked at me, his expression unreadable, then lifted his beer to his lips and took a long draft from it. I looked away from him over to the pool tables. It was one thing to flirt with Ethan and serve his snarky comments right back to him. But it was another thing entirely when I saw his vulnerability and served up my own for him to see. He wanted to prove everyone wrong about him so badly he could taste it. In this moment, I almost wanted him to win the scholarship more than I wanted it for myself. Best to call it a night before I said anything else. I finished off my beer and pushed back in my chair, my eyes meeting Ethan’s.
“I know it’s still early, but I’m going to head out. Thanks for hanging out.” I pulled out my wallet and tossed some money on the table to cover our bill. “Don’t feel like you have to leave because of me. I’m sure your friends would love to hang out.”
“Everything okay?” He watched, a confused look on his face as I shrugged on my fleece jacket, zipping it up.
“Yeah, everything’s good. You have my number if you want to work on our project again.” I smiled briefly and pushed in my chair. As I walked through the crowded bar I waved at the group huddled around the bar.
I opened the door, shivering when a gust of wind swept through. I pulled my jacket tight around my body, sighing when I saw no cabs waiting at the curb. “Shit.” I could either call information or wait a few minutes for another to drive by. I leaned against the brick wall of the building to wait when I heard the bar’s door squeak open a
nd shut again.
“You could have waited for me, you know?” Ethan’s annoyed voice as he approached had me wondering what I’d done now.
“No worries.” I shrugged, tired from the long day and the confusing mix of emotions hanging out with him seemed to bring. “I didn’t want to rush you because I was ready to leave.”
He stepped closer, his shoulders hunched as he reluctantly admitted, “I wanted to hang out with you. Not Summer or the guys. Just you.”
I stared at him. “What do you want from me, Ethan? Half the time I don’t know whether you hate me or want to be friends. Then you do something like defend me to my father, who incidentally thinks you’re the antichrist. Tell me what we’re doing here.”
Instead of launching into the verbal tirade I expected, a determined look crossed his face and he murmured, “Fuck it.”
He stepped closer and I tensed. As unpredictable as Ethan was, I wasn’t sure what he’d do. I let it out a surprised gasp when his mouth met mine. There was nothing gentle about it. Months of tension, fighting, flirting all igniting when he touched me. Not a romantic kiss by any means...it was bruising, rough, passionate, intense, all the same things I’d come to equate with Ethan Martin. My fingers curled in the fabric of his sweatshirt, tugging him closer as my eyes slammed shut.
Braced between the solidness of his body and the cold wall behind me, I felt my entire body heat. Ethan’s ravenous lips and desperate tongue claimed my mouth, tasting of beer and mint. He slid one hand up to cup the back of my neck, holding me captive as he braced himself against the wall. I kissed him back fiercely, our teeth knocking together with the force of it.
Sounds I didn’t even know I was capable of making left my mouth and I didn’t care we were in public where anyone could see us. I nipped his lip, sighing with pleasure when he moaned into my mouth. He might be an infuriatingly stubborn asshole at times but one thing was for certain: Ethan Martin could kiss. He broke away, breathing hard as he leaned his forehead against mine.
“Wow.” I fought for breath, a smile tugging at my lips. “For once we’re actually on the same page.” As soon as the words left my mouth, he pulled back. His expression changed from needy to terrified as he released me, his hands clenched into fists.
“Ethan?”
“I’m sorry.” He backed away, staring at my face like I’d punched him. “I’m really fucking sorry, Lassiter.”
I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, raising my hands as if I was soothing a spooked animal.
“Ethan?”
He yanked up his sweatshirt hood and took off, leaving me to stare after him in silence. What the hell had happened?
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan
Anger warred with painful arousal as I searched for a cab. What kind of asshole walked away from a kiss like that? Sure, he was the guy I was competing against and the guy whose family represented everything I despised in our industry. But when I closed my eyes, the memory of Jamie’s lean body under all those ugly clothes as I’d shoved him against the wall replayed in my mind. The throaty moan that had rumbled out of his chest when my tongue had touched his would be on auto-play in my brain for the foreseeable future. When he bit my lip all I could think of was getting inside him as quickly as humanly possible. Public be damned.
It wasn’t just sex. When Summer had touched Jamie’s arm, protectiveness had surged through me. When she’d found out who he was, she’d had a speculative look on her face as she tried to figure out how she could best twist the situation to her advantage. After watching Jamie go toe to toe with his own father, I’d wanted to shield him from her and the instinct had taken me by surprise. I respected him, and I didn’t want his vulnerability to be another thing someone tried to cash in on. Even more? I respected him for being ballsy enough to take on his own family. I liked him. I liked him, and the thought scared the shit out of me. And then his words had shaken me out of the fog that had settled over us and I’d bolted like an idiot.
I finally found a cab two blocks away from the bar and threw myself inside with a grunt at the driver. I felt my stomach roil the entire drive home and was in complete knots by the time I got to my apartment. What in the hell had I been thinking? Too full of nervous energy to wait for the elevator, I stomped up all five flights of stairs. As I slipped the key into the lock, I let my forehead bang against the door with a thud.
Why?
I’d gotten a few beers in me and I’d lost sight of my goal to get through this last year. I let out a deep breath and banged my head against the door again, hoping I’d knock some sense into my deficient brain.
The door swung open, revealing a visibly smug Claire. “Well hello, Romeo. I didn’t expect to see you home this soon.”
When I didn’t answer, her smile quickly faded. “Please tell me for the love of everything holy you didn’t screw this up.”
I shrugged my shoulders and pushed past her without comment as she shut the door behind us.
Not accepting my silence on the matter, Claire pressed on. “So? What happened? Why do you look like someone peed in your Cheerios?”
I scrubbed a hand down my face as I leaned against the kitchen countertop. “I kissed him.”
“Okay. You kissed him, and? It was awesome? You saw rainbows and heard chirping birds and shit? What? You’re killing me with the disturbing lack of details.”
“I kissed him. Then I left him to wait for a cab,” I mumbled.
Her eyebrow climbed to her hairline. “You kissed him and then left?”
“One minute we were bowling and I was kicking his ass. The next minute we were at the bar and I was prying Summer Bennett off him. We ate, talked a little, then he left. I shouldn’t have, but I ran after him...and I kissed him.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I kissed Golden Boy.” I groaned in frustration. “What a fucking mess.”
“Ethan, you’re so clueless sometimes.” She shook her head.
“What?” I grumbled.
“Nothing.”
“No, what do you mean?” I pushed away from the counter and moved closer to the living room.
“Do you remember when we were in school and you got a crush on Jenna Roberts?”
“I was twelve, Claire.” Where was she going with this?
“Yeah, well what I remember was one day she got boobs and all you wanted to do was chase her around and snap her training bra.”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “And?”
“You liked her. You gave her all kinds of shit...pushed her down, snapped her poor bra strap and did the twelve-year-old equivalent of the mating dance.”
“Is there a point to this story?” I snapped.
“Oh my God, you’re too pretty! You like Jamie.”
I stared at her, comprehension eluding me.
“You like him. You know. How sometimes two people like each other. Romantically.”
I blinked. “Not following you.”
“You are so whipped,” she crowed as I made a disgusted face. “You better not bang him on our couch.”
“Ugh. I cannot believe you said that.” I began walking backward out of the room with my hands over my eyes.
She laughed. “What? We have one couch and I don’t want to wear a hazmat suit every time I watch a movie.”
“Oh, hell.” I stuck my fingers in my ears and bolted for my room. Between kissing Lassiter and hearing my baby sister talk about sex, I was going to need a brain reboot soon.
I slammed the door behind me and locked it. I could still hear Claire’s words echoing in my ears as I flopped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling with frustration.
Simple sex, I could do. But I didn’t date. I didn’t do relationships. I didn’t have time for more than the simple fuck and chuck over the years but even those situations ended shitty sometimes. Case i
n point, Summer. Lassiter pissed me off more than anyone I’d ever met in my whole life. He had everything anyone could want. He also had no clue he was sexy, had a quirky sense of humor, was smart as hell and was a good person.
When I closed my eyes all I saw was Jamie’s face after I’d kissed him. Before he’d opened his eyes, I’d looked at him and imagined seeing him in my bed, and not just for a night. But when he’d said the thing about us being on the same page, I’d panicked. Now I was confused as hell by six feet of temptation in grandpa loafers who had turned me into a moody, introspective bastard.
I wanted Lassiter more than anyone I’d ever known. Now what did I do about it?
* * *
Once the sun came up, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Even a shower didn’t help. After ten minutes under the pounding spray my neck was still stiff and my head pounded. When I finally staggered from the shower, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. Bleary, bloodshot eyes ringed in dark circles stared back at me. As I pushed back my wet hair from my face, I had to admit I wasn’t exactly looking my finest.
I braced my hands against the vanity and stared at my reflection. Even though I had felt more last night with Jamie than I had with anyone else, I didn’t need any complications in my life. I didn’t have any time for fucking around, much less an actual relationship. Jamie had given me more these past few weeks than I deserved. What did I have to give in return? A bad attitude, commitment issues and a pissy temper.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as my shoulders slumped down. No. I was nothing close to what Jamie Lassiter needed.
Snap out of it, asshole. I didn’t need my little sister trying to play matchmaker. I didn’t need to see Lassiter’s confused face after our kiss. I needed to focus on winning the scholarship competition.
Frustrated, I headed for my room to get dressed. I needed to focus on winning the year’s worth of paid tuition and not on some piece of ass, regardless of how much his ass turned me on. I hurriedly threw on the closest clean clothes, eager to escape another heart-to-heart conversation about my messed-up love life.
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