Leaning in close, he placed one hand on my waist, and I sucked in a breath, as his fingertips burned through the thin cotton of my shirt. Then in a move so slow, so smooth and calculated, he bent down and brushed his lips over my cheek, a whisper-soft kiss that made me shiver and shot butterflies through my belly, yearning for the real thing.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked. “We’ll put the baskets together?”
I nodded my agreement, because I couldn’t speak, not with Ethan’s penetrating gaze burning a hole through the side of my face. Not without the feel of Carson’s lips still on my skin. And then he turned and bounded up the stairs, past Ethan, who watched him go, his eyes narrowed on his back, knife-sharp before he turned to me.
I swallowed, finding enough strength to offer him a genuine smile through the pounding of my heart. “Ready to go?” I asked.
As we pulled out of the driveway three minutes later, I found myself wishing I were still inside—with Carson. Only my gaze flickered to the upstairs window, to where I saw his shadow, highlighted by the glow of the light from within, and I turned to Ethan and smiled, acting like everything was okay. Like he was still my world, my best friend, even though I’d rather be with his brother.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The remainder of my week consisted of days spent with Ethan and evenings spent organizing supplies with Carson. Time split between two Brooks boys. I spent far more time at their house than my own. Whether or not my parents noticed, I had no idea. I hadn’t spent enough time there to care.
Ethan lay back in his bed, tossing a football up in the air, while I sat at his desk chair, filling out a college application. “Which school is that for again?” he asked.
“Purdue.”
Ethan grunted. “You haven’t even heard back from Duke yet.”
“I know. But I can’t just wait around and do nothing. I might as well start getting other applications ready in case I don’t get early acceptance.”
A knock on the door interrupted us. I turned, and my eyes locked with Carson’s as he leaned inside the doorway, his damp hair framing his face from his late-day swim. A ball of heat curled in my belly and a slow smiled curved my lips.
“Hey, you ready to get packing the last of the stuff? Mom and Dad went to dinner, but they ordered pizza for us. You game?”
“Definitely.” I put my paperwork down and stood.
Ethan scowled. “So you can stop what you’re doing for him?” Then he checked his watch. “It’s only five o’clock, and you guys were gone all afternoon shopping. Can’t it wait?”
I shifted on my feet, wishing he’d just make this easy on me and let me go. “Well, this is the last day. We have to organize everything into care packages for the families. Tomorrow, we meet Mrs. Parks, then we do the grocery shopping and deliver everything,” I said.
“Right. I get it,” Ethan said, turning his attention away from us.
He didn’t look like he got it.
“Don’t be mad.” I nudged him in the arm. “We’ll come and grab you after we’re finished,” I said, realizing much too late my use of the word “we.”
Ethan, however, hadn’t missed it. His head snapped up, and he arched a brow in question. After, he shook his head and grumbled as he began tossing the football in the air again.
“We can go to the late showing of that movie you wanted to see,” I added.
“Whatever. Have fun.”
And though I felt guilty, I left his room and joined Carson downstairs.
An hour later, Carson and I had effectively demolished a whole pepperoni pizza—okay, I ate two pieces while Carson all but inhaled the rest—and we had basically taken over the living room.
“You’ll have to thank your mom for all the boxes if I don’t see her tonight. These are perfect.” I lugged a box of presents to the corner of the finished baskets and wrote the family’s name on it in marker. “And for letting us take over the place,” I added, surveying the mess. The floor was covered.
I pulled a face, and we both laughed, something we found ourselves doing quite often.
Carson caught my eye, and I allowed my gaze flicker to his mouth, wondering if he’d try to kiss m
e. Part of me felt like I’ve waited forever.
He cleared his throat and glanced away again, his cheeks turning pink. “Well, it’s only for two more days. This stuff will be out of here soon enough.”
“What all do we have left to do tonight?” I asked, checking the master list. “Looks like we just need to divvy up the wrapping paper and gift bags so that the parents can wrap the kids’ gifts, then we’ll be done. Gosh, it’s going to take a million trips to deliver all this stuff. We don’t even have the food yet.”