“That’s Hunter,” I say, voice small. Hunter wags his tail, waiting for someone to come gush all over him. He’s a friendly dog and is oddly calm right now given all that happened. I hope he didn’t get injured.
“He killed a Pricolici,” Ethan tells his sisters. “I’ll fill you in later.” He lets his hands slowly slide down my body, eyes on me for another second. “In the meanwhile, can one of you let Anora borrow some pants?”
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m just gonna hop in the shower really quick,” I tell Ethan, dropping my purse onto the floor in the foyer. He offered to come over and keep watch while I changed, and I accepted since it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now it just feels awkward.
“You can turn the TV on if you’d like.” I motion to the TV and bend over to unzip my boots. They’re still wet, and each step squished under my feet. “The remote is, uh, somewhere. I’ll find it.” I toss my wet boots by the door.
“It’s on the couch,” Ethan says.
“Do you want anything to drink?” I ask, wanting to be a good host despite everything going on.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Okay. I’m going to wash the nasty pond water off me now.”
Ethan crosses the room and sits on the couch. Hunter jumps up next to him, resting his head on Ethan’s thigh. I hurry into the bathroom and turn on the water before stripping out of Ethan’s shirt and Sam’s PJ pants. I shower as quickly as I can and don’t realize until I’m out of the shower that I didn’t bring in clothes.
Wrapping a towel around myself I crack the door open and peer into the hall. The TV is on, and it sounds like Ethan is watching FRIENDS. I hurry across the hall, closing my bedroom door behind me.
Romeo, who’s been in his cage all day, scurries down his ramp and waits by the door, wanting out.
“Sorry, little dude,” I tell him when I open the cage door. “I didn’t mean to leave you in for so long.” He runs out of his cage and bounces around the room making the cutest little noises. He crashes into the wall and tips over. Ferrets are stealthy, but not the most graceful animals.
Going to my nightstand, I open the top drawer and look at my underwear. Part of my brain tells me to grab the sexy black lace thong, but another part says grab the period-stained granny panties, so I won’t be tempted to remove my pants later.
It doesn’t matter how attractive I find Ethan, or how good his large hands felt resting on my waist. I can’t be sure if I can trust him and sleeping with him will only make it harder to sort things out. While I’m debating what to cover my ass with, Romeo climbs up onto my dresser. I see him push my jewelry box at the last second. I turn and try to make a mad dash over, dropping my towel in the process, but I’m too late.
“Dammit,” I mutter after it clatters to the ground. “Thanks, Romeo.” He looks up at me, little masked face too cute for me to stay mad at. “I’ll get it later,” I tell him right as my door flies open.
“I heard a crash,” Ethan starts, and I scream, dropping to the ground to hide behind my bed. “Shit.” He closes the door so fast he whacks himself in the face. “I heard a crash and wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I say through gritted teeth, eyes still wide. “My ferret knocked something over.”
“I’ll, um, go back to the TV now.”
“Good idea.” I let out a breath, shaking my head. The lock on my door is broken, which usually isn’t a problem since I live alone. I raise up and peek at the door, and then wrap the towel around myself again. I blindly reach into my underwear drawer, picking out a pair of purple undies that aren’t black thong sexy, but look a hell of a lot better on me than my period panties. I don’t agonize over which bra to wear, but I put on a gray one that just happens to give me great cleavage. But it’s also comfortable, so I’m not doing it to look good for Ethan.
I put on jeans and a dark top and towel-dry my hair before going back into the bathroom to put on a little bit of makeup and half-dry my hair. It takes too long to fully dry my thick hair, and I feel bad making Ethan just sit in my living room.
Running my fingers through my semi-damp hair, I finally go back into the living room. Ethan is on the couch again, petting Hunter while he watches TV. Hunter’s tail wags when he sees me, and jumps off to come over, greeting me as if I’ve been gone for hours.