Judging Books

“I’ll make sure your bike is stored properly. Do you know when you will be leaving?”

“Not sure yet,” Ethan said, looking at me through his lashes.

“I’ll keep it close by, then,” Henry said with a nod. “I’ll bring the car around as well if you think you’ll be needing it.”

“Nah,” Ethan said. “Don’t waste time with it. I’ll call ya if I need it.”

“Very good, sir.”

We entered the elevator, and I just stared at him as it began to ascend.

“Not what you were expecting?” Ethan said with a smile.

“You live here?”

“Not often,” he said, “but yeah, this is my place.”

“The penthouse?”

“The whole top floor,” he said. “It’s fucking insane. Way too big for one person.”

“How can you…?”

“Long story.” He laughed again. “I’ll tell you tonight if you really want to know.”

The doors opened into a large foyer, tastefully decorated with original prints of the city and fresh flowers. Ethan walked in and took off his shoes, motioning for me to do the same.

“My mom was always a nut about no shoes in the house,” he said. “It stuck with me.”

He took my hand and led me through the entryway and into a huge great room with an enormous fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. There was a black leather couch and a loveseat as well as mahogany coffee and end tables. In the middle of the room were two fluorescent pink beanbag chairs sitting in front of a gigantic television.

“Ethan, this place is incredible.”

“Good evening,” a voice said behind me, which caused me to jump and let out a little screech. Ethan tightened his grip on my hand and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.

“Hey, Frazier,” he said. “This is Ashlyn. Ashlyn, meet Josh Frazier.”

“Good to meet you, Ashlyn,” Josh

said, holding out his hand. I shook it briefly and echoed his reply.

“Do you want him to stick around?” Ethan asked me quietly. “We could just watch a movie or something.”

“No, that’s okay.” I honestly wasn’t more comfortable with the idea of being in a strange place with two guys I didn’t know. At least Ethan was starting to feel familiar to me.

“See ya later, Josh,” Ethan said.

“Have fun!” Josh smiled and winked. “Call if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Ethan responded. He gave Josh a high-five as he walked out of the room and towards the elevator. A moment later, Josh was gone and we were—as far as I could tell—alone.

“I do have a lot of movies if you want to watch something.”

Ethan stood in front of a cabinet, one hand in his hair and tugging at the ends. He danced from one foot to the other, then looked up at me, his cheeks red.

“They’re mostly movies based on books.” He let out a quick, nervous laugh. My laugh was more genuine, and he seemed to relax a little.

“I think I’ll pass,” I said.