Obsession

"Thinkin bout your beauty it makes me weep

I'm feeling hopeless in my home

I don't know what to do I think I'm in love

Baby

Amor, no es amor (if this ain't love)

Then what am I feeling (what am I doing wrong)

Amor, no es amor (if this ain't love)

Is this an illusion that I have in my heart?" Obsession by Frankie J

Ethan and I spent the next Saturday morning cooking breakfast together. I thought about playing Love's Holiday to troll him, but truthfully I wanted to steer clear of the topic of love. After Ethan ate me out, I fell into a post orgasmic slumber. When I woke up, I banished all thoughts of love from my mind. I refused to think about if Ethan was falling in love with me or if I was falling in love with Ethan.

I figured I would know when I loved him, he would tell me if he loved me, and there was no point in driving myself crazy over it. I was going to continue to be open and honest about my feelings but I wasn't going to encourage any love shit: that included sappy love songs. I excitedly told him the plans I already had for my trip to the Dominican Republic instead of playing music while we cooked. I tried to get some ideas about what he wanted to do while we were there.

"Let me book the tickets before you start making plans." Ethan told me.

"Oh, I already made plans. Just trying to include you in them." I smiled, playfully at him as I finished tossing strawberries, oranges and grapes for a fruit salad.

"I'm ok with whatever you have planned." He said, turning removing the skillet from the oven.

"Ok... I'll book you for the skydiving and safari excursion I have planned."

"You plan on going skydiving before your dad's wedding?" He asked, skeptically.

"Actually during." I lied. "That's how I plan to enter the wedding. Instead of walking down an aisle, I'm skydiving in."

"As fun as that sounds, maybe relax a little on this trip. Your dad probably has enough on his mind- don't add skydiving and safari planning to his plate"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I know. He already shot down going to visit where he actually grew up. I'm booking those group tours so if you can fly in a day or two before the wedding, we can do one together."

"Sounds like a plan." He said, placing a slice of frittata on a plate in front of me before plating some for himself. We sat at the kitchen table and ate breakfast together before I got ready for EJ's basketball game.

I paired my penguin hoodie with joggers and put my hair in a neat top knot. We then drove to Ethan's house so he could get ready. While he showered and changed, I sat in his living room, playing on my phone. I forwarded the new itinerary for our Vegas trip to Rocky and text briefly with Staci. She asked if I spoke to Amber recently. I told her not really and left it at that, not wanting to know why Staci thought I should talk to her. Staci got the hint, and changed the subject. We made plans to hang out soon.

Ethan emerged from his bedroom after 40 minutes, looking casual in his penguin shirt and black jeans. His face was freshly shaven and I couldn't help thinking about how I rode it the previous night...

"Lily-" Ethan called me as I stared at him.

"Ready?" I asked, standing up.

"Yes."

"Ever thought about growing out your beard?" I asked as we went to his truck.

"No. Why?"

"No reason. Just a thought." I smiled.

We arrived at EJ's game while he was warming up with his team. We joined Megan and Dave in the stands. After greeting them, we sat and watched them warm up.

"EJ's been working on his threes." I observed as EJ shot around the three point line.

"You know how much he loves the splash brothers." Ethan responded, referring to Klay Thomson and Stephen Curry.

"Why do his teammates call him white Iverson?" Dave asked us.

I sort of chuckled and Megan scoffed.

"I don't find anything funny about that nickname. It's offensive." She informed me.

"I don't think they're trying to be offensive. It's a song by Post Malone." I spoke up, looking at her keeping my face neutral.

"I never heard of the song, but being compared to Allen Iverson is a compliment." Ethan added.

Thankfully, the game started. The other team had a kid that looked closer to 13 than the cut off age of 11. The coach had the team playing man to man defense with EJ guarding him. When EJ was on him, he never had an uncontested shot, but there was only so much EJ could do with the kid being at least 6 inches taller than him. EJ did his best to defend him, which had him frustrated and fouled out with a few minutes left in the 4th quarter.

My heart hurt at the site of him sitting on the bench, wiping his tears on his jersey. Ethan stopped Megan from going to comfort him and told her that while the game was going on, not to interfere with the coach. I actually agreed with Megan: the coach wasn't doing shit. Ethan gave me a look that pleaded with me not to argue. I conceded, but crossed my arms trying not to seethe the rest of the game. In the last couple minutes with EJ out, the coach switch to zone defense and the opposing team pulled away by 12 points.

"That was such bullshit!!!" I exclaimed as soon as we got in the truck. By the time the game was over, EJ had composed himself, becoming stoic and solemn. His coach lectured them after the game that they put up a good effort, but would have to play smarter basketball.

"He needs to coach smarter. He should have switched to zone to get EJ some help." I ranted.

"They don't practice different defense schemes, he focuses on offense. His strategy was to put his best defense player on him, which is EJ. " Ethan replied.

"His offense sucks too. Look, I don't mind being the crazy step-mom. Let me go off on him one time! I may be banned from team events or go to jail for assault but it be worth it for me. Either he'll quit or be in a coma or smarten the fuck up. Either way, I'm fine. Just give me the go ahead Ethan." I spat out, venomously only partially joking. I wouldn't try to hit him...

He shook his head no and looked at me with a half smile. "Remember how we met?"

"Oh god. Don't remind me." I covered my face, embarrassed about how I basically accused him of being a deadbeat dad while EJ was sleep in the hospital after an asthma attack. "You didn't deserve that, but this dude is begging for it."

"While I love how protective you are of EJ, sometimes he doesn't need it. His frustrations with a game or his coach are things he is going to have to deal with if he continues to play sports. He needs to learn to not be so hard on himself."

His use of the word 'love' didn't go by unnoticed by me. "Fine. I'll let it go... But let's plan a movie night or something to cheer him up. Willy Wonka. I'll set up the chocolate fountain and everything."

"If you want to have a movie night, we can but he's not going to need to be cheered up. I'm sure his mom is babying him as we speak."

"Comforting him is not babying him Ethan." I scolded him.

"You're right. I just don't want him to make a big deal out of today. It's just a game: He'll have other ones." Ethan commented.

'"Ok." I agreed.

With no other set plans for the day, we grabbed some food and headed back to my place. I let Justine outside and we sat at the kitchen table to watch her play as we ate. After we let Justine back in, we sprawled out on the couch and channel surfed. I ended up putting on Kitchen Nightmares so I could introduce Ethan to Gorden Ramsay. When he started questioning eating out again after seeing the disgusting kitchen, I switched to Hell's Kitchen instead.

"He has a restaurant in Vegas that Rocky and I are going to." I stated, leaning against him as he stretched out on the chaise. "I'm so excited."

"Do you already have your itinerary?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're flying into California Friday, doing the dress fitting and then flying to Vegas that evening." I explained.

"Are you a bridesmaid?"

"I think so. My brother is my dad's best man so I'm pretty sure he made Beatrice put me in the wedding party."

"Are you two close?"

"No. We haven't spent a lot of time together and I said some... not nice things about her when I was upset at my dad." I admitted.

"You apologized?" When I nodded, he continued. "Maybe the wedding will be a new start for you two."

"Maybe." I turned back to the tv. "This show makes me hungry, even after I just ate. I always crave scallops after watching this."

"Maybe they serve them at his restaurant."

"I checked the menu and I already know what I'm gonna order."

"Really?"

"Yes. I planned what Rocky is going to get too. Hopefully I'll get her drunk enough to let me order for her."

"Good plan."

"Thank you!"

We were on the second episode when my phone beeped with a text notification.

EJ: was dad mad that I cried at the game?

"Babe, look." I sat up straight to show Ethan. He frowned when he read the text.

"Tell him of course not." Ethan urged me. I quickly typed the reply.

Me: Of course not! You played a great game today. He doesn't want you to be so hard on yourself.

I let Ethan read the text before I sent it.

EJ: Ok.

I looked at Ethan.

"Tell him everyone fouls out sometimes. It's part of the game." Ethan added.

"Right." I nodded.

Me: Everyone fouls out. Remember when Steph Curry fouled out and got ejected in the playoffs?"

EJ: He threw his mouth piece and it hit some guy lol

Me: lol Exactly. Stuff happens- but it's always just a game. The only thing you have to do is play your best.

EJ: ok. CU 2mrw

Me: ok

I showed Ethan the text before putting my phone down.

"Let's do the movie night tomorrow with EJ." Ethan planned.

"Ok." I said, cuddling back up against him. He tilted my head up before kissing me.

The next morning, I woke up to find Ethan outside with Justine typing something out on his phone. I reached around him to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before sitting beside him. When I discovered he was compiling a grocery list, I figured I better start mine too. He told me to write a list of what we needed for the movie, but I should just come over and have dinner with him and EJ when I got off work during the week. I agreed, loving the ideas of not having to cook everyday and spending time with them a couple days out of the week.

We went grocery shopping together. After we dropped off my groceries and picked up Justine, we went to his house. He did meal prepping on Sunday, so I didn't get off free without cooking. It didn't feel like a chore as I played reggaeton music and translated the dirtiest parts of the song to Ethan as we cooked. Around 2, he went to pick up EJ while I stayed and set up the movie night. I put the chocolate fountain together and had all the candy we bought sitting around it. We planned to let EJ pick what we would order for dinner, but the snacks were ready by the time he got there.

Ethan text me that Jayden would be coming over as well.  Not only did EJ and Jayden enjoy the massive amounts of chocolate and candy, but we had a good time watching the movie. We debated how 'sick' the grandpa was, laughed at the bad kids' behavior and punishments, and sang along with the Oompa Loompas. Well, EJ, Jayden and I did- Ethan was our photographer and videographer as I took pictures for my Instagram and EJ and Jayden took videos for their movie review on YouTube.

We watched the second one with Johnny Depp, and following my lead, the boys tore it apart. By the time the second movie ended, it was beginning to get dark and the boys went to EJ's room to start editing the video. I tried to help Ethan clean up, but he made me leave before it got too dark. We kissed goodnight at the door and told me he would see me tomorrow night.

I originally was just going to go over 2 nights that week for dinner and plan something for us all to do over the weekend, but I spent every evening at Ethan's house. It became routine to head straight to Ethan's where they were waiting for me. On Monday after dinner we watched Allen Iverson's highlights on YouTube and old And1 mixtapes. On Tuesday, we celebrated Taco Tuesday with a taco bar and speaking only Spanish to one another. On Wednesday, after EJ's basketball practice, we hung out in the gym and I recorded videos of Ethan teaching EJ how to defend someone taller than him. My ovaries ached at seeing the bond between Ethan and EJ and I posted the video on Snapchat with heart eye emojis.

Ethan and I didn't get to spend anytime alone besides when he was walking me to my car and we kissed goodnight. Every night, I would call when I got home to tell him I made it safely and some nights we would practice Spanish by talking dirty to each other. We were in the middle of saying goodnight on Thursday when Trevor called me. We both looked at my phone. When I saw it was Trevor, I made a point of picking it up in front of Ethan.

"Hey. What's up?" I greeted him.

"Nothing. Just making sure you got my text. I'll be in town tomorrow." He replied.

He sent it to me while we were reading comments on EJ's Willy Wonka review on YouTube and I hadn't responded yet. "Yes. I got it. You didn't give a time."

"Yeah, I'm shooting to leave around 1 to beat the traffic in Austin and Dallas."

"Ok... My schedule hasn't changed. I still don't get home til like 7pm."

"I know. I should be there before 5. You don't mind if I hang out around your place til you get off?"

I didn't want to spend too much time thinking about it, considering Ethan was standing right there watching me. "I mean... that's kinda weird Trevor."

"A friend asking another friend to hang out at their house until they get home is weird?"

"I guess not."

"Tell me if it makes you uncomfortable. Because I really don't think of you as my ex, but as a friend. If you don't feel the same-"

"I do..." I lied, but then sighed. "At least I'm trying to, but you're right. I'll leave the door to my garage unlocked and text you the code for my garage door opener so you can come in through the back."

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yep. See you tomorrow."

When I got off the phone, I gave Ethan a run down of my conversation.

"I'm getting off at 4 tomorrow. I can meet him at a park." Ethan told me.

"You don't have to-" I started.

"I know, but it'll be better for the dogs that way. I read that Justine might be territorial of the house." He cut me off, simply.

"You read about introducing dogs to each other?"

"It's more than introducing them; they are going to be staying in the same house for an extended period of time." Ethan educated me. "What time is his flight to California?"

"I have no idea." I admitted.

"So we'll meet at the park and walk to your house that way if he needs to leave he can go." He decided, leaning in to give me a kiss goodnight.

I kissed him back before I left. I texted Trevor on the way to my house.

Me: Ethan is going to be at my house tomorrow so I'll send you the address to a park nearby. That way the dogs can meet on neutral ground and you can leave if you have to.

Trevor: I'm going to wait for you. Thor has a strict schedule I need to teach you.

Me: Schedule? You don't even keep a schedule. How can he?

Trevor: I do my best to abide by it and I trust you'll do the same

Me: lol sure Trevor

Friday at work I was a bundle of nerves. I kept checking the clock and my phone repeatedly. If I wasn't sure Ethan would call me out over it, I would have called in sick to avoid this whole situation. At 4:37, I got a text from Trevor. It had a video attached with Ethan and Trevor holding both dogs on a leash as they walked around the park. I couldn't even appreciate how the dogs were acting because I was worried about how Ethan and Trevor were getting along. I text Ethan asking how was it going, but he didn't respond. I tried to shadow a few clients to keep myself focused, but it didn't help. Andrew asked me what was up when the 2nd to last client left.

"Urgh... My boyfriend is meeting my ex boyfriend to drop of his dog for me to watch." I blurted, hoping saying it out loud would help me feel better.

It didn't.

"Why?" Andrew asked, confused.

"Because that's what friends do for each other. My ex and I were friends for 9 years, dated for less than a year and been broken up for 10 months. We should be able to be friends." I reasoned.

"And your boyfriend is ok with that?"

"I don't know, but he supports everything I do- smart, stupid and in between."

He smiled. "Go ahead and leave. I can finish up here."

"No, I'll be out of here in an hour."

"A lot can happen in an hour." He taunted me with a rueful smile. "Go make friends with your ex and marry the current dude. Sounds like he's a keeper."

I exhaled deeply and smiled. "Alright. I'm going. I'll see you Monday."

As I gathered my bag, I saw Ethan finally texted me back.

Ethan: Meeting went well. Thor was a little aggressive, but calmed when he saw Trevor playing with Justine. We're at the house now. They're off their leashes. So far so good.

As glad I was about the dogs, I still rushed home, darting in and out of traffic to get to them as soon as possible. I parked in my garage, ran my fingers through my hair before I stepped into the house. As I walked though my laundry room, I heard Justine barking excitedly and EJ giving commands.

"Hey!" I greeted everyone as I walked into the living room. EJ shushed me as he was filming with his camera and Trevor gave me a smile and a wave as Justine ran to my legs. Ethan was sitting in the kitchen and I smiled at him.

"Stay." EJ tried to order her as she just jumped at my legs. Thor sat patiently, following EJ's commands as he watched me enter the room. I made my way to the kitchen first and gave Ethan a hug.

"Thank you." I said, softly against his lips before kissing him.  He nodded and I went back into the living room. EJ stopped filming and turned to his dad.

"You owe me a dollar." EJ grinned as he gave Justine a treat.

"You owe me 5-" Ethan replied. While they talked, I walked over to Trevor. I gave him a one arm hug and he went for a two arm hug and we both laughed at our awkwardness.

"You got off early?" He asked me with a knowing smile.

"Yeah. Couldn't wait to see Thor." I replied, turning my attention to Thor. "So this is the god of thunder." I sat, reaching forward slowly to pet him.

"Yeah. I tried to get Chris to be more humble, maybe go with Loki, but he wasn't having it." Trevor responded, handing me a treat.

"I don't blame him. I would pick Thor too." I said, feeding Thor his treat.

"I know. You told me multiple times when you saw the movie how cute Chris Hemsworth is." Trevor teased.

"Shut up. I did not. Chris Hemsworth isn't just cute- he's a god." I giggled as EJ joined us.

"Dad said we could take them to Klyde Warren park if you want to." EJ told us.

I looked over at Ethan. "That's the park with the food trucks right?"

"That's the one." Ethan nodded.

"The park is awesome. It's more than a park. It has a dog section and splash park for the kids and the dogs. Ethan told me how they built it in the middle of a freeway?" I looked at Ethan for confirmation.

"Over a freeway." He corrected me.

"You had me at food trucks." Trevor grinned at me.

"Oh, you don't have to come." I flustered, not meaning to invite him- just telling him about the park. "Do you have plans tonight?"

"Corey gets off in a couple hours so if y'all don't mind, I can kill some time with y'all." Trevor asked.

I looked at Ethan who gave me a look that said my decision. "Yeah, you should come. It's gonna be fun."

"We should get going if we don't wanna miss the food trucks." Ethan suggested.

"Yes. Let me change and we'll go." I hurried to my room.

I changed into jean shorts and a fitted t-shirt and we headed to the park. When we got there, I held Ethan's hand as we followed EJ who had a tight grip on Thor and Trevor who walked Justine. We walked to the food trucks first: Ethan took EJ to a pizza truck, Trevor picked the Mexican food truck and I went to the barbecue truck. We basically got as much food we could carry to share.

We met back up in the open lawn and found a spot to sit on the ground. I lamented not bringing a blanket, but no tables were available so we made it work. Thor sat calmly, examining everything while waiting for meat from the barbecue sliders. I literally had to sit on Justine's leash to get her to sit and calm down. She was barking at kids playing catch, anyone that passed and staring pathetically at our plates of food after she devoured her own.

"They say dogs are a reflection of their owners..." Trevor kidded with a smile.

"Shut up Trevor. You had nothing to do with Thor's training and everything to do with spoiling Justine." I kidded back.

He laughed in his taco. "I maintain Thor's training and I had some help with spoiling Justine."

I shook my head, smiling until I noticed Ethan watching us. I turned to EJ. "How's your pizza?"

"It's good. You want a slice?" He offered.

"Not a full slice; how bout I trade you a bite for a bite?"

"What's that?" He wrinkled his nose at my food.

"It's like a taco and a sandwich made a baby and named her Torta." I said, holding up the sandwich that Trevor got me.

"That's sounds wrong." EJ laughed with Trevor.

"Couldn't just call it a Mexican sandwich?" Ethan smirked at me.

"No." I shook my head smiling, handing out a bite to EJ.

"Are you gonna make me speak Spanish to eat?" He narrowed his eyes at me. Ethan and I chuckled.

"Not tonight." I said as he took a bite. When he was done chewing, he stated he liked it.

"Are you trying to learn Spanish? " Trevor asked EJ.

"No. Dad and Lily are going to Dominican Republic. On Taco Tuesday, we can only speak Spanish so Dad can practice."

Trevor looked down at his food. "For your dad's wedding?" He asked me before taking another bite.

"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing my food.

"You're gonna learn Spanish in a couple of months?" He asked Ethan.

"I know the basics. Lily's teaching me the advance." Ethan told Trevor before shooting me a glance.

"Right." I blushed as I recalled our late night Spanish lessons. I shared a smile with Ethan before hiding it behind a bite of my sandwich.

"Your brother told me you were trying to get him to go buggy riding with you around the island?" Trevor said

"Not even the resort if my dad has his way, but Ethan said he was down for whatever." I smiled at Ethan.

"Last words man." Trevor warned him.

"I'll survive." Ethan replied.

After we ate, we all went to the ice cream truck to get dessert. I got an ice cream cone, Ethan got an ice cream sandwich, and Trevor and EJ got sundaes. We walked over to the dog park and let the dogs off their leashes and watched as we finished our treats. EJ kept the conversation going telling Trevor about his YouTube channel. There were a few awkward silences, and I had to drag Ethan into the conversation most of the time, but it was ok for the most part. Actually fun in others. When we got back to my place, I set Trevor and Thor up in the guest bathroom upstairs and Ethan took Justine to my bathroom to give her a bath. I helped Ethan cause I knew how difficult Justine could be.

"Did I thank you for everything?" I said, sitting next to him on the edge of the tub as the water drained and Justine shook water off of her.

"Not yet. Can you save it for Sunday night- When we're alone?" He looked at me.

"But we're alone now..." I moved in close to him and kissed him firmly on the lips. He put an arm around my waist, still a little damp from the bath. I deepened the kiss, loving the feeling of being in his embrace...

"Lilypad! I'm about to take off." Trevor's voice startled me and I bit down on Ethan's lip.

"I'm so sorry." I pulled away, examining him as he ran his tongue over his lip.

"I'm fine." He said, standing up. "I'll finish up here. Go say bye."

I went out and gave Trevor a hug goodbye.

"We're going out tonight." Trevor said, hintingly.

"Yeah, I'm in for the night, I'm exhausted. I'm gonna crash." I shut him down.

"Ok. I'll catch you next weekend then."

"Next weekend?" I asked. He was coming back from L.A. Thursday, I figured he was going home then.

"The mud run- Rocky told me you talked her into it. So rest up for next weekend. You both are going on the bull." He grinned, broadly.

"Ha... Good luck with that. I'll see you next week." I said, processing that new information.

Ethan left a little after Trevor and I got the dogs settled in their respective rooms for the evening. Justine slept on her dog bed in my room and Thor took Justine's room. I closed both doors and fell asleep watching TV in the living room. I woke up in the middle of the night to a ton of notifications on my phone. Sammy and Richard both called and texted me about going out. It was 2 in the morning but I saw Sammy was still live on Snapchat. I called her and she answered requesting a video chat. I accepted and her face popped up on my screen.

"Lily!!! Where are you!!!" It looked like she was at her apartment, but there was alot of noise and people around.

"I'm at home trying to sleep. With the hell?" I asked her.

"Why didn't you come out?" Sammy asked, drunkenly.

"I worked today, I'm dogsitting and EJ spent the night." I replied.

"How you babysitting with no kids?" Richard asked, squeezing in next to Sammy.

"Easy... That's what most babysitters do..." I stated, realizing he was intoxicated too.

"That's not what we heard..." Richard slurred.

"Does Ethan have you on lock down? Because we will bust you out!!!" Sammy yelled before the phone was snatched from her. I saw a blurry whirl before it focused on Trevor's face.

"Don't listen to them. They're drunk." He beamed at me.

"So are you." I chuckled.

He laughed. "No. Tipsy. Not drunk yet."

"Ok... Is someone staying sober? Making sure y'all don't do anything stupid?" I smiled.

"Corey was, but he left. He has work in the morning."

"And you have a flight tomorrow so take it easy." I lectured him. "I'm gonna go back to sleep. Goodnight Trevor."

"Goodnight Lilypad. It was good to see you, even though you're a completely different person with him." Trevor waved goodbye. I didn't have time to question what he said before he hung up. I laid down, dissecting his words in my head.

A part of me was proud I wasn't the person he dated and dumped last year. Back then, I was insecure, destructive and broken. Hell, I went to therapy to put myself together again: an improved, better version of myself. The way he said it, he made it seem like it wasn't for the better and that it was Ethan changing me.

I chalked it up to being exes and learning each others as friends again. I reminded myself he was tipsy and if he really felt that way, he would be mature about it and not bring it up on a drunken face chat. The next day, he texted me that he made it to California. He continued to text me throughout the week and kept me updated on what he and my brother were up to.

My routine for the falling week remained the same, just added Thor in my Justine time. I did reach out to Amber, but we just caught up, she didn't tell me anything new. I spent the week working out with Rocky, going to work and spending my free time with Ethan. We eventually had to force ourselves out the house and plan dates again. Partially because Ethan insisted that we continued to date (something his dad advised him to do) and the fact it was getting too tempting spending nights alone together.
 

Wednesday night, after Ethan made me a delicious dinner of pan fried scallops, we found ourselves in bed. We just finished a documentary that Ethan wanted to watch and was suppose to be going to sleep- but we were making out instead. We were side by side, kissing and holding each other when his erection poked through the opening in his briefs and I felt him, hard and hot against my bare inner thigh. We both groaned at the skin to skin contact as I was wearing a night gown and nothing underneath. All it would have took were a few thrust and he would have been buried inside me. We both began to move, grinding against each other when my phone rang.

I took it as a sign as I pulled away from Ethan and got up to grab my phone. I internally groaned when I saw it was Trevor. It's not that I didn't want to talk to him, but it was close to midnight. Maybe 10pm on the west coast, but he knew what time it was here. Thinking something might be wrong, I answered it.

"Hey. Are you awake?" He asked.

"Of course I'm awake. What's up Trevor?"

When Ethan heard the name Trevor, he sat up, fixing himself back in his briefs and pulling on his shirt. I smirked at him, wanting to tell him Trevor couldn't see us, but Trevor was still talking.

"-did you hook up with him?" Trevor finished.

"Hook up with who?"

"This Johnny kid. He... brought you up when Cam wasn't around and I want to know the situation before I confront him." Trevor relayed.

"No, don't confront him. That's exactly what he wants you to do. Don't feed into it." I put my phone on speaker, not wanting Ethan to hear just one side of the conversation I was about to have. "Can you hear me Trevor?"

"Yes." Trevor said, loud in clear as Ethan studied me.

"You're on speaker phone, Ethan is here. Johnny was a friend of Cam's while we were in school. When I moved back to California, we hung out and hooked up once. I had no idea he had a wife, girlfriend or baby momma and I still don't know if they were separated at the time. I stopped talking to him."

Ethan looked away from me and Trevor spoke up. "So you didn't tell Cam?"

"I told Jenna. I let it be her choice. She decided Johnny is an instigator- he stirs things up for attention. I didn't tell Cam so he's fucking with you to get an reaction. Don't give him one." I instructed.

"I'm going to tell Cam Lilypad. He needs to know what a piece of shit friend he has." Trevor declared.

"Cam already knows Johnny cheated on his wife. He knows he's a piece of shit." I argued.

"He doesn't know it was with you." Trevor pointed out.

"Oh my god, why does it matter? Does it make him more of a piece of shit? I told you because I was trying to be honest with you. Now, you need to respect my wants and keep this between us."

"This is complete bullshit Lily. I thought you were past the days of sleeping around behind your brother's back." Trevor stated.

Him throwing back my past with Ethan in my face pissed me off, but I ignored his cheap shot. "I asked you to respect my boundaries if you wanted to be friends. Do whatever you want, but I'm definitely past going back and forth with you Trevor." I said.

"Fine." He replied before hanging up on me.

I was so angry, I didn't notice Ethan had got dressed until he sat back on the bed to put on his shoes.

"You're leaving?" I asked him, sitting up.

"Yes, I should get home."

"Why? Because of what you heard with Trevor?" I said, walking over to him.

"No. The past is in the past. You should leave it there." Ethan said.

I put my arms around his neck. "Then why are you leaving?"

He placed his hands on my waist. "Because it's getting harder for me to remember why we are waiting to have sex."

"Ok." I nodded, standing on my tip toes to kiss him on the lips. Our kisses were teasingly soft, until Ethan pulled away.

"I'm going to take you out tomorrow. Dress comfortably."

"Ooo shooting range?" I asked, grinning.

"No. Not this time. I'll text you the address so you can meet me there."

We kissed and said goodnight.

As soon as I got off work, I changed from my scrubs into a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top and had my hair down, parted asymmetrically, falling over my shoulders. I headed straight to the address that Ethan sent me.  I parked outside of a crowded bar that had a sign boasting of a Thursday Trivia night. My excitement only raised when I saw Ethan sitting in a booth with Daniel, Staci, Nathaniel and 3 women I didn't recognize.

"Hey. Welcome to the team. I'll introduce you after the round." Ethan told me as I slid in the booth next to him, kissing my temple.

"Ok." I jump right into the game. We were on round 1, question 6 so I hadn't miss much.

Once the host gathered our answer sheets, Ethan introduce me to his former co-worker Heather, her partner Phyllis and Nathaniel's wife Vanessa.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled. "What are we playing for?" I asked everyone.

"Bragging rights." Vanessa informed me.

"Good enough. Let's go team!" I cheered.

We settled in with drinks and appetizers as the host began the second round. Vanessa took over as the leader of our team squad- yes, that was out team name, squad- nothing cutesy or creative like the other teams, but it was concise and efficient, just like our team.

We worked together during each 5 rounds, the categories being current events, sports, music, books and last call. We butted head on a few answer choices, but for the most part agreed on everything. The last round of last call consisted of harder questions worth two points each. We were winning the entire game until that last round. Second place came from behind and beat us, but I saw one of their teammates on the phone way too long so I disqualified them in my head.

Phyllis laughed at my declaration of us as the true winners. "Remember Ethan's ex wanted phones to be confiscated during the game?"

"How could I forget? She was so competitive." Heather laughed.

"Who? Serena?" I asked, looking at Ethan, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right. I forgot you two were friends." Daniel smiled, his eyes lightning up mischievously.

"We were more like acquaintances." I cleaned up.

"How did you know each other?" Staci asked me.

"Forrest. His ex-fiance was best friends with Serena." I explained.

"Yeah, definitely not friends. You didn't break any codes." Vanessa winked at me. Once we settled the tab, we filed out the bar.

"Do you still talk to Serena?" I asked Ethan as we walked to my car.

"Not really. Why?" Ethan replied.

"I know your sister talks to her. I don't know if we're going to see her this weekend. I just wanted to be prepared if we do. Does she know about us?"

"She knows about us. I haven't spoken to her since I told her we were dating."

"When was that?" I asked.

"After our first date." He revealed.

"Really? Why?" I gasped, shocked. I was still trying to figure out what I felt about him and he was telling his ex we were dating.

"I needed to be honest with her. She suspected I had feelings for you while she and I were together. I didn't, but my feelings for you was the reason I didn't want to get back together with her." Ethan elaborated.

"Wait... She said y'all were trying to get back together after your birthday party. You had feelings for me back then?" I tried to piece everything together.

"I wasn't sure. You asked me on my birthday when was the last time I felt passion- that was with you. I knew without a doubt I didn't feel that with Serena."

"Oh... Did you tell her that?"

"Yes, when she wanted to get back together, I told her I didn't have those feelings for her. She asked me if I still had them for you, and I told her I didn't know. After our first date, I knew I did. I wanted her to hear about us from me. She took it well; I would like to think she will be cordial, but we'll see."

I gave him a hug and a sweet kiss.

"It's like you said: the past is the past and it should stay there. Let's just get pass this weekend and we'll be alright." I said as we embraced.

I was so wrong...