Serenity [Book 2]

Chapter 13: my hot girl summer

Ethan's POV:

Francesca Arabella Salatino – my sexy little bitch.

She looks absolutely stunning.

I find myself subconsciously situating my black swim shorts, my eyes never leaving her body as she laughs at whatever Matt just said. She's lying down on a beach towel, her tanned legs bent at the knees slightly, catching the sun. She's wearing that Primal Scream t-shirt, but I'm still so proud of her.

"If you keep staring, she will file a restraining order against you." Felix comments, his brows raised in amusement when I look over to him.

"Shut the fuck up." I say and he grins at me. "You can't even say anything, your eyes haven't left Lauren since we came here."

"That's different." He excuses.

"How?" I ask.

"She's carrying my child." He shrugs, looking over to the ocean in front of us. We're not too far from the ocean, but it's quite the walk since the tide is out and we are very much near the house. Our towels line the hot sand, a cooler between us with drinks and snacks in.

"Is she actually pregnant? Are we one-hundred percent sure?" I have to ask, but my voice is still low, cautious of the girls and Matt merely three meters away. She hasn't taken the test but she seems to be adamant of the fact, and I just hope he's not getting ahead of himself. All I know is what Francesca has told me in the store, that Lauren's pregnant but she hasn't taken a test but it is Felix's.

"She hasn't taken a test yet because that is what makes it real, but she knows. It's pretty clear, Kane. Her emotions are all over the place. She has a bump and everything – she even felt kicks. She was distraught last night. She had this nightmare about losing the baby, and wouldn't let me go. She cried for hours. She wouldn't lie about that." He says lowly, and I shake my head at the latter.

"I wasn't insinuating she's lying, I wasn't. What I meant was- look, I'm looking out for you and I don't want you to get hurt. It's a massive thing. A baby – are you ready for that?" I ask, knowing Felix more than anyone. He likes to party, he doesn't seem to be the one to settle down. Sure, he's infatuated in Lauren right now, but I don't know about the future because all Lauren does is play with his emotions and has done from the start. I'm not saying I don't trust her because I do, she's my friend, but I'm just skeptical of this. Of course, I would love them to get together, but realistically I don't see it working for them.

"Honestly, no, neither is she. But, what else are we supposed to do? Of course, we're going to step up and become parents, but it has been a massive bombshell on us. We both had sex, this wasn't just her – for Christ's sake, she was on the pill and I wore condoms, it wasn't her fault. I always wanted children, always, and so this has come early, but that doesn't mean it's particularly a bad situation. I know we argue, but I think we'd be good parents together. I mean, we're going to have to." He mutters off at the end.

"You have our support, all of ours, and you know you're not doing this alone. I just don't like the unknown, that's the only reason why I'm like this. If she had the test and told you, then there'd be no questioning, but all I know are words." I explain myself – I've always been like this. I need proof to things for it to be real. It's more of a deep-rooted issue from when I was in care; the children would make me believe I was getting adopted, and I always fell for it – but there were never no proof, no adoption.

"I know, you've told me about your trust issues, don't worry." He assures me, and I give him a tight-lipped smile. I've tried to be more open with Felix but talking about my feelings to him even though he's my brother, makes me so uncomfortable. I'm trying though. "You know it's not like that anymore right?"