Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Twenty-Six - Ethan's POV

"Ethan, you're such a cheat, I just saw you move the piece," Mia cried in playful accusation.

Freezing in silence, I awkwardly looked down at the very piece on the board I had just moved. We had been playing Ludo with my grandma, and since my grandma was currently in the bathroom, I had slyly tried to shuffle one of my pieces ahead.

Unfortunately for me, Mia for once in her life seemed to have the eyes of a fucking hawk. It's typical really. She's as blind as a bat to any hint of a clue that I'm into her, but suddenly, now she's observant. It's irony at its finest.

I rolled my eyes in stubbornness. "You didn't have to snitch on me, you've already won," I grumbled.

Mia's face broke out into a cute grin. "You're such a sore loser," she laughed.

I crossed my arms childishly. "You don't know what she's like when she beats me, she really rubs it in." This only made her laugh harder.

Her laugh and smile were infectious, and I could do near to nothing to stop the corner of my lips from curving up into a smile of my own. And staring perhaps a little longer than I should, I knew at that moment I'd never get over her – not when she had a smile like that.

Gradually, her laughter eased away and soon she was looking at me with a serious kind of expression.

"Ethan, can I ask you a question?" she asked softly.

Though slightly nervous at what she wanted to ask, I slowly nodded my head. "Yeah, sure, go ahead," I said with a shrug.

She cleared her throat. "You know that girl you mentioned you had a crush on, why do you like her?" Mia asked boldly. Though Mia had a slight smile on her lips, there was a tightness to her expression that was undeniable.

I paused at her question and furrowed my brows in confusion. Who the hell was she talking about? I never said I liked anybody else. I've only ever liked her. Then I suddenly remembered. She was talking about herself.

When we were playing twenty questions all those weeks ago, I had let her believe I was talking about someone else when she had asked if I liked anybody. Surprised she had even taken an interest to remember something that far back, an amused smirk crawled onto my face.

Deciding to play around a little more with my old lie, I looked back and forth between her still curious lit eyes with a smile. "Well, I like that girl for many reasons," I started, purposefully dragging out the word girl, to mess around with her a little.

Taking a second to think, I continued. "I guess a big one's because she's funny, and how she always seemed to have some comeback up her sleeve. She's sassy and smart, and fun. And well, just beautiful," I finished with an honest smile. And as I looked her dead in the eyes, I realized it had probably been the first time I'd been truly honest about what I thought of her.

Mia looked kind of stunned by my response and had gone kind of stiffly quiet.

Remembering something to add, I smiled. "Oh, and one more," I added as I looked her up and down. "She's sexy as fuck, and her body is just, uh," I groaned as I bit my lip.

Suddenly, Mia's eyes flashed with rage. "Okay, okay, I get it, Ethan. You've made your fucking point," Mia snapped extremely sharply.

Surprised by her reaction, I looked her over and was confused to see she was rapidly avoiding eye contact and looked all heated up. I was confused for a second more before I realized, she was annoyed at me for making a pervy comment on a fellow girl's body. Which was her body, of course, but she didn't know that.

But could anyone blame me for thinking about her body after she paraded outside the bathroom wearing only a skimpy towel?

Slowly, the anger was lost from Mia's face, and locking eyes with me again, her eyes spanned over me in question. "Ethan, no offense, but why don't you grow some balls and ask this girl out?" she asked boldly.