Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Thirty-three

Pacing the room, I took in a deep inhale and then an exhale as I tried to calm my racing mind. Just focus, Ethan, just focus.

It was very late into the evening, and I was at Lucas's house. His parents had gone away on some kind of trip for the weekend, so he'd invited me, some of our team, and some friends of friends around for a little small gathering.

Instead of enjoying myself and socializing like I normally would, I couldn't keep my mind straight. So, a little while ago, I had snuck off so I could pace back and forth around Lucas' bedroom like a madman alone.

Well, I suppose I wasn't entirely alone, his cat Senior Kit-Kat was sleeping in his little igloo bed in the corner. But he wasn't offering me life-changing advice, other than to yawn and glare at me from time to time.

Finally coming to a stop, I turned to the mirror and stared at my dishevelled reflection before lightly clearing my throat.

"Look, Mia, I'm kind of dumb and basically I've been lying to you your whole life–" Shaking my head, I stopped and groaned not liking how that sentence beginner sounded like either.

For the past five minutes, I'd been rehearsing various ways to confess to Mia that I liked her. I wasn't doing so, in the hopes of her reciprocating any feelings. She'd made it clear yesterday afternoon that we had no future together and I respected that.

Did I like it? No. Did it kill me inside? Very much so. But still, I respected it.

What I didn't respect though was how I'd cowardly avoided the truth yesterday and lied about my feelings. Mia deserved to know the truth, and frankly, I was fucking fed up with lying. I liked her, and I refused to be ashamed even if it was one-sided.

Just as I was prepping myself to practice again, I heard footsteps approaching from out in the corridor and suddenly the door to his bedroom flew open.

"Ethan, babe, are you in here?"

Turning around, I saw Lucas strut into the room and instantly smile upon seeing me. Though in a serious mood, my mouth did inadvertently twitch at his choice of nickname for me.

I plucked up a brow. "Wow, I see I've progressed from slut-boy to babe. I'm honoured," I commented flatly.

"You're welcome, whore," Lucas said with a wink. I immediately rolled my eyes.

More so lately, Lucas had been experimenting with nicknames for me, and let me tell you answering to 'Pookie' when someone is calling you from halfway across the parking lot can be quite an experience.

Chuckling, Lucas threw himself down onto the bed. "Anyway, Ethy why are we being all antisocial? People are asking for you," he asked as he looked me up and down.

"I'm just tired that's all, so I was just going to just study up here for a bit," I lied with a simple shrug.

"Hmm, okay, sure," Lucas murmured with slightly narrowed eyes as though he didn't believe me. I hadn't really gotten around to telling Lucas about Mia's rejection of me. Since things were going so well with him and May, I didn't want to depress his excitement with more news about my pathetic situation.

Lucas cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've got some good news," he announced with a smile.

Knowing Lucas and mine's idea of good news could vary, I eyed him over cautiously. "Which is?" I asked slowly.

"I was on the phone with May earlier, and with the help of Chloe, I managed to manip- I mean convince, all three of them to come over, you're welcome," Lucas explained with a light bragging smile.