Ethan chuckled. “Well, it’s all about structural integrity, obviously. You want to make sure your roof isn’t going to cave in at the firstsign of trouble.”
“Ah, right,” I replied with mock seriousness, nodding as I spread another blanket across the chairs. “And I assume there’s a secret fort-building society that you’ve been inducted into? With handshakes and everything?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Not quite. But maybe after tonight, I’ll nominate you for membership. You’ve got some serious potential.”
We joked back and forth as we worked, the conversation flowing easily, punctuated by bursts of laughter that echoed through the living room. The playful energy between us made every moment light and effortless, as if we were two kids rediscovering the joy of something as simple as building a fort.
At one point, I was crawling under a makeshift canopy of chairs to secure a particularly stubborn blanket when the entire structure wobbled dangerously. I let out a small gasp, bracing myself as it threatened to collapse. But, before I could react, Ethan was there, his hands quickly steadying the chairs and holding it all together.
“You okay under there?” he asked, his voice laced with concern, but his eyes were dancing with amusement.
I looked up at him, a breathless laugh escaping my lips. “Yeah, thanks to you. That was close.”
He grinned, his gaze locking onto mine as he crouched down beside me, still holding the chairs steady. The space between us suddenly felt incredibly small, the air thick with a tension that was anything but innocent, and my heart raced.
For a moment, neither of us moved. Ethan’s fingers brushed against mine as he handed me the blanket to secure, the touch sending a spark straight through me. The heat of his body was just inches away, and the magnetic pull between us became almost impossible to ignore. His eyes held mine, a flicker of something in them that made my pulse quicken and my breath hitch.
“Thanks,” I whispered, my voice betraying the flutter of nerves in my chest.
“Anytime,” he replied, his voice low and full of something unspoken. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile, but there was a new depth to it, something that hinted at more than just playful banter.
As I secured the blanket, my fingers trembling slightly, Ethan didn’t move away. Instead, he stayed close, his presence grounding me even as it set my senses on high alert. When I finally emerged from under the fort, he was still there, his gaze lingering on me.
I took his hand, savoring the strength in his grip as he pulled me up, but neither of us let go. There was a brief pause, and a shared glance that held more weight than words, before we both released the tension with a light laugh and got back to work. But the sparks that had flickered between us remained, adding a new layer of excitement to every touch and every shared glance.
“Alright, how does this look?” I asked, stepping back to admire our handiwork. The fort was a charmingly haphazard collection of blankets draped over furniture, cushions scattered around for comfort, and a few twinkling string lights that Ethan had pulled out of a closet. It was cozy and inviting.
“It’s perfect,” Ethan said, nodding in approval as he surveyed the scene. His voice was warm with satisfaction, but there was a softness in his gaze that made my heart skip a beat. “Lily’s going to love it. You’ve got a real talent for this.”
I laughed, a sense of accomplishment swelling within me. “I think it’s a team effort. Plus, I had a great teacher,” I added, shooting him a playful look.
Ethan’s grin widened, a mischievous glint sparking in his eyes. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” he teased, his voice dipping low as he stepped closer, the space between us shrinking by the second.
“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”
“We do,” I agreed, but my voice was quieter now, distracted by the way he suddenly was inching toward me, his playful grin still firmly in place. His gaze locked onto mine.
“You know,” he said, stepping closer again. “I think we could start a business. Custom forts for all occasions. Birthdays, holidays, you name it.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a breathless sigh as he continued to close the distance between us. “I can see the ads now: Vinnie and Ethan’s Fort Emporium—Where Imagination Meets Structural Integrity.”
He chuckled, the sound low and intimate, as he took another deliberate step toward me. “I think we’d have a lot of customers.”
Before I knew it, I found myself backed against the wall, my breath hitching as I realized just how close he was. The playful banter between us was quickly becoming an afterthought, replaced by the undeniable pull that drew us closer, inch by inch.
His eyes darkened with intent as they stayed locked onto mine, the teasing light still there, but now layered with something deeper. My heart pounded in my chest as he stepped in even closer, his body nearly pressing against mine, his hands lifting to rest against the wall on either side of my head, caging me in.
The air between us crackled with tension, every nerve in my body screaming with anticipation. Ethan’s gaze flicked down to my lips, and I could feel the intensity of his stare as if it were a physical touch. My breath caught in my throat, the space between us charged with an almostunbearable heat.
Ethan leaned in, his face just inches from mine, his breath warm against my skin as his eyes searched mine, silently asking the question that hung heavily in the air.
Was this what I wanted?
The answer felt so obvious, and I hoped it was written all over my face.
Ethan’s lips hovered just above mine and my heart raced, my skin burning with the need to close that final, excruciating distance. I wanted him to kiss me more than I’d wanted anything in a long time.
Just as our lips were about to meet, a sudden knock on the door shattered the moment and we both froze, the sound jolting us back to reality like a splash of cold water. Ethan let out a frustrated groan, his forehead dropping to rest against mine for just a second, his breath mingling with mine in a moment of shared regret.
