But as I sit here, with the Christmas lights of the mansion reflecting into my car, my pulse quickens and my heart thumps against my rib cage as I realize I liked to please people formyself, too. I liked being the responsible person everyone could count on and turn to, I liked doing the right thing. It mademefeel good.
But right now, pleasing Ethan—and my parents—isn’t possible. Losing Aiden isn’t an option, no matter how politically correct it would be and how happy it would make all of them.
It’s time to stand up for myself, and do what is right for me instead of everyone else. It’s called being an adult, and Ethan is going to have to get used to it.
Starting right now.
Ethan folds his muscular arms across his chest, defiance practically radiating from him. “Which Wentworth brother are you hooking up with?” he asks bluntly.
“Neither,” I say, my voice shaking.
A sarcastic laugh bursts through his lips. “I know you are. It was written all over your face. So which one, Scarlett? Want me to find out by chirping them on the ice tomorrow night?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I spit.
But honestly, I’m not sure. Where Jamie is the romantic, Ethan is hard-edged. And he can be a stubborn ass when he thinks he’s right about something.
“Oh, I would dare,” he threatens.
“It’s not hooking up. We’redating.”
Recognition lights in his eyes. “Aiden.”
I shift my gaze straight ahead, to the different colors of twinkling Christmas lights farther down the street, and nod.
“I don’t know what kind of alternate captain sneaks around with his coach’s daughter, but that’s a bullshit move.”
I whip my head around to face him. “Do you honestly think Aiden would take this kind of risk to date me if I didn’tmatterto him?”
“I don’t know. Depends on what head he’s thinking with.”
Anger bubbles up in my chest. But unlike teenage Scarlett—or even college Scarlett—I don’t repress my feelings or try to brush them off as my family being protective because they love me so much.
This is about my family seeing me through that same lens, even though I’ve grown up. This is my brother overstepping where he’s not welcome.
Or needed.
“You’re suggesting the only reason Aiden would want to date me would be to screw me? Not that he sees something wonderful in me, or that I can make him laugh, or that I know he loves Cuban coffee, or that his heart was ripped out once before, but he sees something so wonderful in me that the bigger risk forhim is not being torn apart by my family, but getting his heart broken all over again?”
The words fly past my lips, tumbling out in a heated rush, and when I finish, I can feel my chest rising and falling rapidly. Ethan’s blue eyes are wide, and even in the darkness, I can see his shock.
“Howdareyou insult me like this,” I continue, my confidence in myself—and my feelings for Aiden—bursting through. “I have found something wonderful and sincere with Aiden. He is kind. Thoughtful. The day I spilled my matcha on the sidewalk? He had the exact order I liked waiting in the cup holder for me later that night because he felt bad I lost mine. He sees me and wants the best for me—”
“Right, he wants the best for you, so he’s putting you in a horrible position with your own dad,” Ethan snaps.
“Oh my God, you don’t even see it!” I respond. “I’m not the one in a horrible position! It’sAidenwho is taking all the risks. He is the one who will not only have to face disappointing a coach he admires, but also Dad’s wrath and whatever consequences will follow. Aiden has worked so hard to be a leader on this team. He’s giveneverythingto this sport. Aiden loves hockey. Hockey cost him his first love. She hated the distance, and she didn’t want to do it with him. It nearly broke him open, Ethan.
“But despite that, despite everything he could lose—the respect of Dad, the A on his chest, even his own damn heart—Aiden is taking this chance,” I continue. “If Dad decides to punish him, he’s the one who is going to suffer. Not me. Aiden knows this, but here he is, putting everything on the line, because of what hefeels. And I don’t know of many men who would do that. But Aiden is.”
Silence fills the car. Ethan continues to stare, his eyes still wide, at the sister he thought he knew until this very moment.
I hold his gaze, my chin tilted up, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I wait for him to respond.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t trust any man who would break code like this,” he says, his voice no longer harsh, but matter of fact. “Who would deceive his coach like this? Especially when Dad has put so much faith in him. Put that A on his chest when he’s just come to the team.”
My confidence pops as if Ethan took a pin and shoved it into a balloon. Heaviness weighs over me, deflating me, sinking into my heart.
Ethan is just like Dad. Not just in appearance, but in the way he thinks, in the way he acts. In my heart of hearts, I imagined an ugly scene between Dad and Aiden and me when the truth came out, but I also envisioned him hearing Aiden’s heartfelt words about his feelings. My stories of how Aiden has changed me. Cared for me. Loved me, if Aiden tells me that before we go to my parents and tell them we’re dating.
