“Exactly, Ash.” Henry’s eyes widened as he nodded slowly. “Itisdifferent with him. Do you know why?” His tone was placating, like he was talking to a small child.
“You’re dangerously close to getting right down smack in the middle of it, Henry.”
That shut him up.
His chest visibly deflated, and he sank back in his chair, poking at the sushi with his chopsticks. “I finally know what people who timetravel in movies feel like.”
I snorted. “What?”
“You know… how they’re supposed to not interfere and just let nature take its course. It’s annoying as fuck.”
I took another bite, this one harder to swallow. “I’m always going to have his best interests at heart, Henny. You know that.”
He nodded, the humor slipping from his face. “I know I’m not supposed to call you out, and I know I was the one who asked for us to keep everything separate, so I’m just going to say one thing. Okay?”
I waited.
Henry met my eyes, his bottom lip twisting. “Don’t fucking hurt him again.”
And that hit me right in the chest.
Somehow everything with Ethan was always a mess. First my teenage affair when our siblings were getting married, and now he’s my little brother’s best friend. When I wasn’t hurting Oliver, I was hurting Henry—and always dragging Ethan into the mix.
Fucking perfect.
“I won’t,” I said, hoping I could actually keep my promise this time.
Ethan’s unexpected reappearance in my life was not ideal for so many reasons. But it was incredibly welcome. When my headwas in chaos, just thinking about him could set everything right again. The ease. How he cut through the noise. That effect he had on me was so difficult to give up when all I wanted right now was some source of comfort. But my comfort shouldn’t ever come at his expense.
Or Luca’s, for that matter.
Things between us had turned a little tense since that lunch with Ethan—understandably—but it left a bitter taste at the back of my throat, an ache in my chest that felt too much like being caught doing something wrong.
Just thinking about them in the same space at the same time made something inside me twist. They didn’t fit together. They couldn’t. But that separation—the restraint it forced—made being around Ethan bearable. It gave me a way to hold the line.
Another pang of guilt followed close behind. Because that wasn’t fair to either of them.
After we finished eating and Henry left, I finally pulled my phone from my pocket.
Ethan’s messages were waiting.
Pet
got it
you were the one smoking nostalgic watermelon vapes after claiming to fucking hate them so who’s the pillow-clutcher in this scenario?
and that my friends is what I call a fucking buuuurn
I chuckled softly, but then my eyes flicked to the next line he’d sent a few minutes later.
Shorter.
Quieter.
Pet
you busy or something?
