fantasize.
“Why do you hate him?” I asked Ethan again , once Jason and his entourage had disappeared.
I sucked on a piece of edamame while I waited for Ethan to re s pond.
“He’s just a douchbag ,” he said, taking a large, aggravated sip of his drink which was called ‘The Dragon’ – a very masculine name for a drink, in my opinion.
“How do you know him?”
“We went to school together for a few years. He was two grades ahead of me, but then he d ropped out when he was a junior because he was making too many movies or some shit like that. He was always a jackass, though.”
“Alright, noted,” I said, wondering if Ethan was jealous that Jason Brady had an entourage of hot women or if he truly was a jerk . Either way, I didn’t need Etha n to be in a bad mood, so I figured I’d change his attitude . “So , let’s talk about something else.”
“Sure,” he grumbled, and I wondered if the ever-optimistic Ethan was a thing of the past. H e’d certainly seemed to be irritated a lot lately.
***
“So, where is this party we’re going to?”
“Santa Monica,” Ethan said, as he switched seat s with the valet in his new silver Infiniti G37, a sweet g raduation gift from his parents.
“You sure you’re good to drive?” I asked, cautiously. I wa s a little buzzed , so I hoped he wasn’t feeling the same way. Of course, he had at least seventy pounds on me, so it was possible that the one drink he had didn’t go to his he ad like the two I’d had had gone to mine.
“Totally sober,” he said, grinning at me , and h is grin didn’t go away. I was glad to see cheerful Ethan was back.
“What?” I asked, liking the feeling of the alcohol swimming around in my brain. Maybe the party would be more fun if I was buzzed.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said, smirking at me.
“I love surprises,” I gushed, instantly excited. Ethan loved surprising me. He’d been doing it our whole lives. “What is it?”
“Sorry, it’s a surprise,” he said with fake disappointment in his voice but glee in his eyes . “I can’t tell you.”
“Asshole,” I muttered, as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and fake pouted out the window.
Ethan just laughed at me.
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of a modest two-story beach house that was already crawling with people. The driveway was blocked by a security guard, but Ethan drove right up like he owned the place.
“Ethan Lewis,” he said, showing the beefy guy his ID.
“Go ahead,” the guy said, after he checked that Ethan was who he said he was.
“Wow,” I said, looking over at Ethan in awe. “You’ve got some pull around here.”
He just shrugged. “I know the guy who owns the place.”
As we got out of the car, I regretted what I was wearing for the second time that night. Every single female I saw was dressed in some version of a dress and heels. I looked incredibly out of place, once again. Maybe I needed to tap into the wardrobe my mom had bought me. I had yet to wear any of it, and as pissed off as it made me that she felt the need to dress me, she was pretty spot-on with what she’d picked out.
“I look okay, right?” I asked Ethan, grabbing his arm to hold him back from walking to the front door.
A warm breeze rus tled his hair, blowing his blond locks across his cheek . “You look great,” he said, without even looking at me.
I sighed. “You didn’t even look.”
“That’s because I know you look great,” he said, as he tucked his hair behind his ear and locked his eyes on mine. “You always do, Lo.”
I rolled my eyes. “You just know me too well. I look ridiculous in this outfit.”
His shoulders sagged. “Don’t,” he cautioned.
“What?”
“Don’t be one of those insecure girls who can’t see how cute she is. You’ve never been that girl before, so don’t start now. ”
I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I hadn’t ever been insecure, even w hen I’d attended Ethan’s
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