Sifting through my closet, I hold my cell phone to my ear, as it rings on the other end, and push the hangers along the metal rack to look for something sexy and strip club appropriate.

“Clarke,” I whine into the phone when she answers. “My best friend in the whole wide world. Please come with me tonight. I need a plus one for my next mission.”

She chuckles. “Okay, I’ll bite. Where are we going?”

“Scores.”

More laughter. “A strip club. Oh, this is rich. Have you ever been to one?”

“No, of course not, but I got a lead. I want to chase it.”

“Now you think they’re selling drugs at Scores.”

I lift a short, leather skirt from the rack and study it. “Yeah. From what I can tell, the Mafia is the supplier of the drugs. Scores is another one of their fronts.”

She blows air into the receiver. “And you honestly think you cant take down the Mafia by going to a club they own? This is dangerous, Mia. Why don’t you call that cop you trade information with down at the eighteenth precinct? It’s not your job to bust criminals.”

“I could use some backup or at least someone who knows where I am in case shit gets weird. Are you coming or not?” I cradle the phone between my ear and shoulder and step into the skirt, sliding it up my thighs.

For a second, I think of Ethan, who loved taking this thing off me. Asshole.

“What’s weird about this situation is you in a strip club. I wouldn’t miss seeing this for the world.”

“I am glad you find this so amusing. Will seemed to think so, too.”

She gasps. “Will knows about the case? I can’t believe you told him.”

“No, of course not.” I reach behind me to zip up the skirt, staring down at my pale legs that could use some bronzer. “I told Will to meet me at Scores since he wanted me to go out with him tonight. I need you to keep him company while I dig around and see if there’s any suspicious activity going on there. He’ll be up my ass if you don’t come and help me. Pretty please. I will owe you one.”

“As your friend, yes, I will come. You are getting too invested in this story, one I am afraid will get you killed if you don’t watch yourself.”

I shut my closet and look at myself in the full-length mirror glued to the front of the door. Not bad for a last minute stakeout. After wearing this outfit to The Sixth Floor, I know I can pass the dress code test if they even have one at a strip club. The idea makes me laugh on the inside. A dress code at a place where they take their clothes off. Hilarious.

“Can you come to my apartment in one hour? Will is coming here. I scheduled for an Uber driver to pick us up at nine.”

“Yep, I’ll be there. Whether you are right about this lead or not, I have to see your reaction when you walk into Scores. This is priceless.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “See ya later.”

“Later, chica.”

Then, the line goes dead.

Not long after I hang up with Clarke, I hear Will in the living room talking loudly to someone. I can’t make out the words, only the tone of their deep voices. I check my appearance in the mirror one last time before I grab my purse from the bed and walk out of my bedroom and down the hall.

The last person I had expected to find lounging on my couch, with his foot propped up on the coffee table, was Ethan. Where the fuck has he been this week? I want to say something, even though I know I have no right to the information. He’s not my boyfriend. He owes me nothing other than the one night of pleasure I had hoped for before Will ruined our night together.

“What are you two idiots being so loud about?” I ask, stopping in front of the coffee table.

Neither of them answers me, still talking over each other, same as they always do.

I stare down at Ethan, noting the cocky smirk on his perfect lips when he peeks up at me. Sucking in a deep breath, I do my best to compose myself. The heat from his gaze produces a fire beneath my skin. One look is all it takes for Ethan Waters to make me wet. And he knows it. I can see the look in his eyes and the same confidence he had the night he almost fucked me.

Ethan licks his lips, a simple gesture that Will doesn’t pick up on. But I do. When it comes to Ethan, I never miss a beat. Why is he playing games with me? Why did he disappear on me? The past repeated itself on me again, and I hated that nauseating feeling, the same one I had ten years ago.

“Remind me to make an appointment for you,” Ethan says to me, interrupting Will. “My girl at Boyds will hook you up.”

I tilt my head back and laugh. “Like I can afford to shop at Boyds. Unless you have a girl at Plato’s Closet or Target, I’m good with what I have, thank you very much.”

“Tell her to put it on my tab,” Will says.

I scrunch my eyebrows at him in confusion. “Since when do you shop at fancy department stores?”

He shrugs. “I have to wear suits and ties before games. I’m not a complete caveman, you know.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that. Well, thanks for the offer, but I don’t want to be your charity case.”

Will shakes his head, irritated. “You could never be a charity case, Mia. I just want to do something nice for you. So does Ethan.” He holds his hand up and moves it around the apartment. “Look where and how you live. I’d rather see you somewhere safer and with food in your fridge not slumming it.”

I let out a puff our air and allow Will to win this conversation. We have the same one so often I might as well let him feel better by doing this one thing for me. With my bargain shopper powers, I’m sure I can find a few things on the cheap.

“Fine. If buying me clothes will make you happy, then I will go meet the girl from Boyds.”

He smiles. So does Ethan, who removes his cell phone from his jeans pocket. Ethan types out a quick text message, and a few seconds later it dings.

“Alanna can see you tomorrow after work,” Ethan tells me.

“Okay, great. Thanks. Now, can we get the hell out of here? Clarke should be here any minute.”

As if on cue, Clarke knocks once, before coming inside my apartment. “Is everyone decent?” She walks in with her eyes closed, opening one just enough to look at us.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Will asks her, pushing himself up from the couch.

She flips her hair over her shoulder and snorts. “Never know with you living here. I’ve read enough about you to know I should knock before entering anywhere you live, hockey boy.”

Will laughs. “And why is that?”

She cocks an eyebrow at him. “Because you’re bad.”

I narrow my eyes at Clarke. What is she doing? Ugh, she cannot like my brother. He’s…Well, he’s Will.

My brother loves a challenge. In one swift motion, he moves past me, hovering over Clarke. He’s a lot taller than her five feet two inches. Even in heels, Clarke looks tiny in comparison to Will.

Will studies Clarke’s face and glides his tongue across his bottom lip. Shit. He likes her.

“I’d say you shouldn’t believe what you read in the papers, but at least they got that part right,” Will says, touching her shoulder.

“Okay, enough of that,” I tell Will, pushing my hands onto my hips. “Can we make it to Scores without you hitting on my friend?”

Will looks over his shoulder at me and then to Ethan. “Hey, I had to watch E hit on you. Deal with it, little sis.”

Clarke flashes my brother a wicked smirk. “Not interested, anyway. Save your energy for someone else.”

Oh, no. That has to be the worst thing she can say to Will. Now, he won’t give up until she’s screaming his name in the bedroom next to mine. At least Clarke has self-control, unlike me when it comes to Ethan.

Ethan locks eyes with me, as he walks around the table to stand at Will’s side. Could he be any further away from me? Idiot.

Choosing to ignore him, too, I check the time and realize our driver will be here any minute. “Time to go.”

Will exits the apartment first, with Clarke behind him, leaving me with Ethan. We exchange an awkward moment, where we stare at each other, as I dig the keys from my purse.

“You look beautiful,” Ethan says under his breath. His voice is so low I have to strain to hear him.

I smile, the blush creeping down to my chest, his effect instantaneous. “Thank you,” I mouth, not wanting my brother to hear us.

Will and Clarke are halfway downstairs, already arguing with each other over something stupid.

Ethan touches my cheek with his calloused thumb, cupping my face in his hand. “I’m sorry.”

That’s all he says before releasing his grip on me, though the hold he has over me stays with me, all the way to the strip club.