So that just happened. Will caught me in bed with Ethan and naked, of all things. Fuck. I don’t even realize I am biting my nails until Ethan comes up from behind me and wraps his arms around me. He hugs me, the warmth of his body instantly soothing me.

“I’m sorry, Mia,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. “I should have said something to Will. This wouldn’t have happened if I had manned up and told him sooner.”

I rub my hands over his and look up at him, blinking away a tear from my eye. “We made the decision together. At least Will knows now.”

“I would have preferred to have the conversation with our clothes on. It didn’t help that Will found us naked and in your bed. If I had a sister, I probably would have beat the piss out of Will for having sex with her. I can’t say that I blame him for being mad. I thought we were going to fight and get it out of our systems, but the fact that he left worries me.”

“He didn’t mean what he said,” I tell him. “He would never throw you out of the apartment.”

Ethan laughs. “I would like to see him try. I own half of it.”

“Ugh,” I grunt. “This feels like a bad divorce. My brother will forgive you. I know he will. Just give him some time. He’s like my dad. Once he blows off some steam, he will get over it and come to his senses.”

“I’m not so sure about that. In all the years I have known Will, I have never seen him this mad.”

“Will needs you just as much as you need him. Trust me. You are as much his blood as I am. He considers you his brother.”

“I guess that makes this even more fucked up then, Sis.” He laughs.

I shake my head, smiling. “Call me that again, and I will kick you in the balls.”

“Hey, if you ever want kids, I would not advise that.”

I stop laughing and still in his arms. “You want to have kids?”

“Sure. Someday.”

“With me. You said if I ever want kids.”

He squeezes me tighter. “I guess I did.”

“Did you mean that?”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean. You should know that by now.”

I wiggle free from his grasp to spin around and face him. “What’s changed?”

He shrugs. “Nothing. I have loved you since we were kids. Loving you was easy. I just wasn’t in love with you.”

I raise a curious eyebrow at him. “But you are now?”

Sucking in a deep breath, I hold it, without meaning to, as I await his answer. A short pause passes between us, where he considers my question.

“Yeah, I think so. But I wasn’t sure what to say when Will had asked me.” Ethan tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear and smiles. “I’ve never been in love before. Until you, my life was nothing but parties and women. And hockey. Will wasn’t wrong about what he said earlier. I have done a lot of fucked up shit over the years. I don’t deserve you.”

“You keep saying that, but I disagree.” I take his hand in mine and bring it to my mouth to plant a soft kiss. “You are what I need, E. I have been in love with you, on and off, since I was fourteen. I am even more in love with you now than I was back then. I might have spent a lot of years hating your ass, but underneath it all, I still loved you.”

He moves his hand to my shoulder, his fingers slowly traveling up to my face. “I love you, too, Mia.”

Ethan hooks his arm around my back, and his lips crash into mine. He kisses me with so much intensity and passion that I have to grip his shoulders to maintain my balance. But Ethan is here to catch me. He will always catch me, breathing his life force into me when I need him to bring me back to life. With Ethan, I feel alive, his touch lighting a fire everywhere he touches. Heat spreads down my arms, and with each stroke of his fingers, my skin burns with desire for him.

The dream I once had of Ethan is now my reality. My heart swells with joy. Ethan loves me. My brother’s best friend is the last person in the world I wanted to fall in love with. But I did. I fell hard.

Ethan explores every part of my body with his big hands, forcing me to beg him to take me into the bedroom. I need him, need to feel him. He squeezes my ass and lifts me up, pressing his erection against my soaking wet pussy. I’m dripping for him, desperate for him to stop the aching between my thighs.

Instead of his usual rough touch, he takes me into the bedroom and lowers me onto the bed with care, as if he could break me. Because he can. Only Ethan has that power over me.

He tugs at the silky belt of my robe, exposing my naked breasts to the cold air. The tiny buds were already painfully hard, even more so when Ethan rolls the pads of his thumbs over them, gently massing me. A soft moan escapes my lips.

Ethan looks at me, watches me intently, and dips his head down to stick out his tongue. He’s all tongue and teeth, my nipple swelling in his mouth. My sex clenches, my insides tightening with each flick of his tongue. Writhing beneath him, I close my eyes and claw at the sheets, the fabric twisted so tightly between my fingers that my hands hurt.

He stops long enough to remove his boxers and positions himself at my entrance. Instead of pushing himself inside me like a savage beast, he bends down to place his elbows on both sides of my heads, slowly inching his way into me. This is so unlike Ethan. Every sexual encounter we have had, from our first kiss and on, was aggressive and fueled by our constant internal struggle to be together. Now, we are both free.

But that’s not the change in his demeanor. We are making love. Ethan loves me with his mouth and his cock, as he slides in and out of me. He loves me with every inch of his muscular body. We speak to each other in grunts and moans and consummate our love with each thrust as if we are having sex for the first time.

Ethan presses his lips to mine, stealing my last breath along with my orgasm. He kisses me hard but not too rough, his body convulsing just as mine eases up. I tighten the hold I have around him, and he groans into my mouth. Our lips separate, but our foreheads are still touching.

“My perfect little lamb,” Ethan says.

I brush my fingers along his cheek. “I love you. So much.”

His lips graze mine, the heat from his breath prickling my skin. “I love you, too,” he whispers, before kissing me again.

Words I had waited to hear from Ethan for over ten years, stolen from his mouth and sealed with a kiss.