After the incident in the laundry room with Ethan, I have trouble focusing on anything other than his mouth during dinner. I watch Ethan like a hawk, all while he rambles on with my brother about hockey. I zone out, having zero interest in their conversation. I still know nothing about hockey, even after all these years. And I don’t care to learn.

Between bites, Will asks me if I want more wine.

“Uh-huh.” I slide my glass in the center of the table for a refill.

I need as much alcohol as I can consume in one night after almost kissing Ethan. What was he thinking getting that close to me? Ethan has been making moves every time we are alone, and I’m getting sick of it. I have no self-control around Ethan. If he had kissed me, I wouldn’t have stopped him. But one of us needs to get a grip. Either he’s trying to torment me, or he wants to kill me. Probably both.

Midway through our delicious dinner, Will gets up from the table to open another bottle of red wine. On his way back to the table he says, “You ready to go clubbing with us?”

I point a finger at my chest, confused. “Are you talking to me?”

Will laughs and takes his place once again at the table. “Yeah. Who else would I be talking to?”

“Ethan,” I say, stating what I think is obvious.

When referring to we, that could mean Will and his hookup of the week for all I know. Like Ethan, my brother is a total manwhore.

“You are going,” Ethan growls. “It’s not a request.”

I shake my head at him. “You don’t control me. And I’m not the club type. Go without me.”

“There’s no such thing as the club type,” Ethan says, irritated. “You either like fun, or you don’t, and since you have the personality of a ninety-year-old lady, we have no choice but to kidnap you if you don’t come willingly.”

“Wow!” My mouth opens wide in shock. “This must be one hell of a club if you are resorting to threats.”

“We’ve been there a few times,” Will adds. “It’s pretty chill. Just come out with us. Live a little, Mia.”

“What club?”

Will lets out a sigh of relief. “It’s called The Sixth Floor.”

“Oh, the place on Delaware Ave?”

Will nods.

“Wear something sexy,” Ethan adds. “No frumpy sweaters or pajama pants.”

Will’s face scrunches up in disgust, as he turns his head to look at Ethan. “Dude, don’t tell my sister to wear sexy clothes. Gross. She can wear a turtleneck sweater down to her ankles for all I care. I would prefer it.”

Ethan laughs. Will doesn’t, his face still mirroring his revulsion of me in slutty clothes. Not like I would wear them even if I owned what could pass as club attire.

“I don’t have anything to wear that either of you would consider appropriate so count me out.”

“Don’t act like that, Mia.” Will picks apart a piece of garlic bread and stuffs half of it into his mouth, speaking between bites. “You never do anything remotely fun. I’ll throw you over my shoulder in what you’re wearing if I have to.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Neither of you seem to understand that I only have work outfits and lounging around the house stuff like jeans and a T-shirt.”

“Then don’t think of it as a club,” Will says. “It’s nothing more than an oversized bar that plays techno music and throws crazy raves.”

“I’m sure you have at least one dress in your closet,” Ethan says. “Maybe even a skirt. Go look, and if you don’t find something I will take you to the store.”

“I have to work tomorrow,” I whine.

At this point, I would do anything to get out of going with them. I’m more of a drink vodka from the bottle while eating Cheetos and playing with my beat up MacBook on the couch kind of girl. Will was always the outgoing sibling and the constant center of attention. We could not be more opposite. Ethan was always a mixture of us, but that was back then. I don’t know the man he has become. But I want to know him. So bad.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I dig through my closet, beyond frustrated and ready to give up. When Ethan walks into my room, I smell his musky scent before I hear his footsteps behind me.

Ethan laughs. “Did you throw your clothes on the floor so you could use that as an excuse not to go?”

I glance down at the piles of clothes around my feet and sigh. “No, stupid. I was looking for something to wear.”

“You won’t find a dress on the floor, Mia.” Ethan comes up from behind me and reaches into my closet, pushing hangers along the rack. “You weren’t kidding, huh? Do you own anything other than jeans or something with holes in it?”

“The holes are intentional.” I turn around to face him, stunned by how polished and refined he is at all times. “It’s not like I sit around with scissors and cut up my jeans and shirts.” Tugging on the sleeve of his navy oxford, I continue, “We all can’t look as good as you do on short notice.”

He cups my face in his hand and strokes my cheek with his thumb. “You would look good in a trash bag, Mia. Stop dragging your feet and get ready before I have to dress you myself.”

Now that he’s planted the thought in my mind, I cannot stop myself from imaging Ethan undressing me. He does that well enough with his eyes. And now I’m thinking of him naked and me alongside him.

Stop it, Mia. Get your shit together.

“You were never this bossy,” I choke out, barely breathing. “What happened to you?”

“I’m not the same person, Mia. The sooner you get that through your head, the easier it will be for you to come to terms with the fact that I am not going to change. This is who I am now. Take it or leave it.”

“That’s a lie. I don’t believe it for one second.” I place my palm over his heart and move closer. “For whatever reason, you don’t want to let me back in. You were never this arrogant and rude to me.”

He covers his hand over mine and blows out a puff of air. “Some things are better left in the past. You can either get to know the person I am now or cling to the memory of the boy you had a crush on when we were kids.”

I snort. “I didn’t have a crush on you.”

A smirk turns up the corner of his mouth. “That’s a lie, and you know it.”

“Whatever.” I take a step back, and his hand falls to his side. “I have to get dressed. Can you get out?”

“You have nothing to wear. Let me take you shopping.”

“I don’t know whether to be offended or flattered that you would do something so selfless for me.”

He pushes his hands onto his hips and shakes his head, staring at me with one of his killer smirks. “You’re such a mess. Someone has to help you.”

I step close enough that our mouths are almost touching. “I don’t need your help or your pity, Ethan. Now, get out of my room.”

Ethan cups my shoulders with his big hands. “I’m calling my personal shopper at Boyds whether you like it or not.”

“You are impossible,” I shoot back. “Whatever. I don’t see why you are so insistent on me going out with you and Will tonight. The last thing I want to do is watch skanky women grind on you.”

“Good,” he growls, “because the only woman I want grinding on me is you.”

I gasp at his comment.

What do I say? How do I act around him?

Ethan is making this living situation too hard for me. And we’re less than twenty-four hours into the arrangement. I will not last a month with him invading my personal space, all while forcing me to confront my feelings for him.

“You can’t turn this on and off whenever you see fit, Ethan. Will is your best friend, and I am his sister. He would kill both of us. Don’t act like you like me one minute and hate me the next. Even Will is starting to notice the subtle things you are doing with me. When Will saw your hand on my knee at the Wells Fargo Center, I was so sure that would start a fight.”

He cups the side of my face with his hand and whispers, “He doesn’t have to find out. You’re a big girl now, Mia. You can make your own decisions without your brother there to hold your hand.”

I lean into his touch and sigh. “Stop torturing me, Ethan.”

“I think I’m torturing myself more than you,” he says under his breath.

“Are you ready?” Will says from the doorway.

I step back, and Ethan quickly removes his hand from my face, the two of us standing still, terrified of what this must look like to Will.

I turn my back to Ethan and sift through my closet, moving the hangers along the metal bar. “Give me a few minutes.”

“You don’t have anything to wear,” Ethan says. “Let me call my girl. What size do you wear?”

I glance at him over my shoulder at him. “None of your business.”

“We don’t have time to fuck around in department stores,” Will says, annoyed. “Find something and let’s go. We’re going to a club, not a wedding. No one will care what you have on as long as it’s passable to get in the front door.”

This time, Ethan doesn’t bother to argue. He keeps his mouth shut and follows Will out of my bedroom. I close the door behind them and lean against it. With Ethan out of my sight, I can finally breathe. Ever since he moved into my apartment, Ethan has been sucking up all the air.