Scout’s POV
"My mom is in a room hooked up to machines fighting for her life, and all I can think about right now is how badly I want to see you naked."
The words hit like a fist to the ribs. Ethan stepped back, his chest heaving under the dim moonlight of the empty ballroom. His eyes looked wild, dark, and entirely broken. He dragged a hand through his hair, pulling the strands hard enough to make his scalp go red.
"I shouldn't be having these thoughts," he rasped, his voice tearing from somewhere deep and ugly inside him. "I should be better than this. Stronger."
I didn't move. My back pressed against the cold stone wall, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. My lips still tingled from the frantic kiss he had just broken off. The air between us tasted like ozone and st
