The next morning, Ethan woke up with a knot in his stomach that wouldn’t loosen.
He avoided Mia like she was fire.
He left the house early with Jake to run errands, stayed outside fixing the pool filter for hours, and when he finally came inside, he made sure Sarah was always nearby. Every time Mia entered a room, he found a reason to leave. He couldn’t look at her without remembering the truck — the way she had tasted, the way her thighs had trembled around his head, the broken sound of her voice when she came on his tongue.
That evening, Jake clapped his hands together in the living room. “Movie night! Lila’s coming over. Sarah’s already here. Five of us — popcorn, blankets, the works.”
Lila arrived twenty minutes later, a cheerful girl with curly hair who immediately curled up next
