“What about Ethan?” Ethan walked in briskly, his gaze moving slowly from Emily to Jackson, the jealousy epassing him and the excesses flowing out of him that he could barely contain. He had been watching them, Emily had never kissed him so passionately, or stared at him so lovingly or told him she loved him but those three words were easy to say to Jackson  of course it’s always Jackson. How could he not be jealous?


    His chest tightened at the sight of the both of them together.


    “Ethan – ?” Emily spoke and he saw her try to pull her hands away from Jackson but Jackson was unwilling to let go, he held on now holding Ethan stare  daring him toin.


    “Honestly what about Ethan, because I’m dying to know what’s going to happen to Ethan” Ethan said now


    “Stop speaking in third person  it’s annoying” Jackson said and Emily threw him a look but he shrugged in response.


    “Stay out of this Jackson, this is between me and Emily  ”


    “She’s carrying my child now, so I’m pretty much involved” Jackson attempted to seat upright on his hospital bed but a striking pain radiating from his knee pushed him back and he managed to wince  he could’ve yelled but he had to put up a strong front in front of Ethan. Any sign of weakness and it’ll be so easy for Ethan to push him to the sidelines.


    “It’s not something to be proud, she’s my wife Jackson, she’s supposed to be off limits”


    “I didn’t force nobody to do anything, I can’t help the way I feel, I’m in love with her and I’m not going to sit back anymore, especially when she’s carrying my child now” Jackson said fiercely and Ethan nearly lunged at him but Emily stepped in between in time


    “Stop it both of you!” she said loudly “Just stop it, this bickering back and forth is not going to solve anything right now and you Ethan  Jackson has been through a lot in case you forgot he took a bloody bullet to the knee”


    They both stayed silent, her words ricocheting off into the air but it wasn’t registering in either of them


    “About that” Jackson broke the silence first, then he turned to Ethan. It wasn’t exactly a piercing gaze but more like he was daring Ethan, a mocking hint to his tone “Maybe we should talk about that”


    “Maybe you should talk to a therapist” Ethan countered quickly


    Jackson chuckled “Are you sure? Or we could talk about it, who Uncle James was really working for behind the scenes?”


    “Jackson” Ethan warned but Jackson kept his gaze unwavering


    “What’s he talking about?” Emily asked but Ethan grabbed her arms gently and began pulling her out of Jackson’s hospital room “Give us some privacy”


    After Emily had left, Ethan went back in and faced Jackson “Are you crazy?”


    “I know what you did” Jackson simply said “But I’m going to pretend like it didn’t happen because no matter what, as brothers I have a duty to protect you and the Hatton family, besides I owe you one”


    “What do you mean? How do you owe me, I never understood that part”


    “Remember the bike incident, Frank and Amanda”All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    “How did you  ” Ethan was going to ask but Jackson beat him to it


    “I was always watching brother”


    ***


    Frank Weatherbee lunging at Ethan Hatton in front of the entire school poption at the cafeteria had caused silence to ring through the cafeteria but it onlysted for a second because the murmurs had started almost immediately.


    “Frank! Are you out of your mind?” Amanda yelled, rushing to Ethan immediately and inspecting his burst lip where blood seeped through and Ethan wiped it with the sleeves of his shirt.


    “Are you okay?” her voice came out panicked but Ethan only smiled, then he ced his around her “I’m fine sweetheart, he clearly has unresolved issues but not with me though. Is he your boyfriend or something?”


    Immediately Amanda shook her head, moving further away from Frank who now had a broken look on his face that reflected both remorse and shame.


    “He’s not my boyfriend” she said loudly at least for everyone  in the cafeteria to hear “That’s absurd, why would I date him?”


    Ethan gave a satisfied smile with a mocking undertone that he threw at Frank and he made sure he caught it “That’s great, I would’ve been hurt darling. You know, those chicken sandwiches are not going to eat themselves” he ced his hands around her shoulders, and propelling her away from Frank without even a nce back. While Frank stared, his face hot with shame and anger and there was nothing he could do now. He blew it, he blew the only girl he liked in the whole school  he lost her to bloody Ethan Hatton. He scoffed at the thought  there was only one thing left thing to do.


    Later that afternoon, after school Ethan had patiently waited, bidding his time and when he spotted the familiar brown haired girl, he moved forward and blocking her path with his effortless charm and he didn’t the blush that crept up her cheeks, and for some reason it sent a particr warmth through him  spreading towards his extremities especially when heced his hands with hands.


    “Normally I let the chauffeur drive myself and my brother Jackson home from school but I stayed back because I wanted to see you onest time” he said, watching her tuck a lose strand of hair behind her ears with a dainty hand, her eyes downcast and merely looking at him.


    “I could walk you home  if you don’t mind” he offered and she nodded immediately


    “I’ll like that” she said, smiling at him. Her chest warm and nearly liquid. Ethan Hatton was offering to walk her home? The Ethan Hatton? Lacrosse star ying and the most handsome guy ins school. She let out a little squeal in her head which she made a mental note to actual scream the moment she got home.


    The conversations came easy to them unexpectedly for Ethan, unlike the other girls at school Amanda was easy to talk to, she had a lot of stories and her eyes sparkled each time she tried to tell a joke and in all honesty she made himugh.


    “and I never saw my pet tortoise again” Amandaughed towards the end of her tortoise story that Ethan had found incredibly amusing, they were approaching her house now and for some reason he didn’t want to leave her.


    “What happened to him?”


    “The rain probably washed him away, he was so little. I miss him” she stopped now in front of her house, she turned to look at Ethan to find out he was staring at her with her intensity that caused the butterflies in her stomach to flutter endlessly.


    “This is my stop” she said “So I guess, I’ll see you tomorrow at school”


    Ethan nodded, unwilling to let go of her hand but the moment she let go and she turned to leave  he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him  he ced his lips on hers.


    The butterflies fluttered even harder.