Chapter 4

Ethan's POV

“Holy shit,” someone behind me muttered. “Did that just happen?”

I didn't answer.

My hand was still warm from where I'd held Lena's neck. She took another step back, her eyes a little wider than before, like she was only just realizing what she'd done. For another second, the whole room stayed quiet.

Then everything exploded again.

People started laughing and shouting. Someone yelled, “Damn!” and a few others started talking at once, trying to act like they hadn't just watched the entire room freeze over a kiss.

Lena turned toward the hallway, as I watched her walk away. She kept her back straight, but her fingers kept flexing at her sides. She was trying hard to act like the kiss hadn't affected her. I knew better.

I'd noticed Lena long before tonight. She'd been at Tyler's games for years. Every single one, even when he played like shit and spent half the night complaining about the refs. She brought food when some of his teammates were injured, waited outside the medical room after bad hits, and defended Tyler whenever someone said anything about him.

I'd heard my teammates joke about how soft she was for putting up with him. I never joined in. She was Tyler's girlfriend. That was the line. Except tonight, that line was gone.

I pushed off the counter and followed her down the short hallway toward the back door. She was standing near the wall, arms crossed, staring at nothing like she was replaying the whole thing in her head.

“Hey.”

She looked at me quickly. “I'm fine,” she said. “Really. You don't have to—”

“I'm not here to make things awkward.” I leaned against the opposite wall, leaving some space between us. “You good?”

She let out a short breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “I was supposed to prove I was over him. That was the whole point.” She looked down at her hands. “Now I'm standing here wondering what the hell I was even trying to prove.”

I nodded once. “You don’t owe him a single thing. Not a reaction. Not an explanation. Nothing.”

She stared at me for a moment, and something about the way she looked at me made me wonder if she actually believed what I was saying.

Before she could answer, heavy footsteps came down the hallway.

Tyler.

His jaw was tight, and Marie followed a few steps behind him. “You think that shit was funny?” Tyler snapped.

A couple of people near the living room turned to look. My hands tightened into fists before I forced them to relax.

“I didn’t plan a damn thing. Your girl walked up to me and asked if I was backing out. I said no.”

“She’s not my girl anymore,” he snapped, then seemed to realize how stupid that sounded a second too late.

“And you still didn’t have to—”

I was about saying when Lena stepped between us before I could finish the sentence for him.

She didn’t raise her voice, but it cut clean through the tension. “The relationship ended the second you chose Marie,” she said, looking straight at him. “So you don't get to be pissed about what I do after you already made your choice. Thankfully, you're not my boyfriend anymore.”

Tyler stared at her like she’d grown a second head. While Marie looked at the floor. I couldn't stop watching Lena. I'd never seen her like this before. No tears. No shaking voice. No apology. Just anger and a kind of confidence that hadn't been there when she'd walked into the party.

Tyler opened his mouth, closed it, then shook his head and walked off. Marie followed without a word.

The hallway felt quieter once they were gone. Lena let out a slow breath and rubbed the side of her neck. I glanced at her hand, and wondered if she was remembering the kiss.

I was too.

“You want to get out of here for a minute?” I asked. “Somewhere quieter. No audience.”

She hesitated, eyes searching my face like she was weighing every possible outcome.

Then she nodded once. “Yeah,” she said.

“Okay.” I pushed the door open and stepped into the cooler night air.

She followed.