The thought of Dani and Tyson kissing wouldn't leave Ethan's mind. Funny, because Tyson practically admitted to doing something with Maya, which was slightly annoying, but not for the reasons it should have been. Ethan was thinking about accepting the girl's proposal, which technically made her his territory, and instead of focusing on that, all he thought about was how poor Dani would feel when she found out. And why did the idea of Tyson kissing her bother him so much?
Because she deserves better? Is that it? Yeah, the Terran have a different way of courting, but whatever happened between Tyson and Maya shouldn't have. Does he have no sense of honor? Ethan shook his head. He's the luckiest guy in the world, and he's risking it all for some kind of fling? He sighed. No, that's harsh. He couldn't have done anything awful. But Ethan still believed Tyson to be lucky. He'd kill to be in the other guy's shoes. It would make life so much simpler if Ethan could marry his best friend and have the whole thing worked out for him.
For some reason, Ethan felt the need to pace the front yard while he waited for the young couple to return from their search for the perfect location. Curiosity was getting the better of him, and he had to know how the whole thing was going. When he saw Dani come back to the house alone, he was more than a little surprised.
“Solo?” he asked, going to greet her at the beginning of the drive. She sure looked happy. In fact, she was practically glowing. Dani had the largest smile on her face, and her eyes glittered in the fading sunlight.
Dani nodded and gazed up at him, her smile getting even wider. Something he didn't think would even be possible. “Solo. We have a lot to think about.”
“Too many options? Couldn't find the best spot?”
“In the end it didn't matter much. Come on, let's go into the town and take a walk. I want to talk to you.” She grabbed his hand, and he could see her hesitate for a moment before her fingers wrapped around his.
He frowned. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, but it is important,” she said.
“Okay, what's up?” He glanced down at her and noticed the smile wasn't going away. Was it that great of a kiss?
Dani looked up at him, opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “I'm having a hard time thinking of how to say it. Still trying to figure out if it's even real to begin with.” She closed her eyes. “Tyson and I are going to get out of our arrangement.”
“What? Why?” Those were not the words Ethan had been expecting her to say at all.
“Because we don't want to, so why should we? It's a mutual decision, and we gave it a shot, but it seems stupid, don't you think? Especially if there's no real reason to go through with it?” She opened her eyes, and their gazes met.
“Just political repercussions,” he pointed out.
She shrugged. “I have a feeling we'll be able to work around them. But this can't happen. Tyson and I won't be good as husband and wife. Maybe it's all of the pressure. In another lifetime we'd meet and court normally. There wouldn't be all of this stress involved with an arranged marriage. And maybe in that other lifetime there wouldn't be someone else taking all of our attention.”
“He's going to go propose to Maya, isn't he?” Ethan asked. “What happened between them? Is it worse than what he's implied?”
“They just kissed. I don't know what he's going to do. Besides, I wasn't talking about Tyson and her.” She squeezed Ethan's hand. “He's not the only one who's looking elsewhere.”
Ethan laughed to hide his surprise. But he'd never thought of Dani as the type to have wandering eyes. Weren't the Inero raised to uphold their traditions? It was common for an Inero to drop their spouse, but not before the marriage even happened. There were rules that had to be obeyed. Did they mean nothing to her? The better question was: why did his heart beat faster? It was almost like it was working on overtime even though he hadn't done anything physically exhausting. It wasn't affecting his overall health. His breathing was a little constricted from the tightening in his chest, but he didn't feel dizzy or concerned. Only confused.
“Find a hot island boy?” he asked, trying to keep the whole thing light to hide what he was actually feeling—whatever that was. Happiness? Jealousy? Anger? He couldn't quite pin the emotion. Maybe a combination of the three. Having her stand up for what she believed in made him happy, but what did this mean for her relationship with him? Did she feel the same way? Or was there really someone else he didn't know about?
Dani scrunched up her nose. “You smell like sour grapes.”
“New cologne,” he mumbled.
“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “I'm not stupid. I know what that smell is, Ethan, and you don't need to be so upset. He's not a hot island boy. He's from the city actually. In fact, he's not even from Inero.”
Brad? Is Dani the girl he's been sneaking around seeing? “Anyone I know?”
“I hear you two are close. Practically the same person, actually,” she said, and folded her arms in front of her, looking up at him. “His name starts with an E and rhymes with… look, do I have to spell it out? Because I can if I have to, but why would you think I'd be interested in anyone else?”
“Why would you be interested in me?” he asked, confused. The whole thing blindsided him. Dani wanted to be with him? There was definitely chemistry between the two of them, but that was normal with best friends, right? No, if it was normal, then Tyson and she wouldn't have felt the need to break off their engagement. What you feel for her isn't normal friend feelings. They can't be, or you'd feel them for everyone else too.
Dani laughed. “I can't believe you're asking me that. Why wouldn't I be? You're smart, funny, and… well, you're nice on the eyes. Look, I'm obviously butchering this whole confession thing, so let me try saying it again in a different way. I think I'm in love with you. Tyson noticed it. Everyone has pretty much noticed it, I think, except for you. So I am telling you straight out that I am.” Her gaze met his again, and he noticed the tears in her eyes. “And the scowl you're giving me is making me wonder if I just risked everything for nothing.”
“I'm confused, shocked, and trying to figure out how to process this,” he said honestly. Stop thinking and just say what you feel before you can talk yourself out of it. “All our lives we've been close. I mean, we share the same birthday and hatch day, there isn't a time when you haven't been there for me when I needed you. You're my beautiful best friend, but up until now you've always been off limits. I never let myself indulge in any hypothetical feelings, so I don't know how to respond to this.” He watched her deflate where she stood, and before she could say anything, he continued.
“This is what I know… about how I feel. And this is just me word-vomiting my guts here, because if I break my stream of consciousness, I'm probably not going to say everything I need to. When I come out here to see you, or know you're coming to visit me, it's like the highlight of my year. The world feels a lot less lonely, and I love that we can talk and be and fit together so well. I've never been all too in touch with my emotions, because I taught myself to shut them off a long time ago. Right when I started to notice how gorgeous you are.
“Is it love? I don't know. But I can say that when you and Tyson left, I knew he would make a move on you, and it drove me up a wall waiting for you. And when I saw you come back alone? All I felt was relief.”
A weight lifted off of Ethan's shoulders that he hadn't even realized was there. How long had he been pushing those feelings aside?
Dani's eyes never left his face, and the smile returned. “So you feel something?”
“Something, yes. But where do we go from here? Run off and get married?”
She laughed and shook her head. “We're free to do whatever we want.”
Freedom to choose, something his father had wanted Ethan to believe he had, but they both knew he didn't. Deep down, he'd always wanted to choose her but knew he never could. Not until now at least. But what about Maya? What about tradition? What would it be like to just follow my gut? Stop thinking. He closed his eyes and leaned in, kissing her lips. Hopefully he'd do it right.
Unlike when Maya had kissed him, there wasn't a pull on his magic. Yet there was a new kind of spark, and it came from inside his gut. When he'd locked lips with Maya, he'd felt nothing but confusion and disgust. Kissing Dani, on the other hand, was enticing. It felt a lot like how he had always imagined a kiss was supposed to feel. There was tenderness and excitement. Her soft lips were inviting and left him wanting more.
He sighed before pulling away from her. “That's an unexpected surprise.”
“It's what I'd hoped to feel,” she whispered. “From here, we have to make sure everyone understands what's happening. About Tyson, I mean, and then we can work on exploring our feelings.”
“Sounds about as good of a plan as any. I’ll talk with my parents too. They should know what's going on just as much as anyone else,” he said.
“I'm not sure who I should tell first. My parents or Lord Bolton.”
Ethan held one of her hands in both of his. “You'll want their support when you tell him. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'll need it. The guy sounds a little unbalanced.”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You're right. This feels too surreal!”
He laughed. “Tell me about it. What a crazy birthday vacation.” He almost asked her to pinch him, but he didn't want to risk waking up.