Your Little Secret (3 page)

Amber laughed and then grabbed the
iPhone from the side table, and quickly found his number, the phone sounding with each new option she clicked. Pushing the phone to her ear she looked at Ethan, holding his gaze as if it were her only lifeline, but as one ring turned into two then three she lost hope until she heard Connor’s voice. “Hey,” she whispered back, her shoulders sagging as she melted at the sound of Connor on the other end of the line, “Are you busy?”

Ethan motioned that he would be back. He didn’t want to hear her gush lovingly down the line at her man when he could only dream it was him she was speaking to, that it was him she missed profusely. He’d rather cut his losses and leave her to have this talk rather than stick around and torture himself more.

Amber heard Ethan slam the front door causing some of the house to shake and leaned back on her bed with a heavy sigh. "So are you settled?" she asked, feeling so uneasy.

"Uh, yeah babe.
Listen I can't really talk right now," he said with a clipped and harsh tone.

She sat up and sighed heavily. "I haven't spoken to you for days Connor. I miss you." She held a hand to her mouth as the last words were barely a whisper. "I'm cold without you."

"And me, you babe. Listen I'm at the office, I'll send some money your way when I get a chance, I can't talk much here. I'll text you okay? I miss you so much baby. It's not forever Amber, you know that, right?" Connor was prompted by the silence that fell between them. "Amber? You there?"

"Yeah, sorry.
No, I understand babe. I told you not to worry about sending me money. I'll be fine."

"I still have to care for you, Amber. You're still my life baby. Just you," Connor placated her, attempting to keep their relationship strong.

"It's so good to hear your voice, Connor. I want you. If you know what I mean," she said, biting down hard on her lip as she remembered the last time they slept together.

"Amber stop, I can't talk like that now," he said through a laugh. "I love you angel. I'll call you soon. I love you."

"I love you too, so much."

"Bye baby," he whispered, and the line went dead. She kept the handset to her ear just in case he hadn't gone yet, but the three beeps that sounded, proved otherwise. She heard the front door slam and she jumped in shock. She wasn't even dressed yet.

***

Ethan walked into the house he knew all too well and placed his bag of McDonald's on the kitchen worktop. He grabbed two plates from the cupboard and
unwrapped his double sausage and egg McMuffin. He tilted his head to the side, as he watched the tap above the kitchen sink drip slowly. He mentally told himself to fix that for Amber on his next day off and placed his muffin on a plate. 'Like a G6' was playing so loud, and the house shook slightly with every base tone. He rolled his eyes at Amber but knew exactly where she was - the shower. He grabbed the broom that sat in the kitchen and walked into the living room. He bashed the ceiling three times with the end of the broom.

"There
are neighbours y'know Amber!" He waited for an answer and bashed once more, but still got no answer. Sod it, if she was naked so be it. He marched up the stairs being careful to dodge the broken one and reminded himself to fix that too. Once he reached the bathroom door he bashed hard on it.

"Amber open this fucking door, girl!" Ethan screamed and he heard her turn the music down slightly.

"Better now, dick?" she shouted from the bathroom and he heard her turn off the shower.

"Don't get me wrong,
Ambi, I do love that song, but not at that level and having to tell you off like I'm your parent," he sighed, and watched as she opened the door and rushed past him in just her towel. He watched as her wet hair fell down her back and he had to mentally punish himself for staring.

"Um," he said stammering. "Your breakfast is here."

"Sausage, egg and cheese bagel?" she asked her head tilted to the side.

"Yep," he nodded back.

"With an extra -" She turned with an all knowing grin on her lips.

"With an extra hash brown, you forget how long I've known you, babe," he interrupted and watched her face light up.

"We'll talk about your chat when you come downstairs. Hurry up, I'm not waiting for you," he said, his blue eyes scanning hers. Closing her bedroom door behind him, he retreated back downstairs.

Feeling her stomach alert her to her hunger again, Amber
toweled most of the moisture from her body before grabbing her underwear. This time she took the safer option of just plain black knickers and a plain black bra. Who did she have to surprise now that Connor was gone? Trying to towel dry the majority of her hair, she quickly gave up and tied it into a loose bun before finding jeans and t-shirt. Doing so in such a rush, she tripped on the power cord for her phone sending it flying across the room and then stepped on the plug for her hair dryer.

Admitting defeat to the day being a success, she hurried downstairs and mastered the stairs without a trip or a stumble. She counted her lucky stars when she sat at the table, her breakfast out ready for her.

“Where’s my postcard?” Ethan quipped sarcastically as he finished his bite of his muffin. He watched her look at him suspiciously, not having a clue what he was talking about. “I heard you trip, I wanted to know where my postcard was?”

“You’re such a
weirdo,” she laughed him off and dropped her gaze onto her breakfast. Licking her lips she picked it up and took a bite, indulging on the taste of McDonalds and thought that maybe today could be saved after all.

“It’s going to rain later,” Ethan suddenly post up.

Okay, so today was a failure
, her mind mocked at her.
Time to go back to bed!

“But we can go to the cinema,” Ethan continued on, cutting up her thoughts. “I mean that Evil Dead remake’s out and I know how you like to curl up with me during a good horror.” He shot her a grin as she pondered the idea. “Or, we can get a film off the Sky Store, play monopoly, sit and twiddle our thumbs.” He sat waiting for a response, “You aren’t going back to that pit upstairs. I let you have four days, life continues.”

Amber groaned and stopped eating; apparently her appetite didn’t last long. “He shot me down,” it was all she said and she began to unravel, “He sounded, erm, distracted. He told me he was at the office, but I just feel something’s wrong. I swear I could hear a woman’s voice, but women work in offices too so I can’t go thinking the worst, can I?” she swallowed hard as she said that final piece, looking to Ethan with eyes wide and fearful. “He wouldn’t cheat on me just like that would he?”

Ethan felt caught in a chokehold. He could easily be the coward and say yes, then console the woman he loved so much, or he could simply ease her mind. He could give Connor the benefit of the doubt. After all, he wanted him to be the good guy because the idea of Amber being cheated on made Ethan feel physically sick.

Clearing his throat, Ethan decided to be the better guy here. He could beat down on Connor if he even so much as thought of doing the deed on Amber. “Ambi, he is just settling in. It’s a big change, going to London from here. I mean, he has to get into the swing of life and you did call him at like ten AM, it’s like morning rush at work at that time. He’ll call you back and everything will be fine. You’ll laugh at your attitude in a few days when you two are turning one another on over the phone.”

Immediately the heat rushed to her cheeks, her chest reddening with the embarrassment of having this chat with her best friend. “We’ll see if we reach that point, eh?” she then took another bite of her bagel and grabbed her coffee that Ethan had made her before she got downstairs. “I really could do with some Ben and Jerry’s and something like The Notebook to watch.”

“Oh no,” he defied her, putting his foot down, “I am not going through The Notebook again.”

“Scared you’ll cry again?” Amber teased him ruthlessly, grinning from ear to ear.

“No,” he told her, scared he’d lose more dignity by crying over a damn chick flick. “I don’t want to sit and hear you do the entire dialogue.
Again
.”

"Whatever,
Ethie baby, I love it," she teased and bent down to kiss his cheek. She gathered up their plates and wandered over to the kitchen.

He felt his hand come to touch where she had kissed but mentally blocked himself from acting like it was a little teenage crush. It was never a crush. He and Amber had known each other since school. Being best friends with a girl was hard, considering the amount of girls who wanted to go out with him in school. Suddenly Eva popped into his mind, and how he left her because she made him choose between her and his
Ambi. It was would always be Amber.

"So, are we going to the cinema then? It'll have to be Bradford or Leeds, Keighley picture house isn't the best around and it's only got one screen!" Amber laughed as she knocked the dishes around in the hot soapy water.

"Properly treating you today aren't I girl?" Ethan teased, scrolling through the TV channels until their favourite program came on.

"Is that Jeremy Kyle?" Amber squealed from the kitchen and came bouncing back into the living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa, her legs leant over his lap. It took every ounce of strength he had, to stop him from pulling her down and have her sit in his arms. He watched as she
propped her elbows on her knees and soft smiles appeared every time someone shouted at Jeremy.

"Oh DNA!
Ethie baby! D-N-A!" she turned to face him and smiled as his blue eyes lit up at her. He stroked her arm slightly and goose bumps appeared.
What the hell?
She thought to herself, curious as to why Ethan had an effect on her. She tried to shake it off but stood from where she was sat and moved to the opposite side of the sofa.

"What? Do I smell or something?" Ethan said as he worried for what she felt right now.

"No," she whispered tears building for no unknown reason. Damn Connor and his absence.

"Come sit with me,
Ambi. A cuddle could be just what you need," he put his arms out for her as he said those words.

She scooted over to his arms and he wrapped them firmly around her, her tiny frame fitting his body perfectly. He stroked her bare arm gently and she laid her hand on his thigh.

“See, I smell good,” he joked and placed a kiss onto her crown. “You know it might hurt now, but the distance will bring you closer together. All that crap about distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz. You’ll see that when you’re reunited, it’ll be like only last week you were curled up in bed together.”

“It was only last week,” she muttered miserably and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the TV. “Why do people make themselves so publicly ready for a hanging? I hate arguing in public let alone airing it to the country. Private lives should be kept exactly that – private. I mean really who wants to know this?”

“Us?” he asked grinning at her for his comment. “Come on,” Ethan chuckled putting his hand out to the TV that showed a toothless cretin shouting the odds that the adorable girl on the screen behind him wasn’t his. “You’ve got to be a special breed to be on Jeremy Kyle.”

And just like that, Amber forgot about her woes and just burst out laughing. Pushing up and off of him she looked at him, “Remember my cousin’s been on there. You’re insulting my family.”

“If I remember rightly she’s a distant cousin and, to be fair, she had slept with multiple men before getting up the duff,” Ethan stated facts earning him a smack in the face with one of the cushions. “Hey! I’ll make you pay for that one, Watson!” He yelped and reacted by pulling her under him, pinning her to the couch cushions. The moment he realised what he had done he felt the fever pitch ignite him. Their eyes staring at one another, their bodies radiating heat, their breathing matched with each new exhale. The temptation began to rumble up from within him. Did he go in for the kiss, or did he behave? Did he respect that his girl was taken for, or go in for the kill?

Before anymore unbidden thoughts could enter his mind she giggled profusely under him.

"What?" he asked humour dancing in his eyes.

"I am very weak in this position Ethan," she protested and began to blow on his face.

"Stop," he warned her and she giggled some more. He leant down to her ear and inhaled her as much as he could.

"Maybe I like you in this position," he whispered in her ear. She immediately stared back into his blue eyes, curious to why she just shuddered beneath him. This feeling overtook her, not purposely, but she couldn't deny the urge to kiss her best friend.

"Let me go," she whispered and he released her hands and she jumped to her feet. She ran upstairs and he heard the door to her bedroom slam. She couldn't help the overwhelming feeling towards Ethan, a feeling she had never experienced, especially just with him.

She jumped onto her bed and told herself over and over that this was because Connor was gone, and she needed to feel comforted. That comfort was not with Ethan, not with her best friend of over ten years. Yeah, he might be a walking Hollister model, but she couldn't ever go there. The tears were hot and heavy in her eyes and she dashed them away with the sleeve of her top and sniffed loudly. A light knock on the door distracted her and she leapt to her feet. Ethan opened the door slightly and sighed against the cold white wood.