Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Forty-two

Ignoring the laughter and chatter in the locker room around me, a thought came to mind. "You know what, I think I'm going to start dating other girls," I announced abruptly as I finished tying up my trainers.

Lucas who had been taking a swig of water on the changing bench in front of me locked eyes with me and then immediately started choking.

He spat out his water and started coughing rapidly, his eyes burning red. I swore, and immediately rushed to help him and started slapping him on the back. "Easy, calm down," I said slowly, my hand slapping harder on each word.

Lucas snapped his head towards me, his eyes radiating wide. "Calm down?" he laughed. "You're telling me to calm down after what you just said? Are you serious?"

I blinked back at him, my eyes flickering up and down him in confusion. "Yeah, what was wrong with what I said?"

Lucas's brows crinkled harder, and his eyes searched mine in the way you would a crazy person. "I don't know, perhaps the fact what you said was insane? What the fuck do you mean, date other girls?"

I shrugged, neutralizing my expression, in the hopes of giving nothing away. Then returning to my place on the bench, I sat down. "I don't know, I was just thinking since you asked May to be your girlfriend yesterday and everything, that I should probably start seeing someone too."

Even as the words left my mouth, they sounded ridiculous, and I hated that I thought they sounded ridiculous.

Lucas screwed the cap onto his bottle before his brow slowly raised into an arch, a slightly sassy one that was accompanied by the taunting twitch of his mouth. He wanted to laugh; I could see it in his eyes.

"You seriously think you're capable of dating someone right now who isn't Mia? " he asked slowly.

A muscle in my jaw tightened, and I frowned, annoyed. "Yes, why wouldn't I be. Mia and I were never dating in the first place, and I told you I was over her, Lucas. I'm capable of liking other people."

The words left my lips fast, and perhaps a little too defensively. The mocking part of my brain intercepted my words by presenting me with memories of Mia and her smile and those damn fucking distracting brown eyes and-

Damn, it! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

I managed to find myself even angrier at myself, than before.

Lucas' eyes gleamed and he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. "Okay, Mr. Casanova, since you like so many girls, let's hear them then. Name some."

His eyes had a knowing shine to them that pissed me off. I stared at him for quite some time, my mind working hard to conjure up some kind of name. Any name. Anything that could make me sound convincing.

"April," I finally blurted out, vaguely remembering her from a party. I didn't like her that way, not at all, but her name was brought up enough times by my friends for me to know she'd be a convincing answer.

Lucas let out a snort, now visibly starting to chuckle. "You mean the girl you told me a couple of weeks ago annoys you? The one that you said stared at you creepily. The one who-"

"Okay, okay," I said, cutting him off, knowing he'd clearly caught me out. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I might not like someone right now, but that doesn't mean I won't with effort and time," I argued back.

"Hmm," Lucas mumbled. Leaning back on the bench, he watched me with a planning kind of expression. An expression that told me he was up to something. Something, knowing him that was going to be stupid.

"That's interesting...," he continued. "So, you're telling me you wouldn't mind if Mia started seeing other people too?" Lucas asked, his lip twitching upward.