Kissing Mr. Bradley

Chapter 29

I woke up, rubbing my eyes from the blinding light peeking through the opened curtains. Ethan was standing there with his cup of coffee, staring back at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked tiredly, still feeling the high from the night before.

"Admiring the view," he replied. "You look beautiful in your natural state."

I laid my head back down on the pillow, my naked body twisted in his sheets and my hair with a mind of its own covering my eyes.

"What was that all about?" I asked, still thinking about the night before. "It felt different."

He took a long sip from his mug. "What do you mean by different?"

"It was just sex, right?" I asked him. "Nothing more."

"Yeah, sure," he replied. "What more did you think it was?"

Love, I thought.

I didn't think it would bother me that Ethan hadn't said those three little words to me yet. Even after I said it to him twice.

"You said something to me last night," I continued. "Right before you fell asleep in my arms."

"Hm," he thought. "Can you recall what it was?"

"It's easy with you," I said, repeating his own words that stayed stuck in my head throughout the night. "What did you mean by that?"

He couldn't recall saying those words to me.

"I don't remember saying that," he laughed.

"Really?"

"I was out of it," he said. "The sex was so good I honestly don't even remember saying anything before falling asleep."

"But you did!" I exclaimed, tossing a pillow at him. "I heard you, Ethan."

"Can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?"

I nodded again. "Yes," I replied. "It was one of the best nights I've had in a very long time."

"That's great," he said. "That's all that should matter."

That was the end of the conversation but I couldn't shake away the feeling of unfinished business with him.

"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked, getting back into professional mode.

"Breakfast," he said with a morning kiss on my forehead before heading downstairs, sending a wave of confusion through me while I tried to organize my own feelings about him. I knew that I was falling hard for him. It was a feeling that was new to me. I had never told anyone those three little words. Ethan was the first and I was in the dark about how he felt about me. Did he love me or was I simply the one that made life easier for him?

I turned on the TV, flipping through channels until I landed on a made for TV movie. It was a classic romance film from the thirties.

Ethan came back holding two plates of toast and eggs.

He took the remote and flipped the TV to the morning news.

As soon as I read the breaking news headline, my stomach dropped and my appetite was lost.

I looked over at Ethan who had nearly dropped the plate of food. I grabbed his plate and set it down on the nightstand.

His face fell to a solemn expression as he slowly sat at the edge of the bed, his hand covering his mouth as he stared unblinkingly at the TV.