wicked games // ethan cutkosky

VII

i woke up to valerie's fluffy white cat brushing her tail against my face, making me sneeze. i looked over at vals old-fashioned alarm clock, it read 12:04 pm.

i pulled the covers off of me and walked to the kitchen, helping myself to what was in her pantry. i poured a bowl of mini wheats as vals cat followed me, purring against my leg. i picked her up and stroked her as i heard a distant yawn and turned my head to see valerie stretching in the doorway in her light blue pajamas with little white clouds littered across them.

"how'd you sleep?" i asked with my mouth full. "like a baby," she said, smiling with her eyes closed. she grabbed the box of cereal i didn't bother to put away and poured a bowl.

i put my dish in the sink and flopped down on her couch, wrapping myself in a cheetah printed blanket. "jaden texted, he wants to know if we wanna hang later. he's with ethan." my heart fluttered at the sound of his name. i looked over at val who was sitting on the countertop, legs crossed, locked in on her phone. "sounds good, should we get lola?" not taking her eyes off her phone, she replied, "uh yeah, carter should be coming later."

she got up and put her phone between her hip and the waistband of her sweatpants. she took the remote from the recliner and tossed it to me. "find a good movie, im gonna jump in the shower," she said, turning on her heel and walking towards the bathroom.

i surfed through netflix, not seeing anything i liked, when i was interrupted by my text tone, which vibrated my thigh. i smiled before even checking who it was because i already knew.

"still at the wedding?" ethan texted. i looked at my phone with a confused look. "no, we got home last night, why?" i waited a few seconds until 3 dots appeared on my screen. "well you said you'd text me when it was over so i figured you were still there." i bit my lip and waited a minute to reply. "sorry boo :( i passed out right when i got back to vals."

i noticed ethan stayed in the chat because it said 'read 12:09' the second it sent. "no worries, coming over later?" i sat up on the couch, repositioning myself. "yeah of course," i sent him. "good, i miss you." my face got hot as i felt my lips curl into a smile. before i could answer, he double texted. "can't wait to see you tonight." a blanket of confidence covered my body. i felt like i was on cloud nine.

i replied, telling him i missed him too and shut off my phone. i held it to my chest and smiled at the ceiling. it felt good to be happy again.

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"can you just throw something on so we can go? jesus val, we're gonna have gray hair by the time we get there," i said, teasing her. "it takes time to look this good!" she replied, motioning her hands from her head to her feet. i rolled my eyes but eventually cracked a smile, leaving us both laughing. "whatever, i just wanna leave. i've been ready for hours val! we still have to get lola on the way too," i reminded her.

not even acknowledging what i said, she put a dress to her body and inspected it from every angle. she turned to me, eyebrows raised. "yes! super cute now let's go." she widened her eyes dramatically. "o-kay ms. impatient, geez. someone can't wait to get some ethan dick tonight can they?" she laughed and dropped her sweatpants, slipping on her black halter dress and pairing it with a dark denim jacket.

i threw a shirt at her from across the room. "shut up!" i said, barely laughing. "you know i'm waiting," i quietly said, not making eye contact. "you like him don't you?" she asked, tying the high top converse on her feet.

i looked at her annoyed. "of course i like him," i told her, "i just don't know if i wanna lose my virginity to him. maybe to you it isn't, but to me it's a big deal. it's meaningful."