Head Over Leather #Wattys2017

XXIII. Green with Envy

As I take a sip of my coffee, I can't help but let my mind wander back to what I almost said last night. I'm happy that I'm the first up, because I like having alone time in the mornings, but all these worries and thoughts were stressing me out. Sighing, I shake my head and pull out my laptop, opening up a few files relating to the newspaper for the December edition. If I'm honest with myself, I've kind of been neglecting my newspaper work ever since the whole Ethan fiasco.

"Morning lovebird." A voice sounds behind me and I turn on the stool to see Mia, dressed in an oversized plaid shirt and blonde hair tied into a messy bun that sits on top of her head.

"Hey. How are you?" I smile, quirking my eyebrow up at her attire. She sends me a glare, walking behind the counter and picking up the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup.

"Good. You?"

"Can I tell you something?" At my question, Mia leans forward on the counter and dramatically sips her coffee but motions her hand for me to speak. I take a deep breath in, fiddling with the handle on my cup and my gaze being occupied by the caramel colored liquid inside. Mia's face softens and she reaches her hand out, squeezing mine.

"I..I think I'm losing this game."

Mia stays silent for the longest time, icy blue eyes boring into me. She sets her cup down and circles around the island counter to stand beside me. In all the time that I've known Mia, she didn't show the slightest bit of affection to anyone, so when she wraps a comforting arm around my shoulder, I'm surprised.

"I think you both are." She whispers knowingly, but before I get the chance to question this, Ethan walks out of our bedroom, shutting the door behind him. God, how does he look that good when he wakes up? With his bed head, crinkly shirt and tiredness evident around his eyes, he still managed to look like a Greek god. I, on the other hand, resemble a badly grown potato.

"Morning." Ethan flashes me a lopsided grin as he strides over, before planting a kiss on my bare shoulder blade.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" I spin around on the still to face him and he leans forward, hands gripping the counter behind to cage me in.

"Amazing. You?"

"Perfect."

You know those moments in movies when the characters just stare into each other's eyes, grinning from ear to ear? That was probably what Ethan and I resembled right now. Our moment however is interrupted when Eva walks into the room, her black silk nightgown hanging loosely from her body and hair sitting messy on her shoulders. I can see Ethan's gaze shift off me to her and I can't deny the pang I feel in my chest.

"E, should I make your coffee with mine?" She asks, entering the kitchen and pointing to electric kettle rather than the pot of coffee I prepared for everyone. Ethan smiles and nods, moving away from me to take a seat. I don't even know how he takes his coffee.

"You remember huh?" Ethan chuckles, raising his eyebrows at Eva, who mimics his action, before pulling out two cups and a caramel instant coffee. She fills the kettle with water and proceeds to place it on its stand, before pressing the button for it to start boiling.

"Oh shut up. It wasn't so long ago that I dumped your sorry ass, so I still remember a few things." Eva smirks, placing his cup in front of him and scooping around six spoons of the powder into his cup. To my surprise, Ethan lets out a throaty laugh at Eva's comment as if she didn't shatter his heart into a million pieces a few months ago.

I can't help but watch at how easily they get along. She knows his deepest, darkest secrets and he knows hers. While Ethan classifies Derek as his best friend, I know Eva must've been one too. She knows how to make him laugh, how to hurt him, how to make his coffee, his orders at restaurants, his favorite tv shows, basically every freaking thing you could know about someone, she probably knows-

"Maya?" I snap out of my daze when I hear Mia call out my name. She stands with a hand on her hip and eyebrow raised expectantly, ready to leave the kitchen.

"Sorry, what?" I ask dumbfounded, wondering how long I had been obsessing over Eva and Ethan. As I glance over at them, his cup of coffee is made and set right in front of him as is hers. Wow, had I really been in my head that long?

"I said do you wanna go wake up Jess and Riles? Because there's something that needs to be discussed, isn't there?" I shoot her a fake smile and nod, slipping off the counter and heading towards the bedrooms with Mia. Before I walk further down the hallway, I glance over my shoulder once more, watching as Eva and Ethan engage in an animated conversation with lots of smiles and laughs and exaggerated hand movements. Shaking my head quickly to snap out of it, I turn around and continue down the hall. As I stop in front of Jess and Riley's room, I move to knock, but Mia stops me by taking hold of my wrist.

"Maya..."

"Don't. It was stupid of me to even think about catching feelings. I'm fine. It was just all the emotions last night and my gift, y'know I get really sentimental with stuff like that. Let's just forget it." I shrug tiredly and flash her a forced smile, before knocking on the door. Mia looks as if she wants to say something, but she closes her mouth when Riley opens the door with a bright smile and bright pink pajamas. Of course she radiates sunshine this early too.

Mia and I shuffle into the room and situate ourselves on Riley's bed, as Jess stretches, while yawning from hers. The girls begin to chatter away about breakfast and the presents and how great last night was, but all I can think about is how stupid I've been. Last night couldn't have meant anything because Ethan is still in love with Eva and it's all a game and in the end, the happy couple will be them. That's how it's mean to be. I'm only helping him out.

So why does it still hurt so much?

***
Ahh super angsty! Still shipping #ethaya? I want to say that I appreciate all you guys who have been readings and enjoying the story, it means a lot. 💓💓

Butttt I gotta prepare you for the upcoming chapters, because it is not smooth sailing for our ship #ethaya (I sound like a voice over on a tv show talking about the main couple lol).

So what do you guys think will happen? Is Ethan falling too or does he still want Eva? Will Eva be the cause of the rough waters ahead of perhaps another girl? Comment below!