Summer [Completed]

Chapter Thirty-Five

┕━━━━╗✹╔━━━━┙
The L word
┍━━━━╝✹╚━━━━┑

love

noun

"Love is a short word.

Easy to spell, hard to define, impossible to live without."

╝✹╚

Imani POV

"Let's do it today." I suggest, falling back into Ethan's plush beanbag chair.

Ethan lies on his back, legs dangling off the bed as he tosses a plastic ball repeatedly in the air. "Nah, it's too soon."

Leaning back, I stare at the ceiling. "Ethan, come on." I groan. "It's been a week since we got back together and I can't even tell her about how happy I am without lying. You do realize how screwed up that is right?"

"Yeah," Ethan laughs, "almost as screwed up as everything's gonna be when we finally tell her."

I sit up, watching him as he tosses his ball in the air nonchalantly. "Aren't you tired of lying though?"

"Technically we're not lying."

I cross my arms. "It sure doesn't feel far from it..."

"And could you stop throwing that damn ball and focus? This is important!" I snap and Ethan sits up to face me.

"Fine! Fine!" He throws the ball into the plastic hoop on his door and it rolls across the carpet and under his bed. "It's gone. Happy now?"

I frown. "I don't need your sarcasm."

Ethan scoffs, "Wha- Imani I'm not being sarcastic! You're really trippin right now."

I cross my legs and press my lips into a firm line as I stare at the wall unamused.

"Imani."

I ignore him.

He sighs, walking over to me, but I don't budge. I simply turn my nose up and look off.

He squats down to my level, placing a hand on my knee. "We'll tell her."

"When?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Soon." He says, breaking eye contact. "Just not now..."

"The longer we wait, the worse it's gonna be."

"Don't you think I know that?" He snaps frustratedly.

I tilt my head and stare at him pointedly.

He runs a hand over his face and sighs. "I'm sorry. It's just...If we tell her, we risk losing everything we've built together."

"What good is what we've built if it's based upon secrets and lies?" I stand, pacing the floor in angst.

Ethan stops me, grabbing my hands. "The way I feel about you is not a lie. When I'm with you, you're all that matters to me. Why is that not enough for you?

It is for me."

I pull him closer to me. "But don't you want more?"

He brings our laced fingers up to eye level. "This is all I need."