player | e.d

eight

trinity west

my eyes flutter open and my eyebrows furrow when i look at my surroundings. i was in the back of my car, with no clothes on and to make things even worse, i had a killer headache.

i quickly slide on my underwear and my pants, deciding to just put on my bra and get out of the car.

i step out of the car, putting my hand on the top of my head, in a way to make my headache ease, but of course it didn't work. i spot ethan sitting down on the grass, looking out at the city.

i walk over to him and his head snaps in my direction. his eyes travel down to my chest then back up to my face. "hey." he mumbles and i sigh, "hi."

"what happened last night?" i ask as i plant myself next to him. he doesn't respond so i'm quick to assume that we did something that i'll regret. "did we uh-" he nods his head and a ting of sadness washes over me.

"oh." i murmur, looking away from ethan and swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. this was awkward. now the second time i've given myself to him so easily.

"i'm sorry, trinity. i should've stopped you, i shouldn't have taken advantage of you when you were drunk." he apologized and i'm surprised by how sincere it is. i turn my head to look at him. "you're a good guy, ethan. not many guys would apologize for that."

he gives me a weak smile. "well you're different than the rest of the girls i've been with." it goes quiet, none of us daring to say anything. "you've gotta stop doing that." i finally say.

"doing what?" ethan's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "saying things that make me want to kiss you."

he just smirks as he glances over at me. "what's stopping you?" he whispers in a husky voice. i bite my lip and smile, looking away from him.

next thing i know, i'm pulled into his arms and he's planting soft, warm kisses on my neck, making me giggle due to being ticklish there.

he keeps kissing my neck, just to hear me laugh. i push his head away, still laughing. he smiles at me and i smile back, my laughter eventually stopped.

his smile falters and he clears his throat. "you're beautiful, t." my eyes travel down to my nails as i pick at them, ignoring the butterflies that just swarmed into my stomach.

"thank you." i say, almost inaudible. ethan puts his hand under my chin, lifting my head up so i'm forced to look at him. "hey, what's wrong?"

"nothing, it's just you caught me off guard when you said that." i laugh, trying to cheer up the conversation. "has no one ever called you beautiful before?" i shake my head, "no, people have."

"well then i don't see as to why i caught you off guard." he snickers and i wrap my arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his soft lips.
-
"thank you for driving me home." i smile at ethan and he smiles cheekily, "anytime, t." i go to turn away but i had this feeling that i was forgetting something.

"am i forgetting something?" i ask ethan and a sly smirk stretches onto his face. "yeah, a kiss." i shake my head and lean into the car to give ethan a quick kiss.

"also, you're forgetting your shirt." his eyes leave mine to look down at my chest. i push his head away playfully and duck out of the car, opening the back door and grabbing my shirt, quickly putting it on.

"goodbye, dolan." i wave my fingers at him. "goodbye, west." he says back and i bite my lip and lean in to kiss him one last time, never getting enough of how perfectly his lips molded into mine.

"okay, seriously, bye now." i giggle and walk up the path towards my front door. i watch as ethan leaves and my smile drops as soon as his car is out of sight.

i pull out my phone and call sierra while i walk inside. the phone rings a few times before she picks up.

"hey, best friend! what's up?" she says too over-excitedly. "hey, can you come over? i want to talk to you." "yeah, i'll be over in a bit." she says. "okay, bye." she says bye and i hang up, throwing my phone on the couch and plopping down on it.

i sigh and place my hand on my forehead, regretting everything that's happened between ethan and i so far.

minutes later, i hear a knock on my front door. i quickly jump up and open the front door, seeing, not sierra, but ethan. he was standing there with a frown on his face and he was playing around with his fingers.

"ethan? hey, hi, what are you doing here?" i stutter and he gives me a weak smile, asking if he could come in. i nod my head, stepping aside to let him in. "what's going on?" i ask once he comes in and i close the door behind him.

"i just need to be with someone right now." he says so quietly, i could hardly hear what he had said. "hey, ethan. you can talk to me, you know?" i say as i grab his hands, rubbing comforting circles on the back of his hands.

"let's go up to my room and talk?" i suggest and he simply nods, following me upstairs to my room. i gently shut the door behind me and sit on my bed, gesturing for ethan to do the same.

"i'm scared, t." his bottom lip quivers, but he quickly covers it up by placing his hand over his mouth in a casual manner. "why? what happened?" he sighs and buries his face in his hands.

"remember the guitar you saw in my room? and how i told you i wasn't interested in playing anymore; that's why i stopped?" he avoids eye contact with me the whole time. "yeah, yeah i remember. what about it?" i inquire and he lets out a huff.

"i lied. the real reason i stopped playing is because we found out my dad had cancer. i was so worried about my dad i couldn't focus on anything else other than what would happen in the future. i dropped i cared about. he was getting better, the doctors said he was going to be okay." he pauses, sucking in a breath of air.

"apparently while we were gone yesterday, they took my dad to the hospital because gray found him unconscious on the bathroom floor when he got home. he, uh, he's okay but the doctors say his cancer worsened and he doesn't have long to live."

my heart shattered right then and there for this boy. "oh, e. come here." i pull him into my embrace and i almost immediately hear him sobbing into my shirt. "there's so many things i haven't gotten to tell him. if he dies i don't know how i'll be able to live with myself for not spending more time with him." he sobs as he holds onto my shirt, his knuckles going white from how tight his grip was.

"hey, it's okay to be scared. but you have to get out there and open up to your dad. tell him how much you love him. enjoy every living moment with him, that's all that matters now."

i hear a faint knock at the door, but i knew it was sierra so i left it alone. ethan was more important at this moment. he was going to lose his father.
➖
hi, it's been a fat minute since i updated this book.