Southpaw [Ethan Dolan au]

T H R E E

Ethan and Y/N's friendship only grew in the days that followed the night he walked her home.

It was not like they automatically became the best of friends though. Mainly, there was just less tension in the air now when she'd walk through the gym. If she caught Ethan's eye, she would smile and give him a tiny wave which he'd return in his own awkward 'hello' before Grayson would knock him over the head with a punch mitt and scold him for ogling at her instead of paying attention. If Ethan was taking a break at the bench, she would come and sit next to him while she went over yet another page of expenses that her father had disregarded. They wouldn't really talk that much, but rather, enjoy the comfortable silence which floated in the warmth they radiated towards each other. Ethan could be at the speed bag, and if she'd walk by, she'd tease him like she used to when they were still teenagers – warning him that his wrists looked a little stiff, or his rhythm was out of whack. And Ethan would just chuckle and shake his head while he continued to punch the bag.

At the other end of this conversation, Y/N would find herself giggling as she passed by, cheeks all red with her bottom lip tucked between her teeth to try and hide her smile. Once when she walked into the office, still smiling, her father sat staring at her, until she finally noticed, and the smile faded into confusion when she cocked her head.

"What?" she asked dumbly.

Paulie snorted, shaking his head and pointing the end of his pencil out the window toward the line of speed bags, "You two act like I'm blind."

Y/N stalled for a moment, eyes wide and lump in her throat because she thought he was about to piss all over her schoolgirl crush.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Pop" her lie came out rushed as she scrambled back to her tiny desk in the corner of his office and tried to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah, sure you don't..." Paulie trailed off, leaving it alone for now until the next moment would arise where his baby girl found herself weak in the knees for a kid he's been trying to fix for years.

Ethan found that with this brand-new friendship, he was having an easier time training. Of course, she was still a distraction – especially on the Wednesday when she came in with her makeup all done and this tight pencil skirt fitted around her waist for a job interview at the children's hospital; then he was tripping over his feet all over again, and almost drooling at the few times he watched her bend over to pick up a loose piece of paper, or to adjust the tights she was wearing. He'd never admit this out loud, but he thought about her in the shower that night; he dreamt of the way her body looked under all those tight clothes and he couldn't help but wrap his palm around himself and pretend it was her who was on her knees for him. He let the scalding hot water run over his face when he threw his head back and let her name tumble past his lips in the midst of a guttural moan.

He couldn't even look at her the next day without feeling his dick move beneath his sweats, and he'd rushed home to do the same thing all over again – this time, picturing how pretty she'd look on top of him with the smell of roses swirling through the air.

While Ethan was struggling to keep himself flaccid for more than five seconds when he'd catch her eye, Y/N wasn't doing any better - especially when her dad decided to crank the heat in the gym to get the sweat dripping off all these sculpted bodies, including Ethan who was walking around shirtless for most of the Thursday, his hair pushed back by a bandana, and making Y/N squirm in her seat every time he pulled his arm back to jab at the punch mits Grayson was holding out for him. It was insanely hypnotic to watch the way the muscles in his back rippled like waves. He had these broad shoulders that she just wanted to dance her fingers across, dig into the skin until crescent imprints littered his body with her personal mark. If he were hers, she'd make it her mission to mark his body in a way that showed everyone that he was only for her. At night, she imagines how different her lips would feel on his chest, or kissing down the valley towards the waistband of his shorts, after four years of extensive lifting and training that left his body almost perfect.