adrenaline | ethma

Twelve

Ethan's POV

We landed in New York, and once we got our luggage, Emma was clinging on to my arm like no tomorrow.

She was nervous.

So, I stopped, and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hey, why are you nervous, Nina?"

"I'm just nervous about what people are going to think when they see us together. Magazine articles are probably gonna be out soon. There already was one about us being friends."

"Emma, we're gonna be fine. Just say we're hanging out for now."

"What if someone asks if I'm single? Do I lie to them?"

"You say that you have your eye on someone. If they ask you who, say someone that is very close to your family."

"Okay. We got this." She said. "We can just act like this is all business stuff for Signature."

"Right." I said as she let go of my arm.

We rented a car, and took it to Brooklyn where our air bnb was.

Luckily none of my meetings were until tomorrow, so we had the rest of the day to just relax.

Once we got inside of our rented apartment for the two weeks, I found the bedroom and set our stuff in there.

Emma laid face down on the bed, so I sat next to her and started giving her a back massage. She was tense due to being nervous about us in the public eye, so I was working knots out of her shoulders and upper back.

"We're gonna have a nice, relaxing night tonight, okay, Cara?"

"Mmmmmm." She responded.

I continued working her back and shoulders until I got all of the tension out, and then I leaned down and softly pressed my lips to her warm neck.

"All better, Cara?" I asked.

"So much better. Thank you." She said, rolling over to lay on her back.

I cupped her cheek with my hand, stroking my thumb back and forth. "You're welcome, bambina."

That's one of the only one she knows because my family used to call her that all the time when we were little. It means 'baby'.

She took my hand in hers and kissed my palm before opening her arms.

"Come here. Love me."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her waist before I leaned my head onto her chest.

"Emma, you're my favorite."

She scoffed. "Better be your favorite."

"My family is going to be so happy that you and I are finally together, Nina. And they're going to see how beautiful and grown up you are."

"Maybe I can get Cam to tell me what all of your nicknames mean."

"If you really wanna know so badly I'll tell you, but I wanted to tell you in more special occasions."

"Just tell me what Nina means."

"Nina means sweet girl."

"Awe. That's cute."

"You're cute, Nina." I said, smiling at her. Her blue eyes shining at me like ocean waves in the sunshine.