2 | Exposed ( ETHAN DOLAN )

TEN

E X P O S E D
C H A P T E R  T E N

WHEN Ethan, Grayson and Andrea returned to the apartment, Grayson had cooked dinner. It was a delicious chicken dish that Andrea couldn't remember the name of, or what it contained, but it didn't matter. Andrea felt as if she'd be full for the rest of her life.

She had thrown herself on the couch of the twins' living room, a hand on her belly as she shut her eyes and prepared to nap.

Ethan and Grayson were in Grayson's bedroom having a 'bro-to-bro' chat, as they had described it to Andrea, quite obviously hinting that they wanted her to leave them alone for a while.

Grayson had been strangely tense since Ethan and Andrea had announced their trip to San Francisco at dinner, not joining in as the pair shared their excitement. It was odd– Grayson constantly stressed that he would always be on Ethan's side when it came to him dating someone. He always had been, thus far, so the question of what made this time different bothered Ethan quite a lot. The only reasonable explanations were ones that he didn't like to think were true.

"You're going to San Fran with Andrea, huh?"

Ethan nodded his head, a smile rising to his face at the thought. He had already bought his plane ticket, and all that was left for him to do was wait until two days passed. "Yup."

"For how long?"

"Two weeks."

"Don't you think you're going a little too fast? I mean, meeting her parents already?"

"No, we're not– we're not that serious. We're just going as friends," Ethan explained, running a hand through his hair as if it would hide the red colour his face had become.

"Oh, that makes sense. But you like her, right? You wanna be serious with her?"

"I mean. . ." Ethan shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to say. He hadn't really thought about it. Andrea was the most beautiful girl in the world. She meant incredible amounts to Ethan, and he never really realised it until then. So perhaps he did have feelings for her, but he'd never admit it. "She's pretty cool."

"That doesn't sound like a yes. . ."

"Well, it's not a no either. Why does it matter to you anyway, huh?" Ethan exclaimed, his brother taken slightly aback by his sudden outburst.

Grayson's eyes widened. "I was thinking of taking her out somewhere, just me and her, so I can get to know her. You're my twin brother, Eth, I just wanna make sure she's not gonna hurt you, jeez."

"I know her well enough to know that she's not gonna hurt me, bro, but it doesn't matter. It's not like she's my girl or anything anyway, right? Is that what you wanna hear?"

There was hesitation in Ethan's voice, a strange edge and doubt to his tone that he failed to hide. He was confused by all of this. Questions raced through his head so quickly he could hardly focus on what he was confused about.

Grayson tried not to grin at his brother's words. It made Ethan frown, Grayson's grinning, and all of a sudden he wanted to take back everything had just said.

"So, you're completely okay with me hanging out with her? Just me? And her?"

No. He hated the concept. "Sure," Ethan said, his voice low and uneasy.

He couldn't bring himself to say no despite how much he wanted to tell Grayson to leave Andrea alone, to not even look or think about her, but this was his twin brother, whom he trusted with his life. If he could be trusted with his life, he could be trusted with a girl, no matter how bad the feeling in Ethan's gut was.

"Good to know."