Mismatched Compatibility (21)

SUNDAY

Ethan:

I haven't had a proper sleep since Daniella came into my life, which was about two days ago. I just couldn't stop thinking about her.

Shit, that sounded so fucking whipped.

I sighed and got out of the shower. I dressed in a plain white shirt and cargo shorts. I nodded to myself when I looked in the mirror. When I got out of the bathroom, I started packing some clothes in my gym bag for later.

Walking towards my window, I heard my mom's voice from down on the pool side. I wondered if I should come out clean with her about this whole fake relationship I had with Daniella. It wasn't like we made a public announcement. In fact, I bet only the old people who hung out at the clubhouse knew about it.

“Ah, fuck it,” I muttered, turning around and headed out the door.

I left my room, walked down the stairs, and went straight outside to the pool. There I saw my mom talking on her phone as she sat on one of the lounge chairs. She looked like she was ready for a day in the sun.

“Mornin',” I greeted casually as I sat beside her.

She stared at me for a moment through her sunglasses, obviously surprised for some reason. When she recovered, she said on the phone, “Hold on for a moment, Rose. I'll call you back.” She hung up, then faced me. “Good morning, darling.”

Right. I don't usually greet them in the morning. Oh, well.

“Your father and I will be attending an event in the city tonight,” she informed me a-matter-of-factly. “We won't be home till past midnight at the least.”

This wasn't news to me. So I shrugged.

“Whatever.”

“What matter did you come to talk about?” she asked, before taking a sip from her glass of juice.

I eyed her. “How'd you know?”

“Give me credit,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I'm your mother.”

I just snorted.

“And of course, you never bother to actually sit with me in the morning.”

I smirked at that.

“I'm waiting, Ethan Xavier.”

Damn it.

“Dana's not really my girlfriend,” I finally admitted.

She didn't speak for a couple of seconds. Then, she sighed and looked away.

“I knew it.”

I stared at her. “You knew?”

“I had a hunch.”

I waited for the interrogation. But it didn't come.

“Aren't you gonna ask what happened?”

She gracefully shook her head. “Spare me the details please.”

I sighed in relief. I didn't like explaining.

“But you know, I honestly thought you kids would go with it until Daniella has to go back to the city.” She faced me again. “What brought this sudden honesty?”

I leaned my back on the chair and wandered my eyes to the pool.

“I just thought you should know before you started making wedding plans,” I replied indifferently.

I felt my mom's eyes on me, but I pretended not to care.

“You like her,” she stated in a whisper, almost in disbelief.

My head turned so fast I got a little dizzy.

“Good,” my mother nodded. “There's hope for you, after all.”

“What makes you think I like her?”

Am I that transparent nowadays?

She laughed softly. “Darling, if you didn't, you would've cursed in rampage at me for even just thinking it.”

I considered it. “Yeah,” I sighed, rubbing my face with my hand.

My eyes went back to the pool, thinking about what would happen if she went back to the city. How would I get to see her then? Would we even be able to keep in touch after this? I haven't even added her on facebook yet.

I shook my head, not wanting to think shit about tomorrow. I'd think about today. I'd focus on what was happening right now.

So I looked back at my mother, and saw that she was quietly watching me the whole time.

“Yeah, Mom,” I told her, nodding like I understood what she was feeling. “I'm the perfection you and Dad created. You should be proud.”

The corner of her lips curled up into a small smile.

“You inherited your father's ego.”

“I'm just aware,” I grinned.

She scoffed. “Well, I hope you're also aware how amazing that girl is and not be blinded by all those pointless and repulsive free pvssies you –”

“Holy shit, Mom,” I laughed in disbelief, my eyes wide. “You just said –”

“DON'T repeat it,” she warned coldly.

I continued to laugh my ass off. I couldn't believe what just came out of my mom's high-class mouth. This was definitely a moment to remember.

“You don't just like her, do you?”

I instantly stopped laughing.

“No, you're infatuated with the girl,” she murmured, awestruck.

If it wasn't a serious matter, I would've taken out my phone and took a picture of her expression right now.

I know where my mother's getting at. It's the stage, see. First is crush. Next is liking someone. Then, infatuation. The final is being in love.

Suddenly, I didn't like the conversation anymore.

“I'll bounce,” I declared, standing up to leave.

It was my mom's turn to laugh.

“Oh, darling,” I heard her say behind me.

“Bye, Mom.”

I didn't bother turning around. I didn't trust myself. I might say something that would just fucking embarrass me more.

Without meaning to, my feet took me to Daniella's room. Whatever. Might as well tell her about my plans for today.

Knock! Knock!

She was probably already awake because it didn't take her long opening the door. I told myself that I'd be on my best behavior. But damn, answering the door looking like a freaking lingerie model ain't helping at all in keeping me a good boy.

Well, yeah. She had her robes on, but her curly blonde hair was in that effortless bed hair that left me imagining if it also looked like that after sex.

I'm screwed.

“What is nice girl like you doing in a dirty mind like mine?” I said in a low voice, smiling crookedly.

Daniella let out a laugh. “Good morning to you, too.” She flashed me her shining smile that for some reason affected me now.

I cleared my throat. “The weather's nice, huh?”

The hell? I'm talking about the fucking weather! What happened to being smooth?

“Yes, I think so,” she agreed, glancing at the window.

This girl messed up my game already, and she didn't even know it.

“Dress up,” I told her. “We're going to the beach.”

“Really?” she asked, her eyes full of excitement.

Hell yeah. I want to you in a bikini.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It's two hours away, though. So we need to get moving.”

“Okay,” she said, looking around her things. “Give me fifteen minutes to get ready,” she added, already gathering her stuff.

“Aight.”

“Will Alyson and Luke bring their dog?”

I cocked my head. “No, they're not coming.”

She stopped and looked at me.

A slow smirk made its way to my face.

“It's just us, babe.”

She blinked. “Oh.”

“It's a private beach, too.”

I stared at her, waiting for her to recover from her shocked expression. When she did, her usual uppity aura surrounded her.

“You better be good at swimming, then,” she said, “because I'm nowhere near a life guard.”

That was one of the things I liked about her. She didn't give in easily. She liked being challenged. And at the same time, she was a challenge herself.

“I'm sure you know enough CPR to save me,” I winked.

“If you keep flirting with me,” she started, with a hand on her hip, “I'll never get ready in time.”

I chuckled. “Stop pretending you don't like it.”

“Who said I don't like it?” asked Daniella innocently.

My smirk grew wider, while a smile was daring to show on her mouth. Glad that I wasn't the only one who was getting affected.

I nodded towards her bag, and said, “Hurry up. I'll wait outside at the car.” With that, I turned to leave.

“No comeback?” I heard her say in disbelief. “That's a first.”

I ignored her and continued walking.

If I didn't get out of that bedroom soon enough, I might sprawl her on the bed and then we wouldn't be able to leave at all. She caught me off guard that I wasn't able to flirt full on. I didn't even get to touch her and get her worked up.

Damn, I need to get my game back on.

_____________

I honestly wanted to put more touchy teasing. But for some reason, Ethan's stopping me. It's like, he wasn't in the mood to tease her much. Do I sense a change in our resident bad boy? :O