I feel my lips tremble against his and I narrow my eyes as I think about what I just did.
I hurry to detach my lips from his after a couple of seconds, moving away from his mouth that wraps mine perfectly, as if his lips were made for kissing mine.
Instead of rejecting me badly he lets me do it, as I return to my height and find the courage to give him a quick glance, catching him staring at my half-open mouth.
I return to look at the ground, frightened by his possible reaction in front of my father, but when I realize that he is not saying anything I take a step forward and stand beside him, reaching out to his hand to cross our fingers.
He jerks his eyes down at our intertwined hands, even though his palm remains open and my fingers are so small in comparison to his that I can't tighten his grip.
Out of the corner of my eye I see him glance over and over from our hands to my face, in search of my eyes, but I'm cursing myself so much right now and I'm so embarrassed that I could never stand his expression.
Maybe he is angry about my gesture, since I annoy him and he doesn't like me very much, this seems clear to me, but I take advantage of the fact that he is breathing hard to concentrate on the figure of my father.
As soon as I meet his eyes, I notice that he is not as angry as I would have expected, on the contrary, his frown makes me understand that he is more confused than pissed.
I swallow the lump in my throat when I see him raise a hand, bringing it to the height of his chin to stroke his beard.
He's thinking.
We are both thinking about the same thing, we understand each other with our eyes, even if we are completely different:
"Does he know?" - he runs his hand over his face, sighing as he glances quickly at my hand attached to Ethan's.
If only Ethan wasn't there ... Now I wouldn't be in this situation and he wouldn't have to pretend for me, even though I know he's up to something mentally now.
"He knows." - I repeat my father's words, shamelessly lying to him and taking advantage of the fact that he does not explicitly mention it.
I breathe a sigh of relief as he nods to my statement, then turns his back and walks towards the half-set table.
Before he knows it, I try to pull my hand away from Ethan's with the intention of avoiding him and pretending that nothing has happened, but he doesn't give me time to do that and hurries to tighten his grip around my hand, looking up the bass in my direction:
"What should I know?" - he sighs on my curls, while I keep my eyes turned to his shoes, then pass my tongue between my lips and decide to speak:
"Nothing that concerns you." - I try to use a tone as cold as possible, but my voice is so low that I'm not sure he heard me.
"It concerns me, anyway..." - I raise my eyes in his direction, at the exact moment when he turns his head towards my father, and then return his gaze to mine, making me understand what he means and threatening me two centimeters from mine face: "... sweetheart." - he adds in a higher tone to be heard by my father and, without giving me time to insult him or raise my knee to hit him and make him become sterile, he leaves me breathless when he grabs my chin to lift it up, and then put his lips on mine again, sucking my mouth with so much desire and passion, that my father clears his throat.
I drop my head instantly, detaching myself from his mouth and refraining from slapping him in the face, then walking away from his body and heading towards the kitchen, after realizing that my father is not going to go.
I shouldn't have done it, damn it!
I knew Ethan would take advantage of it, I knew it!
But I couldn't even tell my dad that I accepted two men as roommates. He'd kill me if he knew the truth and I know him enough to know he wouldn't leave me alone until I kick them both out.
But I don't know if it would be worse to face my father or to put up with Ethan for the rest of the days I have to live with him.
"And you are... ?" - my father's voice is fortunately calm, but his inquiring tone worries me, fearing Ethan's reaction.
They are both two assholes who do not let themselves be dominated by anyone.
"Let's start with you." - I wrinkle my nose and prepare for the worst when Ethan challenges him, while the noise of the chair makes me understand that he too takes his place around the table.
"What?" - for the first time my father is blown away, so I hurry to prepare the dishes to interrupt them:
"Your daughter never told me about you." - Ethan sighs, making me want to throw him a plate on the fly to hurt him and shut him up.
"And I don't like a man entering his house like that." - he continues to speak in an authoritative way and I don't understand why my father hasn't already thrown him out badly.
«But I'm her father.» - he points to me with his thumb when I approach the table, stammering in amazement.
I glare at Ethan, who ignores my presence on purpose, then, as soon as I finish setting the table, I take a seat next to him to check him closely, although I fear it will not be possible.
In fact, as soon as I take a seat on the chair next to him, not only he doesn't stop talking, but he takes the opportunity to stretch his arm towards the back of my chair, surrounding my shoulders, while his fingers end up between my curls and begin to caress the back of my head.
I grit my teeth at his gesture and try to get used to his hand between my tufts, instead of slapping his arm to push it away, and I struggle to admit it, but after a while the slow movements of his fingers relax me, making me notice how sweet his gesture is.
When Ethan shrugs, my dad gives me a quick glance, to which I answer by raising my chin: after all he has always acted as if I were a five year old and never treated me like a grown woman.
His way of suddenly showing up just to surprise me and control me wasn't nice at all and I don't mind that Ethan is treating him like shit, even though I have to change my expression when he makes an annoyed grimace:
"Listen ..." - he raises his voice, turning to the man by my side and already making me understand that there will be no a good relationship between the two:
"I tolerated you enough." - he clenches the fingers of the hand on the table in a fist, throwing a murderous look at Ethan, who does not flinch at his attitude, as if expecting such a reaction from him.
"Who are you and what do you want from my daughter?" - he dwells on the words in a way I've never seen him do before.
I close my eyes as my dad's pupils widen and his new expression starts to scare me, as if I don't know this part of him, but I return to reality when Ethan stops fiddling with my long curls, catching my attention.
I flinch when I look at his figure, being struck by the way he returns my father's glance.
I lose myself in staring at his sculpted and breathtaking profile, but at the same time threatening, so much that I hold my breath and I don't know whether to be more afraid of him or of the man who raised me and who doesn't want to stop putting me in embarrassment.
"He's my boyfriend." - my voice trembles as I try to get out of this situation, as Ethan begins to hit the floor with his toe frantically to release his anger.
"I understood that." - he hastens to say, without taking his eyes off the man beside me, but even if I would like to know something about Ethan's life, I understand that he has no intention of giving up, even if I don't understand what it costs him to say where he was born and what he does in his life.
I bow my head snorting and start scolding the asshole that is my father, but Ethan anticipates me, making me open my eyes wide and raise my head in his direction:
«I run a museum.» - he suddenly says, making me part my lips slightly at his words.
He has a museum...
Maybe he's telling the truth, but I'd believe Ethan more if he told me he has a nightclub or a brothel, not a museum.
I don't see him in the guise of an artist or someone who knows anything about art, although the way he looked at my drawing this morning made me shiver.
He seemed to be studying it, even though I felt teased.
"My parents wanted me to be a doctor." - he adds, surprising me even more.
My dad lifts his chin and raises an eyebrow as Ethan's fingers resume stroking the back of my head, as if playing with my curls helps him hold back his anger.
"But I preferred not killing people." - his dark tone gives me goosebumps, as if he meant something else that I cannot understand, while my father clears his throat and lowers his eyes for a moment, to then resume looking him in the eye.
I frown as Ethan clenches his jaw, highlighting the square chin: I know it doesn't take much to hate my father, but Ethan's is a strange attitude, even if I should have expected it, knowing his character by now.
"Good." - the man in front of me says satisfied, nodding to his words, then grabs his fork and lowers his head on the full plate, even if Ethan continues to stare at him in a strange and threatening way, so I try to bring him back to reality, placing a hand on his knee, which continues to move frantically under the table.
I'm on the point of asking what's wrong with him, but as soon as I put my palm on his leg, he suddenly gets up from his chair:
"I'm busy." - he says between his teeth, removing his fingers from my head and causing me a feeling of emptiness when he turns his back on both of us and moves away from the table.
I rest my elbow on the table, then cross my father's eyes and look at him sternly, while I jump at the sound of the door slamming behind me and it makes me realize that Ethan is now out of the house.
"What?" - he has the courage to ask, as if nothing had happened, but my surrendered expression makes him relax:
"I hate you, dad." - I say in a calm tone, understanding that the man in front of me will never change his attitude, but my words strike him more than the other countless times in which I yelled at him to despise him.
He dropes the fork on the plate, before he can even taste the pasta, then sigh and cross his fingers under his chin:
"Valerie ..." - he takes a deep breath and brings his eyes back to mine, but I don't interrupt him, wanting to know what he thinks of Ethan, as if he really was my boyfriend and as if my father's opinion could really change the way I see Ethan:
"I don't like that man."
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