“Why?” he finally asks.
“Why what?” I ask, confused.
“Why go to all this troubl
e?” he says, frowning at me. “You’ve only known this woman a week. Now you’re risking jail time after she told you to leave her alone? What is it about her that makes you act like this?”
“It’s…” I hesitate, trying to figure out what I want to say. “It’s like I can’t stay away from her, you know? I’m scared about what’ll happen if Jesse gets to her while I’m not there. And…”
I trail off. There’s no way I can talk about how addictive her touch is in front of Lily. I clear my throat.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I just know that I want to protect her and that I can’t bear seeing anything happen to her.”
Ethan frowns at me, considering this.
“It’s nice,” he says. “But don’t you think everything is moving a little too fast? You only met her last Wednesday night. Your entire relationship has been based around Jesse so far. That can’t be healthy. Doesn’t that mean she’s only holding on to you because you’re protecting her from Jesse, and that you’re only going back to her because she’s in danger?”
I won’t say I haven’t considered the possibility. Allison and I have tied ourselves together too tightly, too quickly. I think maybe it even started out like that.
But the feelings I have for Allison right now… They’re warmer. I can’t really classify them. Her smile makes something happy and comfortable bloom in my chest, and it pleases me when she’s happy. And it’s oddly painful to feel like she’s rejected me.
“I…don’t think it’s like that anymore,” I say, not sure how to explain all this. “At least, not on my end. And she keeps telling me that she doesn’t need me to protect me. Though…”
I grimace. Two of the three times we’ve had sex were because she wanted me to help her erase the thoughts of Jesse. Maybe Ethan was right. Maybe everything we’re feeling is because of the threat Jesse poses to us.
Does that mean that everything will go back to normal when Jesse is dealt with?
“I don’t know,” Ethan says with a shrug when I voice this question. “That’s something the two of you need to figure out on your own, I guess. Besides, when will Jesse be ‘dealt with’? Even if you scare him off, there’s no guarantee that he won’t come back in the future. Are you going to tie yourself to Allison forever?”
My heart thumps at the question. Ethan glances at my face and then does a double take, his eyes widening.
“Shit,” he murmurs.
“Daddy!” Lily shouts gleefully. “You’re grounded!”
Ethan blinks and flushes, laughing. “Whoops, so I am. How long am I grounded for, princess?”
Lily considers this. “For twenty-four hours.”
“Does that mean Uncle Kyle has to go?” Ethan asks.
“No way!” Lily says, horrified at the thought. “He’s playing with me, not you!”
I chuckle and pick up a red block.
“Yeah, Ethan,” I say. “I’m here for Lily, not you.”
Ethan laughs. “I see how it is. Then, I guess you don’t need my help with the tower anymore.”
“Uh…” Lily looks caught. “No, you can help. We need someone to do all the grunt work.”
I snort.
“You watch too much tv,” Ethan says, rolling his eyes. “Do you want something to eat?”
“Cookies!” Lily says, lighting up. “I’ll get them!”
She jumps to her feet and dashes away. I glance at Ethan. Why did he look so shocked and why did he swear when he got a look at me?