Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
When we were kids, I once told my childhood best friend, “I like your best friend. Don’t you dare tell him.”
Years later, at that best friend’s wedding, I grabbed him by the throat and hissed, “Wow. Your lips were really sealed, huh?”
He gave a cold snort. “Say one more word about liking him and I swear I’ll deck you.”
Logan Lin was getting married to Zoe Mitchell.
Our old high school group chat exploded.
I took a bite of my apple. “Wow. Married right after graduation, huh.”
Which meant I had to bring a cash gift in a wedding card.
And that was just perfect, because my already broke life was about to get even worse.
So I called Ethan Hayes.
He picked up. “Yeah?”
“Spit it out.”
…
“Do you know Logan Lin is getting married?”
“I’m one of the groomsmen.”
I was on the verge of tears. “So that means you don’t have to put money in a wedding card, right?”
“Right.”
Maybe he heard the misery in my voice, because his tone immediately turned sharp.
“Chloe Carter, don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Logan Lin.”
“Huh? Wh—what?”
I froze.
“He’s getting married. Don’t be a terrible person.”
Ethan sounded irritated. In the background, I could hear water running from the bathroom, a steady splashing hiss.
I was just about to speak when he hung up on me.
I clenched my fist and bared my teeth at my phone.
Then I called him right back.
“What now?”
The water had stopped.
So why did he sound even more annoyed?
“Can you lend me five hundred? I need it for the wedding gift.”
…
Just as expected, that made him even more irritated.
Come to think of it, I once had a secret crush on Logan Mercer.
Back in middle school, he transferred into our public school and ended up sitting right beside Ethan.
Two ridiculously handsome guys at the same desk cluster.
Every day, there were more love notes than the front office could probably confiscate in a year.
Pink ones. Scented ones. Deeply sincere ones.
Don’t ask how I know.
Fine, because I wrote one.
Just not to Ethan.
It was for Logan.
And Ethan helped throw it away.
So… thanks for that, I guess.
After that, I changed tactics and took the scenic route.
On the walk home from school, I spent what felt like a fortune on an ice cream bar for Ethan.
He looked at me suspiciously. “What’s this for?”
I gave him my most shameless suck-up smile. “Just trying to promote neighborhood harmony.”
“Go on,” he said. “What do you want?”
I puffed out my lips, tried to look coy, and rocked up on my toes. “So… your deskmate is kind of cute, huh?”
He smiled. “Did your eyes fall out? You couldn’t tell on your own?”
How does a perfectly good handsome boy ruin everything just by opening his mouth?
Please don’t give him to me.
Factory defects. Discount bin.
Still, I kept up the shy act. I rose onto my tiptoes and leaned close to his ear.
Then, in the most embarrassingly bashful voice I could manage, I whispered, “I like Logan Mercer. Don’t tell him, okay?”
And then I ran off all flustered.
You know how lizards run?
That was basically my delicate-girl sprint.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Just wait, I thought. Logan will know by tomorrow.
Based on my extensive life experience, Ethan was definitely going to tell him.
My elementary school best friend had ratted me out to the class president the very next day once, so really, I had data.
And yet—
I waited one day.
Two days.
Three days.
All the way up to today, the day Logan got married.
And Ethan still never told him.
Now that is what I call taking a secret to the grave.
The wedding.
I showed up fashionably late.
The ceremony was already wrapping up.
My best friend Megan took one look at me and said, “What took you so long? And what the hell happened to your hair?”
I flicked what was left of it with a breezy, life-is-suffering-but-I-rise-above air. “Went way out in the middle of nowhere and got myself a cutting-edge new style from a true master.”
Yeah, right.
I’d gone to a cheap salon on the street, planning to get bangs.
The stylist cut off half my hair while I was asleep.
So that was how I ended up here with what looked like a bird’s nest on my head.
Then Ethan came over in a suit.
He reached out and patted my head, then said to Megan, “When did your little sister get this grown up?”
I smacked his hand away and glared at him. “Your sister.”
He clicked his tongue. “Who butchered your hair like this? I’m going to have a word with him.”
The alarm in his voice was completely genuine.
“Forget it. He already paid me five hundred bucks in compensation.” I paused, then added, “Transfer me the money later.”
Honestly, life after graduation was bleak.
I was so broke even the cash wedding gift in my card had been borrowed from Ethan.
Megan scooted over and showed me a video she’d just taken of Logan kissing the bride.
I watched while shoveling shrimp into my mouth.
Logan looked ridiculously handsome.
Zoe looked gorgeous.
I am truly pathetic, because I watched it twice.
Middle of the night.
After the wedding ended, Megan and I had gone out for drinks.
To celebrate my twenty-one years of being painfully single.
There was also one secret I hadn’t told them.
Earlier today, I’d wiped out on a city rental bike and landed right in front of a street psychic.
He took one look at me and declared that I had zero luck in love, that I probably wouldn’t get a boyfriend until I was thirty. But if I wanted to change my fate, I could start by getting a new haircut. Only then, he said, would my romantic prospects have even the faintest shot at survival.
Thirty?
By then I’d probably be rich.
Wouldn’t a rich woman naturally have a boyfriend?
Still, the guy freaked me out enough that I actually went and cut my hair.
Then afterward I thought about it.
What kind of scam artist sets up shop outside a salon to tell fortunes?
Half drunk and weaving all over the hallway, I somehow made it to Ethan’s door.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Bang bang bang.
I heard movement inside.
The door opened, and Ethan stared at me. “Chloe? What are you doing here this late?”
The alcohol hit all at once.
I lunged forward, jumped, and wrapped myself around him.
Then I pinched his lips between my fingers.
Soft. Cool.
“Your mouth is seriously sealed shut. I told you so many secrets and you never leaked a single one. You ruined me!”
I wasn’t supposed to date until I was thirty now!
Ethan clicked his tongue. “If you dare tell me one more time that you like somebody else, I swear I’ll smack you.”
Maybe it was the final flicker of consciousness before I blacked out, but I suddenly rammed my forehead straight into his.
The last thing I remember—
I think I ate a piece of tofu.
Soft. Cool.
Noon sunlight was pouring across my face when I finally drifted awake.
Dark gray walls. Navy sheets.
This wasn’t my room.
But it looked a whole lot like Ethan’s.
I looked down and realized I was wearing nothing but a camisole and a pair of shorts.
Pressing my lips together, baffled, I muttered, “Where’s my jacket?”
Right on cue, Ethan walked in and leaned against the doorframe, watching me.
“You’re awake? I was starting to think you planned to freeload at my place all day.”
“I came here last night?”
“When else?” he said. “You showed up in the middle of the night.” His expression turned a little strange, and he ran his tongue over the corner of his mouth. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember what happened last night.”
I froze, then sat up straighter. “No wonder my jacket’s gone! You didn’t try anything with me last night, did you?”
I mean, I am pretty hot.
Ethan looked speechless. He took a slow breath. “Even if I jumped out that window right now, I still wouldn’t touch a single hair on your head. Get out here and eat. I’ve got to head out soon.”
I flipped out of bed without another word.
At the breakfast table, Ethan’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
Message after message kept coming in.
From the profile picture, I could tell it was some girl—pink plush bunny avatar and all.
Ethan kept eating like nothing was happening.
I finally couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Who is that?”
“A girl.”
No kidding.
“I know she’s a girl. What’s the relationship here? Is she your girlfriend?”
He shot me a look, leaned back in his chair, and fixed those dark eyes on me.
“If I had a girlfriend, I would’ve defended my honor to the death last night and never let you through the door.”
My honor?
Something about that sounded weird on first impact.
I shook my hungover head.
My brain was still foggy, and in that state it was way too easy to spiral.
His phone kept vibrating.
The sound was driving me insane.
“Is she trying to get with you?”