Ficorpio
Chapter 1
When my parents called to tell me I had to go to my childhood sweetheart’s house to meet his blind date, Ethan Sterling was asleep beside me.
Thinking they were joking, I murmured, “Ethan, they said they’ve found you someone to meet.”
He gave a lazy hum and pulled me into his arms. “Good, Chloe. Find me something to wear later and fix my hair, will you?”
When I froze instead of moving, Ethan opened his eyes and let out a mocking laugh.
“What’s wrong with you? We’re just casual bed partners. You didn’t actually think I was going to marry you, did you?”
For a moment, I couldn’t process what he’d said.
All I could do was busy myself awkwardly.
Without daring to look at Ethan, I pushed him away, picked up the clothes scattered across the floor, and hurriedly pulled them on.
“Chloe Bennett, look at me.” Propping his chin on one arm, Ethan watched me with amused interest. “You didn’t really think we were boyfriend and girlfriend, did you?”
The words casual bed partners kept echoing through my mind. My hands trembled as I struggled to fasten my bra.
Ethan threw back the covers, revealing the lean, toned muscles of his waist, and knelt beside the bed. Reaching out, he fastened the clasp for me with practiced ease.
I lowered my head. “Who’s the woman you’re meeting?”
I gave a bitter laugh. “Please don’t tell me your parents dragged some random woman out of a matchmaking service.”
In front of the mirror, I stared at the red marks scattered across my skin. My legs still ached.
Ethan had put on nothing but gray sweatpants. When he came over, he buried his face against the curve of my neck.
“It’s Vivian Hayes.”
He lifted his beautiful, foxlike eyes and repeated, “Vivian Hayes. You know—the senior from the university, the one who studied art.”
Then he added, “I have to admit, I’m pretty nervous about seeing her.”
My hand stopped halfway through applying lipstick.
Of course I remembered her.
Ethan had once been in love with Vivian. But before he could confess, he’d heard that she was moving abroad.
I thought all of that was behind us.
Ethan watched me, his lips pressing into a thin line.
“Chloe, don’t get any funny ideas. We grew up together. We practically ran around naked as kids. Sure, you’re beautiful and all, but I’ve always thought of you as one of the guys.”
His smile widened.
“You’re my perfect meal companion, road-trip companion, bed companion…”
It felt like someone had struck me across the head. Cold seeped through my entire body. Looking at Ethan’s smiling face, I forced the corners of my lips upward.
He continued, “I even know what clothes you’re going to wear every day, right down to which bra and underwear you’ll pair with them.
“It gets pretty boring.
Chapter 2
“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and see you sleeping beside me, and it actually scares me.”
His expression turned uneasy.
“I’m scared that, if the joke our families keep making somehow came true and we got married, I’d be able to see the end of my entire life right then and there.”
A shudder ran through him when he finished, as though the thought alone was enough to make him tremble with fear.
I dug my nails into my palm, forcing back the tears.
“I have somewhere to be.”
I pulled on my coat and stumbled out like a fleeing soldier, too humiliated to look back.
I had thought Ethan Sterling and I were dating.
After all, we did everything most couples did.
We ate together, went on dates, met up with friends. During games of truth or dare, we would openly kiss each other and say, “I love you.”
Whenever it rained, Ethan drove me to and from work himself. At family dinners, he would secretly reach for my hand beneath the table.
I had no idea that the relationship I had treasured for six months was nothing more than a childish game.
“Chloe?” Mom knocked on the car window and peered inside, concern written across her face.
I snapped back to reality.
One look at my tear-streaked reflection in the rearview mirror sent me scrambling. I called out that I was fine, wiped my face clean, and got out of the car.
“Mom!” Afraid she would see how pathetic I looked, I threw myself into her arms and forced a smile. “I missed you.”
With a grocery bag in one hand and the other linked through my arm, Mom seemed to let out a quiet breath of relief.
“What were you doing sitting in the car instead of coming inside? You scared me half to death. Didn’t you see that news story about someone suffocating in a car?”
I nodded along.
Then Mom suddenly changed the subject. “Oh, right, Chloe. Ethan’s… marriage-minded blind date is coming over in a little while. The Sterlings are taking this one very seriously. Apparently, Ethan spent a long time arranging everything himself. He even said he was worried the girl might feel uncomfortable, and that having another woman there would make things less awkward for her.”
Mom hesitated, glancing at me with an uneasy expression.
“Your father and I have been close with Eleanor and Richard for so many years. If we didn’t go today…” She trailed off, clearly unable to finish.
I murmured, “Mm.”
Then I put on a smile that hurt to hold in place. “Don’t worry, Mom. I just need to keep the conversation lively and say a few nice things. I understand.”
Mom gave me a pained look.
Of course she understood.
Chapter 3
Our couple photograph sat on the nightstand beside my bed. Every gift Ethan had ever given me was carefully preserved as though it were priceless. And the pages of my notebook were crammed with love letters, each one overflowing with feelings I had tried and failed to conceal.
How could Mom not know what he meant to me?
We walked home in silence. The moment we opened the door, I suddenly said, “Dad’s retiring next month. Why don’t we move to Hainan and settle down there?”
Mom stared at me in shock.
I smiled and leaned against her arm, coaxing her like a child. “Haven’t you and Dad always planned to retire there? I don’t have any grand ambitions anyway. I’d be happy working as a dance teacher and staying by your side.”
Sitting with Mom and Dad in the Sterling family home should have felt familiar. This time, it didn’t.
Usually, our visits were loud and playful. The last time we’d been here, Ethan and I had even used playing video games as an excuse to sneak into his bedroom and kiss in secret.
But this time…
“Oh, Margaret, you have no idea how much effort Ethan put into pursuing Vivian,” Eleanor Sterling said. “Why didn’t he simply court her? He had to insist on dating her with marriage as the goal. Then he had Richard call in every favor he could think of just to arrange this marriage-minded blind date.”
I looked around the carefully decorated house. Roses filled every corner.
The table was covered with fruit, candy, and tea. Even the Sterling family’s little dog had been dressed in bright red.
Ethan, meanwhile, stood in front of the mirror, checking himself again and again to make sure he looked perfect.
The ridiculous part was that just last night, we had been tangled up together. He had kissed the small red mole at my waist with such passion.
And the underwear he was wearing now was something I had bought for him.
“What a shame…” Eleanor took Margaret’s hand and sighed. “When they were children, we always said we’d become family one day. We even made a childhood betrothal promise between them.”
She glanced at me. “I’ve always loved Chloe. She’s beautiful, of course, but she’s also kind, lively, and cheerful…”
I lowered my eyes, afraid to make a sound.
I was terrified that if I let my guard down for even a moment, my tears would start falling.
“Mom.” Ethan frowned, his expression deeply displeased. “You said it yourself. That was something the previous generation decided. You and Margaret get along so well, so why didn’t you marry her? What does any of this have to do with me?