Chapter 36
36
Dinner this evening was roast chicken and vegetables – which means that, thankfully, Ethan is well fed enough not to wake me up by crunching biscuits at 3a.m. In fact, it was only as he served up his third portion of broccoli that I begged for mercy, reminding him that I’m the one who has to share a bed with him.
We’ve just finished our dessert – fresh fruit and more cheeses than I can name – and our coffees, and now it’s time to retire to our rooms.
I always find myself getting a little anxious, as the sun goes down, and bedtime draws closer and closer. It still feels so peculiar, to be in a bed with Ethan. That’s the only word I can think to describe it because it’s not that it’s awful, or all that awkward, it’s just that it feels… incorrect. It’s almost as though my body isn’t working with the same information as my brain, so while I know that Ethan is absolutely a no-go, and that really I should be focusing on getting to know Beau better, my body hasn’t got the memo. I know, this is going to sound crazy, but it’s like they’re working separately. I’ll find one of my limbs edging toward him, my hand creeping toward his as he lies next to me, my legs slinking across the bed like snakes, trying to intertwine with his. It’s like they’re possessed, and I have to really mind-over-matter them back over to my side of the bed.
Speaking of Beau, it’s only tonight, when I’m seeing him sitting next to Eleanor, that I am noticing just how much she flirts with him.
‘Everyone knows it’s the best man and the principal bridesmaid who ride off into the sunset, at the end of the day,’ she tells him flirtatiously. She’s talking quietly, just to him, and while everyone else is distracted talking amongst themselves, my ears are fully tuned into their channel.
‘Is that so?’ he replies.
He sounds like he’s smiling but I’m scared to even look. I’m enjoying getting to know Beau, and there’s something about him that I really like. Everyone else here (apart from Ethan, of course) seems so two-dimensional, like there is nothing to them but money and image, but Beau seems like he has something going on behind his eyes.
‘Oh my goodness, stop the press, someone call Tatler , because I think we might have a hot new couple on the horizon,’ Seph sings, turning everyone’s attention toward Eleanor and Beau.
‘Sephy, you are awful, stop,’ Eleanor says, batting her hand, clearly not wanting her to stop at all.
Beau looks a little embarrassed maybe, although he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who likes to have eyes on him in this way. I feel like he’s a very private person but, then again, I know how many people visit his house each year.
‘I would just D-I-E if my best chum and Chester’s best chum got together,’ Seph says.
‘You could do a lot worse than an earl,’ Chester tells Eleanor. Then he turns to Beau. ‘And we all know you need a wife ASAP.’
Oh, I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. I can feel my shoulders rising, my head tipping forward as I grip my bottom lip between my teeth just a little too hard.
‘I can’t wait to marry you,’ Ethan tells me.
I almost get whiplash, turning to face him. What is he talking about? And the way he said it, sort of quietly, but definitely loud enough for everyone to hear.
‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise you were all listening,’ Ethan says, feigning mild embarrassment. ‘It’s just all this talk of weddings… it really, really makes me and Lana want to finally make this official.’
‘Are you two engaged?’ Dad asks, raising an eyebrow.
‘No,’ I say quickly.
‘No, not yet,’ Ethan replies, taking my hand in his. ‘But watch this space.’
‘Well, it’s about time,’ Chester says. ‘Lana is like Beau, growing dusty on the shelf – of course, Lana has EPJ blowing her cobwebs off.’
Oh, my dad doesn’t like that.
I look over at Beau. He’s staring at us, glancing back and forth between my eyes and Ethan’s hand on top of mine.
‘We are very much looking forward to tomorrow, Ethan,’ Bea says.
‘What’s tomorrow?’ I turn to him to ask.
‘A surprise,’ he tells me, his eyes twinkling as they widen for effect. ‘I’ve planned something for us all to do.’
‘Seph had arranged an activity for us all, but the place has closed for work on the electrics, so Ethan stepped up, he says he’s got something good for us,’ Chester tells me.
‘Like what?’ I ask Ethan.
‘It’s a surprise for you too,’ he replies.
‘Right, well, time to retire,’ Bea says – I think she hates it when she feels like Ethan and I are becoming main characters.
We all exchange polite goodnights before heading to our rooms. The second I close the door behind me and Ethan, I whip around to confront him.
‘What the hell was that?’ I ask him.
‘What?’ he replies.
‘You, telling people we’re getting married,’ I reply, my voice squeaking with disbelief.
‘Oh, that,’ he replies. ‘You’re welcome.’
‘I’m… what? Why am I welcome?’
‘You want Beau, right?’ he asks – of course, I don’t answer. ‘And Eleanor was flirting with him, and everyone was talking about them getting together, so I said that to make him jealous, and it worked – didn’t you see the look on his face? So, yeah, you’re welcome.’
For a moment I don’t know what to say. Wow, that’s really… nice of him? What even is that? He’s helping me to bag Beau now?
‘And the thing tomorrow…?’ I say.
‘Oh, it’s nothing, Seph had booked some group thing – it sounded shit anyway – so when she was upset that it had been cancelled, I said I’d sort something, it’s no big deal,’ he replies.
Again, I’m speechless for a few seconds.
‘It is a big deal,’ I tell him. ‘Look, this family don’t think much of me. They think more of that stupid bench, that they’ve got locked away, protected by cameras, like it’s in some kind of vault.’
He laughs.
‘Really, it’s nothing,’ he insists. ‘Now, come on, wifey, bedtime.’
He strips down to his boxers, completely comfortable in my presence, before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
For a moment I just sit there, on the edge of the bed, trying to make sense of everything in my brain.
Is Ethan working with me or against me now? I really can’t figure it out.