The Blank Canvas (Apartment #2) (12 page)

“What word?” she asked quietly, wondering quickly why she was also whispering.

“
Girlfriend
.”

“Oh, that,” she replied, instantly feeling her face go up in flames.

“Yeah, that. Girlfriend. I like the sound of it. ‘
My
girlfriend’ sounds even better.”

Ethan had the sudden urge to drag her all over town on the off chance he might run into someone he knew, just so that he could introduce them to “my girlfriend, Lily.” He briefly considered letting her follow through with her original plans to go to the laundromat just so that very thing might happen, but thought better of it when he remembered how much more comfortable it was at his parents’ house. And how much more privacy they would have.

“I think you’re right,” she smiled, thrilled that he hadn’t wigged out on her for dropping the g-word. “That does sound even better.”

“So, how about it? Laundry day at my place?”

“Oh, I suppose I could be forced to spend some time with you in your gorgeous house with your adorably sweet mother.”

“Great! I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Ethan was already jumping up and running to the stairs before Lily realized that the call had ended, and by the time she had loaded everything into her laundry basket he was knocking on her door.

“Wow, eager much?” she teased as she opened it to let him in.

“For you? Always.”

Lily tried to ignore how much the simplest compliment made her heart beat erratically. Ducking her head to hide her telltale blush, she motioned him inside while she grabbed her purse from the kitchen.

“I just can’t believe what you’ve done with the place,” he called out to her as he stood in the center of the room and slowly turned around, looking at every detail more closely in the light of day. When his gaze landed on the vase of flowers sitting in the middle of the tiny dining table he couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. She had kept his flowers.

“Thanks,” she said as she re-entered the room, slinging her purse over her shoulder. When she was right in front of him, she stopped and looked up into his eyes. With a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth, she added, “I always knew it had amazing potential.”

Ethan wasn’t convinced they were still talking about the apartment.

In an effort to lighten the mood, and to keep from tackling her to the ground and covering her entire body with kisses, he quickly changed the subject. “I’m surprised there are no Conchords posters, though,” he joked.

“They were vetoed,” she sighed.

“I was only kidding!” he laughed. “You were seriously going to put some up?”

“Hey, this is the first place I’ve ever lived by myself. I was anxious to display all the things I love.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Emma and Maggie both thought they would make it look like a dumpy dorm room,” she frowned. “I see their point, but still.”

“Well, I suppose they do lose their charm once you grow out of your twenties,” he chuckled. “At least for a living room. But you could always frame one and hang it in your bedroom or something.”

“True, but I’m not so sure that having a poster of Jemaine Clement near my bed is the best idea. I mean I’d probably never leave.”

“Fair enough. I’d hate to be jealous of a poster.” He smirked playfully and winked at her, and Lily thought she might actually faint.

“Um… let’s get going,” she said awkwardly, suddenly too aware that they were only three feet from the bedroom in question. She went to pick up her laundry basket but he beat her to it, refusing to let her carry it to the car.

“I’m not a weakling, you know,” she grumbled behind him as they walked down the stairs.

“Oh, stop pouting and let me enjoy this,” he called back to her.

“What exactly is there to enjoy about carrying my dirty clothes? I
despise
laundry day.” They stopped at the side of his car while he opened up the back door and tossed the basket into the back seat.

“Well, think of it this way,” he said, turning to look at her as he shut the car door. “I never got to carry anybody’s books in high school. This is the next best thing.”

“Wow,” Lily sighed.

“What?”

“I can’t decide if that’s really sweet or really lame.” It was actually one of the sweetest things she’d ever heard.

“Oh really?” he smiled. “Are you leaning in either direction?”

Lily cocked her head to the side and looked at him, holding her chin with her thumb and forefinger as if in deep thought. “Hmm… I’d probably vote sweet, but only because you’re so cute.” She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, only to squeal when he reached behind her and swatted her bottom.

“Brat,” he growled with laughter in his eyes.

“You know it.”

Ethan leaned down and captured her lips in a chaste kiss, pulling away before either of them could respond more passionately. “Delicious brat.”

“You know that too.” She did that purring thing again with her voice and it was beginning to make him feel dizzy. They stood there for a moment doing nothing more than staring into each other’s eyes, both of them feeling the electricity grow between their bodies.

He was the first to break away that time, blinking rapidly as if waking up from a dream. Opening the passenger door for her, he smiled and bowed deeply with his arm extended as if she were royalty. “Your chariot awaits, milady.”

“Why thank you, kind sir.” She grabbed his hand as she lowered herself into the seat, biting back a moan when he kissed the back of her hand. She watched him through the windows as he walked around to the driver’s side and got in. “So… this is the new rental, huh?” They both looked around at the interior of the Nissan Maxima.

“Yep,” he answered as he turned the key in the ignition.

“It’s nice. I miss the Audi though.”

He hit the brake hard, turning to look her in the eye. “Believe me, I do too. There were some…
fond
memories in that car.” The rest of the drive to the Fosters’ was spent in near silence, both of their minds flickering over rainstorms and parking lots.

* * *

When they arrived, Barbara was just finishing the soup and sandwiches she’d happily started making when Ethan announced he would be bringing Lily over for the afternoon. He had been a little hesitant at first, worrying that she might smother them with attention and make Lily feel awkward, but as soon as he saw the loving hug between them, he knew he had done the right thing by including his mother in his life for a change. Spreading the love was a new concept to him, and he was finding it to be quite rewarding.

They sat at the small, informal table in the kitchen, talking easily as they ate. Ethan was amazed by how comfortable the two women seemed to be together, laughing and sharing more in thirty minutes than Rachel had with his mother in ten years. Watching them like that only served to drive home a fact he’d recently learned to accept: Lily belonged there, in every aspect of his life.

When they were finished with lunch, Barbara didn’t linger. She thanked Lily again for visiting and made her promise to return soon, then excused herself, claiming that she had some errands to run in the Cities for the day and that she would be back later. He hadn’t even asked her to leave, but when she hugged Lily one more time, she looked at him over her shoulder and winked.

Leave it to his mother to be the best wingman he’d ever had.

As soon as they were alone, Ethan grabbed her laundry basket again and headed toward the stairs to the basement. Lily followed closely behind him, reclaiming her dirty clothes once they were standing in front of the washing machine. She sorted them quickly into two loads and threw the darks in first, turning to face him after she was done.

“Okay, that should be almost an hour before this load is ready to go in the dryer. What do we do now?”

Ethan smirked knowingly. “That depends on which game you want to lose first.” He turned around and disappeared into the darkness behind them, flipping on the light switch to reveal the enormous rec room. “You remember this room, don’t you?”

“Well, I certainly remember the pinball machine,” she choked out, already turning a deep shade of red.

His smirk bloomed into a full-on wicked smile. “Yeah… if I remember correctly, I was just about to hit the high score before Maggie interrupted us.”

“Uh, no!” she huffed. “You weren’t about to hit anything, thank you very much!”

“I think we remember things differently.”

“What are you talking about? Your entire family was upstairs! There is no way I would’ve let it get that far.”

“Maybe not intentionally,” he teased, “but I don’t think either one of us had our wits about us that day.”

Lily thought for a moment and sighed. “Alright, I’ll grant you that. Now stop being so smug and get over here so I can kick your ass at pool.”

“Awful sure of yourself, my dear.”

“I’m pretty not bad,” she smiled.

“Well I’ve also been known to be pretty not bad,” he replied as he grabbed two cues from the rack on the wall.

She walked up to him slowly, reaching out and wrapping her fingers around the cue that he held out to her. “And I’ve been known to play dirty,” she whispered, stroking her hand up the long, smooth shaft a few times while licking her lips seductively.

Ignoring the twitching in his pants, Ethan took a deep breath and smirked again. “Two can play that game, baby.”

“Then rack ‘em up.”

What followed next was the most sexually tense game of pool in the history of rec rooms.

Every time Lily took a shot, she made sure to lean way over, strategically displaying her ample cleavage right in front of a nearly drooling Ethan. She would then slide the cue back and forth between her fingers, looking up at him through her lashes as she did so. Whenever she had to take a shot from close to where he was standing, she would make a show of leaning over slowly and sticking her ass out, never failing to look back over her shoulder before striking the ball.

To say that Ethan was distracted would be an enormous understatement. However, he wasn’t completely unarmed in their little game. Rather than trying to distract her during his own shots like she was doing, he would wait and make his move while she took hers. When she would lean over with her cleavage on display, he began meeting her gaze with his smoldering jade eyes, licking his lips and adjusting the now prominent bulge in his jeans.

While she was visibly affecting him with her tricks, his were clearly working as well. Her shots grew increasingly sloppier the more obvious his arousal became. When she bent over in front of him again, he closed the distance until he was leaning over her back, whispering tips into her ear.

She missed the ball altogether, and he gently placed his hands over hers and guided her, brushing his lips against the outer shell of her ear as he breathed, “Like this.” And then he proceeded to gently rub himself against her backside as they followed through the shot, causing Lily to moan and throw her head back, squeezing her eyes shut against the sudden pleasure of feeling him so close again.

He stilled his movements, trying to decide through his haze of arousal if he should take advantage of the situation or back away quickly to stop things from going any farther.

Lily chose for him.

She threw the cue down on the table and brought her hands up behind his head, effectively trapping him against her. She leaned back into him, rubbing her bottom against his painful erection as she pulled his mouth down to her neck. Between her luscious scent and the extreme pleasure of feeling her grinding back against him, Ethan was quickly drunk with desire.

He parted his lips and left wet kisses along her neck, punctuated by soft nips with his teeth. Her groaning in his ear only fueled his desire, causing him to buck his hips against her more fully. He reached his hands around the front of her, sliding them under her shirt and anchoring her with one large hand pressed against the soft flesh of her stomach. The other hand had a mind of its own, roaming higher until he was cupping one of her breasts, squeezing it roughly when he felt her nipple pebbling up under his palm.

She gasped loudly and spun around in his arms, pressing herself against the front of him as his hands slid down to grip her ass. Their mouths met frantically, each of their tongues fighting as they swallowed each other’s groans of need. Ethan desperately wanted to touch her everywhere at once, so he lifted her up by her backside and sat her down on the edge of the table.

Positioning himself between her legs, he growled against her lips when she wound them around his waist eagerly. It felt like home to have her wrapped around him again, even through all of their clothes. He suddenly needed her to know just how right it felt to be back with her, both physically and emotionally, where he had so badly needed to be. He reached up to hold her face and pulled back so that he could stare into her heavy-lidded eyes.

“I love you, Lily,” he whispered, surprised at how easy it was to say now that he was certain it was true.

“I love you too, Ethan,” she smiled, and he felt a jolt of elation rip through his chest. “Can we please keep kissing this time, though?” she panted, glancing between his eyes and his lips.

“Yes, my beautiful girl,” he chuckled.

“Oh, thank God!” She pulled him back to her lips, igniting a whole new kissing frenzy. Shoving her hands into his hair, she yanked and pulled at it as she sucked on his lips and tongue. He moaned deeply, wondering if his eyes might completely roll back into his head at some point from a pleasure overdose.

When Lily needed more, she began to lean backwards, pulling him down with her. Ethan followed happily, climbing onto the table on his knees as she continued to pull him down on top of her, sliding farther back to allow him room. When he finally settled the full weight of his body on hers she cried out, wrapping her arms and legs around him and holding him tight, as if she was afraid he could disappear at any moment.

He slid her shirt up high enough to expose her black lace bra, and with a hungry groan he lowered his head and sucked on her swollen peaks through the material. His hands began gripping and squeezing them as he feasted, and before long he had to yank the material down and taste her sweet flesh. The moment the hot wetness of his mouth came in contact with her aching nipples she almost wept, and the intensity of it caused her to buck her hips wildly underneath him.