Ethan, Who Loved Carter Read Online Free PDF Page A

especially not if it meant judging Ethan. Hell, Carter hardly understood what he’d done.
    “Oh.” Alice sounded equally dissatisfied. “Did you kiss him because of your TS?”
    “I lost control. I don’t know if I can blame it on the Tourette’s. I wanted to kiss him.”
    “What about that tic phase when you were grabbing people?”
    “Never got a hard-on from that. Almost got a black eye, though.”
    Alice laughed. “I don’t even know what to say.”
    “You’re a load of help.”
    “I know. I’m sorry.”
    “I’ll figure it out. I guess I’ll talk to his mother.”
    “You’re going to tell her what happened?” It was hard to tell if Alice sounded scandalized or enthusiastic.
    “No way. I’m just going to ask her about him. You know, as Ethan’s new friend.” He lay down on the floor. “Say something to make me feel better.”
    “Ethan might have told her already.”
    Carter dug his fingers into the carpet. The ceiling fan whirred overhead, soothing the shock away. “Not helping. So not helping.”

Chapter Four

     
    A N IMPATIENT flurry of doorbell rings dragged Carter from the kitchen, where he was contemplating his coffeemaker, to the front door. Opening it, he found a sullen-faced teenage boy standing on his doorstep. He wore a sleeveless shirt, and his shoulders were a furious red under the midmorning sun. He didn’t wait for Carter to speak. “We’re going to the beach today. You wanna come? My mom said I had to ask you.”
    Carter, half-asleep, leaned out the door to see if the boy’s mother was waiting in a car, but the street was clear. Maybe this was a neighborhood gathering and the boy was going door to door. He showed no inclination to introduce himself. “I guess?” Carter said.
    “We leave at three. Bring your own towel.” The boy turned to go. Halfway down the sidewalk he turned back and yelled, “If you want me to mow your lawn, it’s thirty-five dollars. I did it for the last people.”
    “I’ll think about it,” Carter said.
    “Whatever.” He stepped off the sidewalk and trudged across the grass toward Ethan’s house and up the steps to the porch. He must be the younger brother. Elliot. Of course. He didn’t look much like Ethan, but Carter saw the resemblance between him and Liz. Which meant he’d just agreed to go to the beach with the Hart family.
    Well. He wondered where ogling Ethan in a swimsuit fell in the space between being attracted to him and questioning if he’d taken advantage of him. As he closed the door, he hoped to God that Ethan hadn’t told anyone what had happened. Feeling guilty, he pushed the thought away. If Ethan wanted to tell someone, he should. Carter was embarrassed, that was all.
    He spent the rest of the morning unpacking to find his swimsuit. He looked forward to the afternoon in equal parts of dread and anticipation.
     
     
    E THAN dropped his sweatpants into the laundry basket in his closet. After pulling his swim trunks from the labeled box on the shelf in front of him, he sat on his bed to pull them on. He checked that the knot at his waist was tied and stood up. On his desk, he had his beach supplies laid out according to a list that he kept in a pocket of his beach bag. He placed them one by one inside it. Towel, shirt and shorts, sunglasses, sunscreen, iPod with earbuds, and a well-read paperback copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes . The sand toys stayed downstairs in the mudroom to be grabbed on the way to the car. Ethan checked each item again. All present. Bag zipped, Ethan stepped away from the desk. He turned sideways in front of the mirror and sucked his stomach in. He didn’t think he was fat, but Elliot teased him about it sometimes. Ethan figured Elliot was jealous because even “fat” Ethan had more sex than Elliot. Two weeks ago, a cute guy had told Ethan he had a nice package, and then they’d had sex. That guy hadn’t said anything about Ethan being pudgy, except for praising Ethan’s fat cock