A Heart Split in Two

“I won’t repeat myself, Mayes, let go of my sister,” Alec said calmly, but there was hatred in his eyes.
Ricky stood his ground and pulled me into him and his scent, spices and citrus, nearly drove me insane. What did I do to deserve this? Why did I have to have feelings for two guys? In a fantasy, having two incredibly gorgeous guys pining over a girl was a turn on, but in real life for a girl like me—terrible.
“Ronnie likes me. She said it herself, she likes me!” Ricky snapped at my brother like a crazy person.
Alec’s calm façade fell and he glared heatedly at him. “You broke her heart,” Alec growled. “I don’t appreciate it when people hurt my sister, not even you, Ricky. Ethan wouldn’t hurt her. I knew how he felt about Ronnie and I’ve been hoping he got the balls to tell her for months. You don’t know how to handle your feelings. Sure, Ethan was being a wimp, but at least he knew how he felt. Look at you, clinging onto my sister like she’s a toy you don’t want to give up. Grow up and act your age!”
My jaw literally dropped at Alec’s acid lecture, but I had to agree. Ricky handled our kiss horribly by kissing me, taking my very first kiss, and then fazing me out. Ethan took me out on a date, kissed me, and then continued to take me out. Sure, Ricky had my first kiss as a trophy, but Ethan had more of my heart.
I removed myself from Ricky’s grasp and looked into his eyes as I whispered, “I’m sorry.” I turned and walked away from him, just as he did me, and I headed back out to the party. I found Ethan by a refreshment table and he grinned once he saw me. “Did I keep you waiting long?”
There was no need to tell Ethan, he didn’t have to know about the kiss. The kiss was nothing to me; it had to be nothing. I had to avoid the heartache, so I couldn’t think about Ricky anymore. Ethan cared about me and was willing to face up to that.
“Not at all,” he assured and laced his fingers with mine. “How about we ditch the rest of the party and go on an actual date? I figure you’ve been bored out of your mind long enough. We’ll go somewhere just you and me.” To emphasize his point, he placed his hands on my hips and squeezed gently. I wanted to lay a big one on him right there, so I nodded and smiled coyly.
“Just let me tell Alec and Haley where I’m going, ‘kay?”
With a quick kiss on his cheek, I went off looking for Haley first. I told her that I was going out with Ethan and she wiggled her eyebrows mischievously. “Don’t forget to use condoms,” she whispered in my ear and I slapped her arm, blushing a furious red that matched my hair. Jackson, whom must of heard her, started to laugh and ruffled my hair. Gah.
Finding Alec wasn’t that much of a challenge. He was just leaving the bedroom, with Ricky right behind him. Careful not to make any eyes contact with Ricky, I told my brother, “Ethan and I are leaving now because we’re super bored. Can you tell Mom and Dad for me?”
“Sure thing, squirt,” Alec assured and gave me a quick squeeze. “Call me if you need anything.”
Stupidly, I risked a glance at Ricky, but he was gone. I felt a wave of panic hit me and I went off to find Ethan again. From the stairs of the yacht, I saw him standing at his car and Ricky storming up to him. Ricky was all impulse; I was starting to figure that out. I ran down the stairs and then to Ethan, but Ricky made it before me. Ricky was furious.
“Why’d you do it, man? Why’d you steal her away from me?” Ricky seethed. I’d never seen him so upset before in his life and it made my heart break.
Ethan shook his head and looked at me, smiling dazzlingly with his snakebites in again. He made me heart melt. “Ronnie, are you ready to go?” he asked me, deliberately ignoring the younger boy. The boy with the hundred-watt smile and sincere blue eyes hypnotized me. My legs carried me to his side and he wrapped an arm around my waist, kissing my forehead lightly.
Ricky shook his head, disbelieving, and stared longingly into my eyes. I couldn’t look away, those green eyes…
“You didn’t tell him, did you?” I came back to Earth and looked at Ricky with wide eyes. He wouldn’t, would he? “You didn’t tell him that I was your first kiss. You didn’t tell him that I kissed you and you kissed me back not ten minutes ago.”
I felt the impact of his words as if they were a bomb and I could feel walls collapsing all around me. Ricky was getting desperate and delivered that low blow. I looked at Ethan with guilty eyes and he looked at me, smiling. I was more than just confused. Wasn’t he angry with me? Instead, he looked as if he were having such fun.
“You’re a bastard, Ricky,” Ethan laughed as he stroked my cheek. “What did you do, corner her? I have more feelings for Ronnie than you know. I’m not going to get upset over you being her first kiss and I’m not going to be a bitch over one kiss when we’re not even dating. She still has that freedom.
“I’m not going to ask her to be my girlfriend right in front of you, though. I’d be doing it out of spite, not because I’m ready to dive into that. If you care for her as much as you think you do, you better give me a good fight.”
I didn’t know what to say. “Ethan?” I said, barely over a whisper. He ducked down and kissed me quickly before holding my door open for me.
Ricky reached out and grabbed my hand tightly, holding on, still not letting go. He nodded and looked at Ethan. He asked, “This means war, you know?”
“All is fair in love and war,” Ethan replied.
I pulled my hand away from Ricky’s grasp and got in the car, Ethan shutting the door for me. He went to his side and got it, smirking sexily. I brushed a strand of hair away from his cheek and he turned his head to whisper against my fingertips, “All is fair in love and war.”
He started the car and we drove away, leaving Ricky behind with a war brewing all around us.