The Forever of Ella and Micha

have a jacket you could put on?”
    I wring out my hair, making a mess on the entryway tile. “No, I didn’t think it would rain.”
    “What? The dark clouds weren’t a dead giveaway?” Ethan asks mockingly and grabs a handful of chips from a bag on the coffee table.
    “It usually doesn’t rain here.” I head toward my room while my boots leave a trail of water on the carpet. “Do I have time to take a shower before we leave?”
    “Yeah, you’re good,” Micha calls out. “Just make it a quick one.”
    I close my bedroom door, slip off my wet clothes, and go into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, leaving the door cracked. The warm water of the shower eases my stiff muscles and I let it run along my body longer than I’d planned.
    “Ella, are you alive in here?” Micha’s voice increases over the sound of the running water.
    I rub the water from eyes. “Yeah, I was just about to get out.”
    I wait a minute for him to leave, and then shut off the water and draw the curtain back to step out, but he’s still there, leaning against the counter.
    “Shit.” I grab the curtain and cover myself. “I thought you left.”
    He crosses his arms and his feral eyes bore into me. “I wanted to make sure you got out. We need to go.”
    I reach for the towel on the hanger and wrap it around myself before releasing the curtain and stepping out. His gaze tracks me all the way as I walk into my room.
    I dig through my dresser drawer for some clothes and select a gray-and-black-striped hooded T-shirt and a pair of jeans. “Alright, give me a minute to get dressed and I’m good to go.”
    He picks up a drawing of the girl with cracks in her face and studies it. “When did you draw this?”
    Sighing, I pull on my panties without taking off the towel. “Right before I came to visit you in LA.”
    He drops it back onto the dresser and his fiery gaze shifts to me. “It looks like you were sad when you drew it.”
    I pull my pants on, stumbling around the room as my foot gets caught in the middle of the pant leg. “I was sad about not being able to see you.”
    A ghost smile touches his lips as I stare at my bra in my hand, racking my brain for a way to get it on without flashing him. “Did you run into some trouble?” he asks.
    I blink at him impassively. “Would you mind stepping out for a minute?”
    He gives an overexaggerated nod. “I would mind very much.”
    Shaking my head, I turn around and let the towel fall to the floor. Hooking an arm through each strap, I put the bra on and reach around to clasp it together, but fingers brush my back.
    “I know I’m not supposed to say this, since we’re supposed to be friends.” Micha breathes in husky tone as he clips the clamps together. “But you are ridiculously beautiful.”
    My lungs constrict as I peek over my shoulder and his luscious lips are only inches away. “You’re right,” I say, breathless as my heart hammers inside my chest. “You really shouldn’t say things like that.”
    His gaze moves to my lips, full of desire like he might kiss me, and a needy moan trembles from my mouth. Nibbling on his lip ring, he backs away, his eyes never wavering from me until he shuts the door and disappears into the hall.
    Blowing out a quivering breath, I quickly put my shirt on and comb my hair, wishing he had kissed me.

    Ethan drops us off at the airport with barely enough time to get checked in and make it to the gate before the plane starts to board. Everyone keeps thinking we’re newlyweds and Micha is amused by it; however, it makes me uneasy. Newlyweds equal marriage, something I’m not ready for.
    As we’re getting ready to get onto the plane, Micha tells me to go ahead without him. He’s got something to do and he’ll meet me on the plane. Collecting my bags, I line up with my boarding pass in my hand as he saunters off toward the gift shop area with his bag over his shoulder.
    On the plane, I find our row and put my smaller bag under the seat, then stuff the larger one into the overhead compartment. I sit down by the window and gaze out at the blue sky and the wing of the airplane, wondering how bad flying is, since I’ve never been on a plane before.
    “You look nervous,” Micha remarks when he reaches the end of the row.
    “I’m fine,” I assure him. “I was just lost in my thoughts.”
    He shoves his bag into the compartment above our heads and his green plaid hooded shirt rises up just enough to show a thin space of his lean