“Okay, but you can always—”

“I know,” he cuts me off and kisses my temple. “And thank you, but another night would be better.”

After Ethan pays the bill, he slowly laces his fingers with mine as I rise from my seat and in that moment the very person I wanted to avoid tonight walks past our table. Tyler. He stops in front of us, shock written all over his face. His eyes bounce back and forth between us.

“Ethan, I thought you were going to hit me up when you had a night off.” Tyler offers his hand and Ethan accepts it with a quick, firm shake that makes Tyler cringe. “We could grab a drink now; my dad would probably enjoy catching up with you too.”

“I’d love that,” Officer Maron says, walking up behind Tyler. “Kelsey, it’s great to see you again.”

“Whoa, man, strong grip,” Tyler says, prying his hand away from Ethan. I hadn’t even realized they were still shaking hands. Weird.

“We were just leaving,” Ethan says. “Maybe next time.”

He rushes us to his bike, giving me my helmet before putting his on, too, and quickly pulls out the parking lot heading for home. Our date just went from good to bad in seconds, and now Tyler’s responsible for ruining something else that I wanted.

Ethan pulls the bike into his driveway and just sits there. The September air is growing colder and Ethan probably won’t be able to ride his bike much longer. His mood has taken a complete 180 since we left the restaurant, and after Logan told me how much this bike means to Ethan, I sit on the back, not rushing him.

“I’m sorry about that. I wanted to beat his face in, no questions asked.” He lets out a breath. “Logan told me what Tyler did and with who … I swear I didn’t know, and if I had I would have never shown up with her. I swear.”

“Ethan, stop, everything is fine.” I lift my leg over the bike, handing him my helmet so I can stand and face him. “Everyone makes mistakes—it’s how you handle them that defines who you are. Besides, we weren’t dating then, so I don’t really have a reason to be mad.”

“Still, I should have just asked why you couldn’t be with me before you caved and told me. It was a dick move.”

“Yeah, but at least you know it, and if Tyler hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t be here right now, with you,” I flirt with him, noting the exact moment he relaxes. “So technically, we should thank Tyler for getting us here.”

He kicks the stand on the bike as he gets up. The look in his eyes twists my stomach as I lean forward over the bike. His lips press against mine.

“Did you say we were dating now?” he asks, pulling away only until the words are out. He kisses me again, but before I can answer, the sound of screeching tires skidding to a stop makes me jump back.

A truck the exact image of Ethan’s, only black, parks in front of his house. The dome light comes on at the same time Ethan whispers “fuck” behind me. I watch as the light fades and the driver’s door closes after someone gets out. Then a man, probably a few years older than Ethan, steps around the truck.

“Baby brother.” The man smiles coyly. “Looks like I’m crashing with you for a few days.”

Ethan groans and rubs his hands over his face. That’s not the reaction I would have if my brother showed up. I’d be thrilled and even hug him. Ethan might not be a hugging person, but he sure doesn’t look happy.

“Hey there,” the blonde man says to me. He reaches his hand out. “I’m Lance.”

I shake his hand. “Hi.”

He chuckles. “And you are?”

“I’m—”

“Leaving.” Ethan cuts in, walking around his bike to nudge me toward my house. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We can talk about that shift change then.”

What the—?

“Please,” he whispers so only I can hear him. His eyes are pleading as he darts them between me and his brother.

I get that he might not want his family to know he has something going on with me just yet, but it still stings that he is referring to me as just an employee right now. At least he could have told his brother I was a friend or a neighbor. Either way, this reaction is bullshit.

“Yeah, sure thing.” The sentence is nothing but sarcasm, and from the worried expression Ethan just gave me, he knows he just ruined our first date.

I walk away hearing a faint “she’s feisty” from his brother. I’d really like to turn around and flip him the bird, but I can be more mature about this. Instead, with all this run of new emotion I have, I think I’ll work on my essay. The life of a twenty-something girl and her failed attempts to make a relationship work with the same guy might make for interesting story. In fact, since this is going to be a column about my personal life, this would be a great opening piece and might just be the one to win me this job.

Chapter Twenty

Kelsey

I wrote the entire essay in two hours last night. Edited it first thing this morning and now I’m confidently handing it in.

“You’re really going to enter that? I didn’t realize you wanted to be a writer that badly,” Logan comments once I’ve returned to my seat. Professor Frank announced today was an in-class writing day, so everyone is sitting quietly at their seats, scribbling notes. Everyone except Logan because he doesn’t like to write. I glance at his paper, Hangman is all it shows. I laugh to myself, shaking my head.

“Like most of the other people in this class, I happen to enjoy writing.”

“But to do it every day?” He sounds doubtful.

“Twenty-four hours a day,” I assure him. “I’d love it.”

“Okay, why writing? Why not art?”

“Because I suck at art and writing just comes to me. I can have all these conversations in my head and assign them to different characters. I can give them lives I’ll never live. Fancier or maybe more exciting lives. It’s nothing different than a movie. I just leave mine on paper instead of making it into a film.” Not very many people ask me why I write anymore. It’s nice to know some people don’t just think I’m weird.

“So you write about the life you want?”

“No, that would be crazy and in some cases really disturbing.”

“Interesting,” he says, drawing up another hangman game. “So what’s up with you and Ethan?” Now I know why he was acting overly interested—he was building to this.

“Nothing.” I shrug.

“Lies. Come on, tell me.” His voice is nearing the begging side and that’s when it clicks.

“Sara asked you to ask me that, didn’t she?”

“Nope.” He shakes his head. “She did not.”

“Yeah, okay, we’re not really anything. I don’t think Ethan knows what he wants.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Okay everyone! Let’s end class here. If you haven’t turned your entry in for the columnist spot, you have exactly twenty seconds to do so or you’re out.”

I glance around to see who my competition might be, but no one steps up. I saw three other papers on the prof’s desk so I know I’m not alone, and he has more than one class, but the fewer who enter, the better. My paper is going to grab their attention, I just know it.

“Hey.” Logan taps my desk. “Let’s go and you can tell me your Ethan theory.”

I follow him out of the room with the other students.

“He was just acting weird last night after his brother showed up. He couldn’t even introduce me to him.”

Logan nods, pushing to doors open to step outside.

“It’s like one minute he likes me, the next he has no idea. I don’t get it.”

“Well, you better figure it out quick because confused lover boy is standing by your car.”

I stop, looking directly at Ethan. He’s got a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a nervous look on his face. This would be much easier if he could look happy all the time instead of like someone who keeps messing up. Or he could just stop messing up. I stroll toward him, crossing my arms over my chest. Whatever his excuse it this time, it better be good because I swear, one more chance is all this guy is going to get.