Innocent Lies (9 page)

“I like what I am batting with
right now.” I smiled back with a big, fake, toothy grin.

“If my date is anything like your
bat, I hope to hit a home run tonight.” Sarah said as she hooked
her arm with mine. She looked extremely provoking in only a pair of
jeans and a slinky tank top. I rolled my eyes at her. “What? I am
not looking for Mr. Right. Just Mr. Right Now.” She blew a kiss out
in the air. “And Mr. Right Now is around every corner when you are
this hot.”

“Be careful or Mr. Tall, Dark, and
Horny is going to leave you with something that even Ajax can’t
scrub off.” Deacon shoved at Sarah shoulder blade causing her to
almost tumble forward.

“Bitch,” Sarah said as she
steadied her footing.

“You bet, and proud of it.” She
responded pulling Allison in the restaurant.

“Be nice,” Allison said and stood
on her tiptoes to lightly kiss Deacon on the cheek.

“PDA, PDA,” Deacon hollered, but
it was easy to see by the hardly ever seen smile that she loved
it.

We enter the eatery and, thanks to
the fact that the owners were Allison’s aunt and uncle, we were
seated almost immediately. The tantalizing aroma of the food hit my
nostrils and left my mouth watering. It was a smaller
establishment, but it had the best fruit tea and potato soup this
side of the dixie line.

“I can’t wait for tonight. So tell
me about this friend of Ethan’s?” Sarah’s baby blue eyes lit up
with promise. “Please, tell me he is as hot, if not
hotter.”

It dawned on me I had never met
any of Ethan’s friends and family. He never even talked about them.
Which I never asked any questions about them either. Something
about the name Asher still struck a cord with me. “I’ve never met
him. Ethan said he was nice.”

“You know what that means, he is
fugly.” Allison said dryly. “And another thing why did we not get
invited to this thing?”

“They knew you would look hotter
and they didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the guys.”
Deacon said, nuzzling her nose in Allison’s hair.

Sarah rolled her eyes and wiped
her nails across the front of her shirt. “In your dreams, sweet
cakes.” She said with a grin then aimed her glare at
Deacon.

I had missed this. I cherished
each moment I had with Ethan, but I needed time with the girls.
Ethan could be intense.

After spending the afternoon
chattering and eating our weight in homemade chocolate pie, Sarah
and I told them our goodbyes. Ethan was schedule to pick us up any
moment.

It took me the length of two
heartbeats to open the door when I heard the familiar knock of
Ethan’s.

“Hey you,” He had me in his arms
before I even fully had the door open. A slow, mischievous smile
spread across his handsome face.

“Hey stranger,” I said and
squirmed out of his arms. First, I wanted to admire him. He was
looking smoking hot in only a V-neck-tee-shirt and a pair of worn
jeans. Secondly, after seeing the smile he was flashing, I wanted
to see what he had planned.

“Damn!” Sarah said with a look of
horror when she caught a glimpse of Ethan’s beat-up Chevrolet
Camaro. I blew out a puff of air. I knew Ethan was scheduled to get
it out of the shop that day, but why did he feel the need to drive
it that night? “I thought he drove a truck?”

“He does,” I answered. “But he
loves this money-pit.” I jabbed him in the ribs as he went to open
the car door. Sarah hopped in and I crawled in the front seat.
Ethan tugged on the hem of my dress.

“Make sure I’m behind you if you
ever plan on bending over tonight.” He growled and lightly smacked
my butt.

I turned my head and winked, my
g-rated Ethan was finally showing a spark of his true
nature.

Ethan slid behind the wheel and
took my hand in his. He drove even faster than he normally did. He
seemed like he was not happy about tonight, possibly even
nervous.

“Are you okay?” I ran my hands
over the nap of his neck, letting my finger slip down his
spine.

“Fine, just would rather have you
alone with me at home.” His eyes burned into me with a searing
hunger.

“You can’t hide me away forever.”
I said and started nibbling on Ethan’s ear.

“Behave,” Sarah said, breaking
through the heat that was blazing around us and making us forget
everything but each other. “Where is my date? And he better be
hot.”

“He is meeting us at the bar and I
can honestly say I have never thought any man was hot.” Ethan said
as he pulled up in front of an out-of-the-way bar. It appeared
barren and I wondered if it was even opened. “That is him.” Ethan
said and pointed. My eyes followed his finger to the lone guy
sitting atop the railings that ran along the front porch to the
place.

“Whoa!” Sarah busted out of the
car, straightened her tight red tee-shirt, and I am not sure, but I
believe pulled up her black leather micro-mini a smidgen. She
looked sexy and after seeing her tongue dart out and over her upper
lip, I knew she was ready to party. Being not a shy person, she
took off walking over toward him in her six inch heels. Gracefully,
I might add.

"Is she always like that?" Ethan
asked and tucked my hair behind my shoulder.

"Unfortunately yes, I hope he is
no prune."

Ethan laughed a short but hard
laugh. "No, I think he could handle anything she dishes out and
then some." He tilted his head toward mine. "He is a whore
too."

Ethan opened the door and took my
arm. He escorted me in as if we were headed into a fancy gala, not
a honky-tonk.

Sarah had already introduced
herself before we got to the front steps. “Wayne, this is Dylan
Summers and I guess, you have already met her roommate Sarah
North.”

I held my hand out to shake
Wayne’s when he gripped my upper arms and pulled me up to him,
kissing me fast and hard on the lips.

“Wayne, I have already warned you
about tonight.” Ethan snapped, dragging me behind him.

Sarah practically glowed when
Wayne placed his hand on her lower back. “Just goofing, dude.” He
couldn’t compete with Ethan, but Wayne could definitely demand a
room. His hair was dark brown, almost black, and his eyes were
bright green.

The next hour past in a blur of
great conversation, even better food, and a display of affection
that was a little r-rated between Sarah and Wayne. I had gotten to
the point that I didn’t care about the rest of the night, I just
wanted away from them.

Ethan draped his arm along the
back of the chair and started toying with the tips of my hair. His
free hand lifted a can of beer to his mouth and he darted a
malicious stare over at Wayne. I knew then he was thinking the same
thing I was.

“Sarah,” I said and jerked her
hand, pulling her out of Wayne’s lap. “I need to go to the
bathroom.”

I tugged her into the only stall
in the women’s restroom. I combed my hands through my hair. “Can
you please be a little less slutty?”

She wiggled an eyebrow at me, and
shot me a very becoming smile. “No, I want to be under him and his
hard place tonight.”

I seized her upper arm. “I want
more with Ethan. I am sure Wayne will have no problem with you
being under, over, or sideways of his hard place tonight. But
please for me, cut the dry-humping at the dinner table.”

She agreed and even pulled her
skirt down a couple of inches. My eyes locked on Ethan and Wayne as
I started walking back to the table. They were speaking quietly to
each other and Ethan appeared pissed.

“I am going to warn you one more
time. She is not one of my girls. You can fuck Sarah ten ways to
Sunday tonight, but if she gets a inkling about anything I will
gladly kick your ass and permanently remove your
membership.”

“What are you talking about?” I
asked and picked up my drink to take a sip.

“What I want to do to you?” He
pulled me down into his lap, spilling my drink down the front of my
blouse. I was soaked. Ethan trailed a finger around the rather
large wet spot over my left breast. I loved seeing Ethan like that.
He was relaxed and carefree. He gave Wayne a smile, a slightly
mocking and knowing smile that one bachelor would give another.
“Ready to go?”

I peeked down at my
soaked shirt. “Home.” I looked up at Sarah that had her tongue down
Wayne’s throat. “Sarah, I am heading out. I’m sure Wayne will see
you home.”
Or to the nearest
bed.

Ethan hurriedly rushed me out of
the bar, but before I climbed in the car he pushed me against the
hood “You are going to my house. I am going to kiss you until you
fall asleep and dream only of me.”

Wednesday, November 5,
2014

Being in love, lust, whatever we
had going made the last month and a half fly by as though I was
living in a dream? Sarah and Deacon had stopped questioning me when
I disappeared for days on end. Ethan wouldn’t stay over at my
place. I was not sure if Deacon scared him a little or if Sarah’s
roaming hands did. Whenever Ethan didn’t have long days in court,
he would spend his time at the library with me. Demanding, I didn’t
let my GPA drop because of him. Every Wednesday night, we went to
his field and stargazed. We had spent many nights talking until the
wee hours of the morning. We could’ve talked forever, about
everything or nothing at all. It had to have been my favorite thing
about him. I had never smiled more in my life. The nightmares had
all but disappeared.

I had also found in
amazement that none of his idiosyncrasies drove me bonkers. If
anything, they made me love him more.
Did I just write love? What the heck.
His habit of driving out of the way
to just about everything. The way he pretended to be reading when
in reality he was studying me. The way his cigarette dangled out of
the corner of his mouth when he laughed. The way he licked his
upper lip when he was getting ready to kiss. The way he respected
my boundaries. I had slept numerous nights with him and all he ever
did was hold me. Okay, maybe a little more than just hold me, but
he never pushed the limit. I wanted him to push the limits too. A
girl could’ve only been good for so long.

I adored his small
confessions. How his first crush was his babysitter, Renee. She was
fifteen years older than him and he actually drilled a hole in the
wall to watch her dress. He knew one song on the piano, the theme
to
Rugrats.
He wouldn’t watch
Titanic
because Rose could have saved Jack.

“I have to work
late tonight. I’ll meet you at the fundraiser.” Ethan hollered from
the shower.

I hated to admit it, but I was
jealous of the water that got to pool down that body? And I
couldn’t wait for the day I got to join him. I hastily crammed my
journal in my backpack. Ethan had a big enough ego without reading
my thoughts. “You’re coming.” I yelled back, hearing the familiar
click of the shower door.

Sarah’s sorority was hosting a
pool tournament at the bar to raise money for Four Loaves; a
charity that sent backpacks full of food home each weekend with
local, needy children. I was a sucker for kids and that particular
charity was a pet project of mine. I told Ethan about it earlier,
but never expected him to come.

“Of course, I don’t have a
choice.”

“
Why don’t you
have a choice?”

“Because I heard this really cute
girl will be there. I kind of like spending time with her.” He
rounded the corner and started walking down the hall. He had on a
pair of navy blue dress pants and was slipping on a white
tee-shirt, but not before I caught a glimpse of his impressive
torso. I had seen plenty of naked males parading around at my
mom’s. However, not one of those men had a thing on Ethan. He was
broad, cut and damn, his stomach had ripples.

“Like the view?” He motioned to the
oversized windows flanking the fireplace and smirked. He didn’t
fool me; he had caught me openly gawking at him. “Your cheeks are
glowing . . . Hey, it’s okay, I love my view too.” He made no bones
about it as he eyed me from the tip of my toes to my tousled hair
and back down again.

Later that night

Logan had turned his orange
baseball cap backwards and struck the cue ball, knocking in the
last four pool balls. I was shocked to see that he was such a pool
shark. I was surprised to see him at all. It was the first time I
had seen him beside class since the night at the Pizza House when
Ethan came back into my life. It was as if he had dropped off the
side of the planet. Maybe it was me, he was avoiding me at all
cost.