by E. L. Todd
Ethan turned to me. “What do you want, baby?”
I smiled. I liked that he was still affectionate with me in front of my father. “I like Italian.”
“Italian it is.”
My dad leaned toward Ethan. “That’s a bad way to start a relationship. She’ll start to think she has all the power.”
Ethan glanced at me. “I think it’s too late for me.”
I smiled. “Yes, it is.”
Ethan sighed. “Damn.”
My father clapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Ethan said with a laugh.
“You know I can hear you,” I said.
My dad shrugged. “I had to warn him. It’s my duty.”
I rolled my eyes then walked out the door. We left the building then reached the sidewalk. Ethan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close to him. He acted the same way he did when we were alone—almost the same. We reached the restaurant and took our seat. It was the same restaurant that I went to with Alex—when I was tricked by my brother.
Ethan rested his arm on the back of my chair, being affectionate at all times. My father didn’t seem uncomfortable by the closeness. He had never seen me with a boyfriend before so I wasn’t sure how he would feel. But then again, he saw me make out with Ethan a few times. I guess this was nothing compared to that.
“How’s the shop doing?” Ethan asked.
“Good,” my dad answered. “Business is always up and down. How’s Wall Street? That sounds a lot more interesting.”
Ethan laughed. “Not really, actually. It’s basically the same job but a different day.”
“But the pay must be nice.”
Ethan nodded but said nothing.
I liked how humble Ethan was. Anytime my brother had the opportunity to tell anyone he went Harvard, he milked it dry. I loved my brother but sometimes he could be annoying.
My dad looked at me. “Did you and Alex work it out?”
I stiffened at his question. I felt Ethan tense beside me.
“Uh, we haven’t talked.”
“He seemed really upset today. You should give him a chance,” my dad said.
Ethan controlled his anger, but it still seeped out. “What happened today?” He stared at me.
“I ran into him really quick. We argued, but nothing happened.”
My dad raised an eyebrow. “He seemed distraught when came into the shop.”
I wanted to punch my dad in the face. I could really do it.
Ethan lowered his arm from the back of my chair. I knew I was in trouble. “And what did Alex say?”
I looked at him. “He just wanted to apologize—that’s all.” I glared at my father, daring him to say another word. Thankfully, he was silent.
Ethan said nothing more. I knew he was livid even though he kept his cool. He was quiet for the rest of dinner, saying very little. His phone kept vibrating in his pocket and I felt it against my leg, but he didn’t answer it.
My dad talked about the shop and sports, something I had no interest in. Ethan carried the conversation, but I knew his mind was elsewhere. I knew he was going to unleash his anger as soon as we were alone. His phone kept vibrating in his pocket and it kept rubbing against my leg.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” I asked.
He looked at me. “We’re at dinner. That would be rude.”
When the check came, Ethan paid for it even though my father offered. We left the restaurant and said our goodbyes on the sidewalk. When my father walked away and waved down a cab, Ethan immediately turned to me. There were flames in his eyes and I knew this was going to be a big fight. But instead of speaking, he just walked away. I walked beside him as he headed back to my apartment. He didn’t touch me and kept his hands in his pockets, which worried me. When I wrapped my arm around his, he didn’t push me away but he was still distant.
When I closed the apartment door behind me, the battle began.
He gripped his hair as he paced around the apartment. Koku ran up to him but scurried away when he noticed the tension. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me?”
“Ethan, you were at work.”
“You think I give a shit? If some asshole is harassing my girlfriend, I want to know about it.”
“I don’t want you to get fired, Ethan.”
He glared at me. “Let me worry about my job!”
“I was going to tell you but I wanted to wait until tomorrow.”
He shook his head. “I highly doubt that.” He took his phone out of his pocket. “You see this?”
I stepped back. “I know what a phone is. I’m not stupid.”
“Then use it! My phone is on me all day, every day. All you had to do was call. That’s all I asked you to do.” His phone went off and he received another message.
“Who the hell has been calling you all night?”
“I don’t know,” he snapped. “And I don’t care.”
I glared at him. “You know exactly who’s calling you.”
“What?”
“Well, you obviously know it isn’t your sister.”
He said nothing.
I grabbed the phone and opened the messages. Three different girls were inviting him over tonight. Ethan didn’t try to take it back. “And what the fuck is this? I thought you said you told them you were settled down?”
“It’s not my fault they don’t understand the meaning of no.”
“Well, it’s not my fault that Alex doesn’t understand the meaning of no.”
He stepped closer to me. “If you want to beat the shit out of these girls, go ahead. I don’t give a damn, Sadie. But you’re always defending Alex. These are completely different situations.”
I opened his messages and started looking through them. “Let’s see if you even told them you had a girlfriend.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snapped. “What happened to trusting me?”
I continued to read through them.
He shook his head. “That’s fucking low, Sadie. I like how you turn this argument back on me. Now it’s my fault. You’re the liar that didn’t tell me the truth.”
“I didn’t lie!”
“I fucking asked you what you did today, and you didn’t mention it once! You had the perfect opportunity but you lied!”
“My dad was coming over!”
“So you thought it would be better if I heard it from him?”
“Fuck you!”
He glared at me. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“Fuck you, Ethan.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything.
“There’s not a single message in here that says you have a girlfriend.”
“That’s because I deleted it! Didn’t you notice that I haven’t responded to any of their messages? Doesn’t that mean something to you? I’ve been loyal from the beginning. You told me you trusted me but you never fucking did—ever.” He turned toward the door. “Have a good night.”
“I have your phone, you idiot.”
“Keep it. Make a thorough search so you can feel like shit afterwards.” He slammed the door.
I stared at the door, holding the phone in my hand. Like he said, there wasn’t anything incriminating on it. He had a lot of messages on his phone from whores, but most of them hadn’t even been opened. And he didn’t respond to any of them. Then when I closed the messages, I saw the background screen was a picture of me sleeping. Now I really did feel like shit.
17
I was in a shitty situation. I could go to Ethan’s house but I would be going alone at night—which would piss him off. But I had his phone so I had no other way to contact him. I didn’t know what to do.
I decided to call my brother.
“Hey,” he said.
“Can you do me a favor?”
He sighed. “I guess.”
“Can you take me to Ethan’s house?”
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Is Elisa home?”
“I’ll be there in a second.” He hung up.
I guess that worked out. I thought I was going to have to beg him.
When he came to my door, he was wearing a suit.
I raised an eyebrow. “You were wearing a suit at home?”
“Do you want me to take you or not?”
I grabbed my purse when walked out the door.
“So, why am I doing this? Why can’t he just come get you?”
“He left his phone here.”
“And he doesn’t know?”
“Stop interrogating me!”
He sighed. “Another breakup?”
“No. We just had a fight.”
We got into the cab then drove down the road.
“And what did he do now?”
“It wasn’t him—it was me.”
“Really?”
“I lied then went through his phone, checking his messages.”
He cringed. “It pissed me off when Suzie did that.”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I was just mad. It was a spur of the moment thing.”
“So he left?”
“Yeah.”
The cab stopped in front of the town house and we walked to the front door. I knocked on the door loudly and felt my heart hammer in my chest. I prayed that he was home. Please be home. I heard Elisa’s feet move behind the door. She looked through the peephole before she opened the door.
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
“Hi!” Jared yelled.
I just shook my head. My brother was just embarrassing. “Is Ethan here?”
“No. Why?”
I felt my heart fall. “Fuck.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to talk to him.”
“Well, you are more than welcome to wait for him.”
“Okay,” Jared said quickly.
Seriously, my brother needed to chill. “Okay,” I agreed.
We walked inside and Elisa locked the door behind us. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Tea, please,” Jared said.
I raised an eyebrow. I had never seen Jared drink tea in my life. “Water is fine.”
“Great. I’ll be right back.”
Jared followed her. “Let me give you a hand.”
I rolled my eyes. My brother was making an idiot out of himself. Becky walked down the hall holding her doll. When she saw me, she squealed and ran to me. “Hi, Aunt Sadie.” Her words broke my heart. I wanted to be her aunt someday. I wasn’t sure if that was possible anymore. I made a big mess of things.
“Hello, Becky.”
“Where’s Uncle Ethan?”
“He’ll be here soon. Where’s your brother?”
“He’s sleeping.”
I nodded. “Should you be in bed?”
“I haven’t seen Uncle Ethan all day. I wanted to show him my new doll.”
Now I felt worse. He wasn’t home because of me. I hoped he wasn’t hooking up with a random girl at a bar. The knowledge would cripple me. But he wouldn’t do that. This was just a fight. We would work through it.
I heard Elisa laughing from the kitchen. I waited for my cup of water but it never came. I heard the chairs move in the kitchen and knew they sat down together. They obviously had forgotten about me. I sat down with Becky, and she played with her doll until she fell asleep. My eyes started to grow heavy when I heard the front door open. Ethan walked inside then hung his jacket on the rack. When he saw me, he stopped in his tracks. We stared at each other but said nothing. I knew he wanted to yell at me, but when he saw Becky in my arms he kept his silence.
Ethan approached me then grabbed the little girl from my arms. He walked down the hallway then disappeared. He returned a moment later and glared at me. He kept his voice down but his anger was unmistakable. “How dare you come to my family’s house, bringing the drama with you, and how dare you come here in the middle of the night alone.” His eyes widened in anger.
“Ethan—”
“Let’s go.”
“I didn’t come alone. Jared brought me.”
His anger dimmed a little. “You still shouldn’t have come.”
“You didn’t have your phone—I didn’t know what to do.”
“Find anything interesting?” he spat.
“No,” I whispered. “And you’re right. I feel like shit.”
“Do you want to know where I was tonight?”
I was quiet for a moment. “No.”
“I went to a bar.”
“Oh?”
“I met a girl. I bought her a drink.”
I felt a tear escape from my eye.
“She gave me her number.”
“Stop.”
“Why? It’s what I’ve been doing all the time anyway, right?”
“Please stop.” The tears started to fall.
He sighed then sat beside me. “I tore up her number then left. I realized I could never go back to that lifestyle. I’m in love with you, Sadie. I’m pissed at you but I fucking love you.”
I wiped my tears away. “Nothing happened?”
“I didn’t touch her.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“I was so pissed at you for not trusting me. If you don’t trust me, then why should I be faithful? I’m doing all the work but I’m receiving no recognition.”
“Ethan, I’m sorry.”
“I told you that I loved you, Sadie. I’m with you every night. I introduced you to my family. If that doesn’t convince you that I’m serious, then what will?”
“I know.”
“You either trust me or you don’t. Which is it, Sadie? And don’t waste my time by lying to me. I’ve given you everything. I can’t do it anymore if I’m going to be lied to and questioned all the time.”
“Ethan, I’m so sorry. I do trust you.”
He stared at me. “Do you really?”
“I love you.”
His eyes softened. “I love you too.”
“I’m so sorry—and about Alex.”
“Sorry about what, exactly?”
“That I didn’t tell you about him.”
“Will you call me next time?”
I was quiet for a moment. “I won’t get you in trouble at work, Ethan.”
He gripped his hair. “Sadie, I’m this close to punching my fist through a wall.”
“I don’t want you to lose your job.”
He looked back at me. “I’m perfectly aware of my responsibilities to my family. I realize that I can’t get fired because the kids would starve and my sister would be homeless. You don’t need to remind me. I get it. You let me worry about that.”
“Then what would you have done?”
“I would have sent a brother or a friend to get you.”
My eyes softened. “I—I didn’t know.”
“I will always take care of you, Sadie. Even if I can’t be there in person. Now will you promise to call me?”
“Always.”
For the first time, he smiled. “Thank you.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan.”
He kissed me. “It’s okay, baby. I’m glad we got this figured out.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry that we fight so much.”
“Well, at least we’ll have good make up sex.”
“That’s true. I like make up sex.”
His eyes grew dark. “Me too.”
“So, do you want to go to my place or stay here?”
He thought for a moment. “It would be nice not to be quiet.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go.” He rose from the couch and pulled me to a stand. “I really want to make love to you.”
I felt my knees go weak. “Uh, yeah.”
He smiled and led me toward the door.
“Wait. I forgot about my brother.”
“What about him? Is he still here?”
His eyes widened. “What? Where the fuck is he?”
I rolled my eyes. “Calm down. He’s in the kitchen.”
Ethan stormed into the kitchen and I followed behind him. When we walked inside, they were sitting at the table talking. Elisa was smiling as she held her mug. Jared was leaning back in his chair, staring at her. He was smiling too.
Ethan stopped when he reached Elisa. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“Good. Jared and I were just talking,” she said with a smile.
Ethan stared at her for a moment without speaking. He turned to Jared. “Could you excuse us, please?”
I was shocked that Ethan said the word ‘please.’ I didn’t realize it was in his vocabulary.
“Sure.” Jared rose to his feet then left the room.
When he was gone, Ethan looked at his sister. “Is he bothering you?”
“No, Ethan.”
Ethan looked at me. “Could you excuse us as well?”
“Uh, yeah, sorry.”
Elisa grabbed his hand. “Really. It’s fine.”
“Sadie and I were going to stay at her place tonight, but if you are uncomfortable, I won’t leave. Or I’ll make Jared come with us.”
“You can go, really. He doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”
He stared at her for a long time, searching for the sincerity in her eyes. Ethan looked at me. “I hate to be rude for not including you but I’m afraid my sister won’t be honest with me since you’re Jared’s sister. I’m sorry, but could you wait in the other room?”
I turned around and left. I was a little hurt that he asked me to leave but I understood his request. If Elisa hated Jared, I doubt she would be honest about it in front of me since Ethan and I were together. She wouldn’t want to ruin Ethan’s relationship by offending me. I sat next to Jared and waited.
Jared looked at me. “Did I piss him off?”
“I don’t think so. He just wants to make sure you aren’t making Elisa uncomfortable.”
“She and I were having a great time. I wasn’t bothering her.”
“We’ll see.”
“I don’t want to piss off Ethan if you are serious with him. You know I wouldn’t do that on purpose.”
I smiled. “I know, Jared.”
Ethan came from the kitchen then grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”
I was surprised. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Jared breathed a sigh of relief then stood up.