Innocent Lies (4 page)

Ethan glanced down at me and
smiled with that little extra sparkle in his eyes. He looked to had
been having some very kinky thoughts going on. I so wished I could
have read his mind.

He reached up, caressed my jaw,
and grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger. He curved his
body around mine and paused. My eyes closed; sure, I was going to
get my first kiss. Instead, he planted a swift and chaste kiss on
my right cheek. Even without actual lip contact, he left me
reeling.

He gripped my hand. “Where are we
going?” I asked.

“The
movies.”

Rattling wasn’t even the correct
word for my talking on the way. I couldn’t shut-up, a byproduct of
nerves and libido. I talked about work, school, Sarah, my
apartment, even Deacon, anything but me.

Suddenly, he reached over to
clutch my hand and placed it on his knee. I froze. Lacing his
fingers in mine, he started to stroke the side with his thumb. I
went suddenly silent.

“What?” He cut his eyes over at me
and nervously laughed. “I was enjoying your never-ending
chatter.”

“
Sorry, I always talk too much when I’m
nervous.”
Crap,
did I just admit to being nervous? Shit. Shit. Shit.

He elbowed the armrest between us,
raising it into the back of the seat. Then yanked on my arm,
pulling me next to him. My heart started beating so hard that I
heard it in the confines of the truck.

“
You should be scared.” He winked.
Ethan Asher winked at
me.

I glanced at the clock on the
dashboard. We had been in his truck for over thirty minutes. Odd, I
lived no more than twenty minutes from the local theater and that
was with my grandma driving skills. “Ethan, you missed the movies.
Taking me out of town to avoid witnesses?”

“Of course, can’t
go ruining my rep.” He playfully nudged my side. “I have a friend
that owns a drive-in outside of town.”

I had never heard of any drive-in.
I truly thought they were relics of the past. Although, the setting
had possibilities. Ethan not only in the dark, but alone with him
in a dark truck.

It was a little farther then right
outside of town. It took an hour and a half to get there and that
was with Ethan’s crazy driving. Though it was worth the drive. It
was actually a private drive-in. He pulled up to the gatehouse
where a distinctive, older gentleman handed Ethan a box.

“Everything is in
place. Louise and I are heading out of here in about fifteen
minutes.” He was a soft-spoken and kindly man, but I hated the way
he looked at me. It was a look of pity. I hated to be pitied. I had
enough of that for one lifetime.

“Thanks Jim,”
Ethan said and handed him a wad of money. If that was what he
charged to use the place, Ethan was getting cheated big time. It
looked like enough money to feed me for weeks.

Ethan drove off and
through a line of trees, hidden off in the corner was a full scale
drive-in. It looked like the one in
The Outsiders,
my
favorite childhood movie. I was right, Ethan didn’t do anything
small.

As soon as we pulled
into a spot, Ethan plugged the box into a pole outside the truck
window and the movie started.
OMG, The Notebook. Sarah would die.

“Hope you like it? My mom declares
it’s the most romantic movie ever.”

“Is this how you impress all the
girls? Come to my private drive-in and watch chick-flicks. If
you’re lucky, I might show you some loving too.”

“First off, it’s
not mine. It belongs to Jim. It’s actually my first time here too.
I thought you deserve something special.” His voice sounded
serious. “You’re quite special,” I swore I heard him
whisper.

We sat in the truck in silence for
the longest time, simply enjoying the movie. Well, I enjoyed the
movie. He didn’t take his eyes off me or his hand out of my hair. I
wish I could’ve known what he was thinking. Intense didn’t even
begin to describe him.

“Dylan, babe, we need to go
now.”

“What? The movie
is barely halfway over,” I started to say when he spun tires
backing out of there. He didn’t let off the gas until we were well
within thirty miles from the place. I went numb. I wasn’t happy, I
wasn’t sad, I wasn’t even mad; suddenly, I just was. I didn’t know
what had happened or if I had done something wrong. But Ethan
wanted out of there. He didn’t speak or touch me again until we
pulled into a parking space outside my apartment.

He raked his fingers through his
hair. “Dylan, I’m sorry, so sorry.” He swaddled me in his arms and
started kissing the side of my head, my cheek, and my hair,
anywhere his mouth could travel. “I’ve got to go, babe.”

I nodded and climbed out of the
truck never looking back.

Sunday, September 22,
2013

I didn’t sleep much that night. I
couldn’t get the hopeless look he gave me out of my head. That
impossible man had touched me in a way I couldn’t even put into
words. I’d hoped that coffee would clear my head and I would have
been able to figure out what had happened. Right inside my
apartment door was a note lying on the floor.

Beautiful Dylan,

I can never describe what the last
couple of nights have meant to me. When I think about what could’ve
been. I got called back home on family business. Sorry, I won’t be
around to touch you. When you see the moon think of me and know I
am thinking of you. Loved watching you in my arms, E

Tuesday, December 24,
2013

I couldn’t begin to list all the
changes that had occurred over the last three months. Two weeks
after Ethan left, our apartment got broken into. Nothing was taken,
but the place was ransacked, especially my room. At the trial for
my attack, I was warned that if I testified that they would come
after me. So needless to say, I freaked. When our lease was up the
first of December, I demanded we move. Sarah didn’t quite
understand and I never did share much. But she understood that for
my sanity, we needed a new place. I found the cutest townhouse with
a full time security guard. Deacon had to move in to off-set the
higher cost. I worried about her and Sarah getting along. There was
nothing to worry about, they had hit it off like they had been
together forever.

I had also changed my major from
social work to teaching. I figured I could make a bigger impact on
a child if I got to be with her on a daily basis. The chaos of
switching from one department to another was more than I bargained
for, but by and large, I was happy with the way it had all come
together.

My night with Ethan left me with a
newfound fascination with all things involving constellations. I
had even joined an amateur astronomers group. As peaceful as I had
always found stargazing, not once did it compare to my night with
him. I often wondered where he was. I tried finding him, but even
his biography off the D.A.’s website disappeared. Sometimes I
wondered if I didn’t dream those two nights with him. That couldn’t
have been a possibility either. In my dreams, I would have never
ended our second date the way it did. I finally came to the
conclusion that if it were meant to be we would find each other
again.

“Here, sweetie.” Kathy, the
waitress, slid the plate across the table and refilled my
tea.

“Thanks,” I
replied. “Did you get all the gifts on Ben’s Santa list?” I had
gone to the Pizza House so much trying to find Ethan, the waiters
and even the cooks became my second family.

“
Are you kidding me? That kid of mine is too
much. I did get him an
iPad.”

“I need one of those
myself.”

Kathy patted my hand. She never
asked any questions, but I knew she worried. I thought I even saw a
tear the day she realized I had nowhere to go for Christmas. Sarah
begged me to come home with her. I wasn’t in the mood for a big
family love-fest. Holidays had always been the hardest for me. My
dad died the week before Christmas, and I haven’t had a celebration
for anything since. I debated going to see my mom. It had been two
years since I’ve even spoken to her. She made it clear then that I
was dead to her. How she could blame her problems on me was beyond
reason. I had been a child at the time. She made all the choices
that led us to that fateful night.

I had to move on. I stuffed the
last twenty dollar bill I had in my pocket under my plate and
walked out of there for the last time.

Friday, September 19,
2014

“Hey, Tom,” Deacon
said as she plopped down at the kitchen table beside me. I hated
that nickname. I was fully aware that Dylan was a boy’s name, but
that didn’t mean I was a ‘Tom’ boy.

I started shuffling my papers
together. I had to be at the Pizza House in thirty minutes. A place
I had not been in nine months, and it was a place I would had
rather never gone back to.

“I have to meet
Logan in thirty minutes.” I said, and shoved my books in my old
knapsack.

“Who’s Logan?”
Deacon asked, and took a bite out of an apple. “Finally a man? . .
. Oh yeah, I forgot Dylan doesn’t like men or women. Have you ever
liked anybody?” Deacon asked with a mouthful of apple.

“Yeah, she liked one guy.” Sarah
walked in and hopped up on the counter top, motioning for Deacon to
throw her an apple. “An a-hole who left her a day or two after they
met.”

I grabbed my backpack and turned
to leave on that note. I could already feel the tears forming in my
eyes. Sarah wasn’t trying to upset me. I doubted she realized I
still thought of Ethan often, and I was heading to the one place
that was a tomb of memories of him. I heard them laughing as I
closed the door and sighed. I was happy and normal once. Then he
left.

Logan was already there when I
pulled into the parking lot. I had to take a few deep breaths
before I went in. My stomach had been in knots all day. Why? I
wasn’t for sure. Ethan was long gone, and I used to love hanging
out there. Logan opened my door. I had to admit I was so lost in my
thoughts I never saw him walk up to the car. He took my hand in
his. It felt wrong, but I didn’t pull away. He was a sweet guy. A
little nerdy with his black rectangular glasses and wavy
mousey-brown hair. His eyes were green not brown and no dimples
appeared when he smiled, both prerequisites for me now.

He chose a booth in the corner
behind a large column and then proceeded to order two beers. He was
nervous, and I wondered if he wasn’t under the impression that it
was more of a date than I ever meant it to be.

“Logan, I’m not
twenty-one.” I didn’t drink, and the fear I had of turning into my
mom kept the desire to drink away.

“If you get
arrested I’ll visit you in jail.” Logan said with a wink.

I pulled my hair down out of its
loose bun and started to order a latte, when I heard him. Though we
only shared two nights together, his voice was forever seared in my
mind.

“Beautiful,
Dylan,” Ethan said, his voice rung throughout the room. I turned
around to catch him propped against a column, smiling. “You’ll need
a good lawyer, if you get arrested and all.” He laughed and
motioned to the mugs on the table.

“Ethan,” I managed to get out
before a leggy brunette walked up. She smiled and wrapped her arms
around Ethan’s neck. I wanted to puke. The man I had spent a year
mourning had moved on . . . to a slut no less.

He patted her backside. “Babe, you
need to go.” He handed her some cash. “Catch a cab. I need to talk
to this pretty, little lady.” He motioned his head in my
direction.

“What?” she asked and leaned back
to look in his eyes. “You have to be kidding me.”

“Babe, it was fun, but it’s over.”
He said with a smirk. The bimbo narrowed her eyes. She opened her
mouth to argue, but grabbed the cash out of his hand instead, and
stormed out. I couldn’t blame her for being mad. I’d experienced
first-hand how Ethan made you feel and how quickly he could dump
your ass.

Ethan shifted in the booth beside
me as if nothing had happened. He crossed his arms and nodded to
Logan. “We need to talk, Privy?” He smiled at me. I wanted to hate
him. He left me without even a phone call. But his smile made
hating him impossible. Just the feel of his leg rubbing against
mine sent a prickling across my skin.