Second String (In Too Deep #3) (17 page)

Chapter 21

Emily

Ethan offered to hang out with me on my birthday. He said Josh didn't care if he
didn't show at the golf thing, and he'd be happy to change his plans in order to spend the day with me. It was one of the hardest things I'd ever done, but I turned him down.

For one thing, I had already promised Gretche
n I'd have lunch with the girls. Also, I had this ever-growing ache in my gut caused by the fact that I'd just spent all night cheating on Jeremy, and I liked it. I freaking liked it a lot. Ethan's body was like a drug… one my body craved.

It was 10AM, and since I turned him down on spending the day together, he had less than an hour before he needed to leave with Joel. He was already dressed to leave, and we were hanging out with Sal on the couch.
I was situated between Ethan and Sal, sitting cross-legged in my pajamas.

"I don't have to leave, you know,"
he said. The offer was tempting, but I knew Jeremy would be calling me in a little bit to wish me a happy birthday. "I know, and I'm so thankful you're willing to change your plans, but I just can't ask you to do that."

He was kind enough not to push it. "You're loss," he said. "I would have probably wanted to spend some money on you."

Now,
that
was easier for me to resist. "I definitely wouldn't want you spending any money on me," I said. "You never even spend any money on yourself, from what I hear, so I know you hate to part with it."

"You calling me cheap?" he asked, his expression full of challenge. 

"Do you ever spend any of your money?" I asked, thinking that would prove my point easily.

"As a matter of fact, I just bought
myself a new toy a few days ago."

"Yeah? What'd
ya get?" I asked.

"A motorcycle."

"A motorcycle?" I was a little shocked at first. Then I realized the news shouldn't surprise me at all. "I forgot you had a death wish." I said, teasing him.

"I wouldn't call it a death wish," he said. "It's just that
things are more fun when greater risk is involved."

I knew he was an adrenaline junky, and the risks he wanted to take were all physical, but his statement was true for me too. Between Jeremy and Ethan, I would definitely be taking the greater risk with Ethan… but, boy, was he fun.

"That's why girls love guys w
ho drive a motorcycle, you know."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Because subconsciously we know that you could easily die riding one of those things. We're attracted to the balls it takes to put yourself in that kind of danger." The corner of Ethan's mouth rose in a sideways smile. "It's true," I continued, "but I'm surprised you have permission to ride one of those things with how extreme your coach is." 

"Oh, I'm not supposed to be riding it. My coach has no idea I have it. My mom doesn't even kn
ow. I keep it in a storage unit on the outskirts of town. I park my car there, and take it for a ride. My coach would go ballistic if he knew I was riding. I had to sign a contract. He made me put it in writing that I wouldn't be doing any daredevil shit until after the Olympics."

"Is that what your contract said?" I asked. "No daredevil shit?"
The word sounded funny coming out of my mouth. I rarely cussed, but I thought that was really funny. 

He tickled
me and I screamed and wiggled in his big arms. "Basically," he said, laughing at the way I was squirming. "It's a big list of things I have to avoid like skydiving and bungee jumping and riding a motorcycle."

"That must stink for someone
like you," I said.

"Not really, since I just sneak
and do it anyway." Ethan looked at me to see if that kind of defiance would fly with me or not. He knew I was pretty straight-laced and liked to push my buttons. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I don't take stupid chances. If I don't think I can do something without getting hurt, I don't do it."

"Well, I
understand your confidence, but that's exactly what everybody thinks." I looked at him for a few seconds. "That's why girls flock to guys who ride. Like I said, it takes balls to play around with fast moving metal machines."

Ethan laughed at the idea. "So you think I'm
hotter
now because of my apparent death wish?" he asked.

"I probably wouldn't have put it in so many words, but… yes, basically, yes. I don't want you to get hurt, and technically
I should warn you against riding at all. But, yes, like most girls, I think motorcycles are very hot. I mean, who
hasn't
imagined themselves on the back of a bike?"

Ethan flashed me that easy grin that made my heart skip a beat. Or maybe the affect was in my abdomen. Either way, I was
all stirred up inside at the sight of that smile. "You should come down to San Diego to see me when you see the light and break up with the poser," he said. I could tell those were his parting words. He said them as if he was about to stand and walk out the door, and that's exactly what he did. He stood, crossed the room to get his bag, and picked it up before hesitating and setting it back at his feet.

"Come walk me out, or at least give me a hug goodbye
."

I was staring at
the striking color of his amber eyes even though he was several feet away. I closed the gap between us within a few strides, and fell into his strong arms. My eyes stung with tears, and I squeezed them tight to keep the tears from coming. For some reason, I felt like this was goodbye. There would be no way to maintain a friendship with Ethan while dating Jeremy.

"
Uuuuhh, tap… tap," Ethan said in a strangled voice. That's when I realized how tightly I was holding on to him. As I let him go, I was worried that he'd pick up on the small amount of wet stuff around my eyes, but he didn't notice (or at least pretended not to).

"I'm just going to San Diego. You can come pay me a visit anytime."

I should just tell him the truth about my car.
There was no reason for me to continue to be dishonest now that I was with Jeremy, and needed to avoid Ethan in general. "Not that it makes a difference, but just so you know I wanted to drive down to San Diego on multiple occasions, but there's a thing with my car that makes it max out at forty."

"What do you mean, max out at forty?" his face was a mask of confusion like he couldn't have possibly heard me right.

"I mean that's as fast as it goes," I said.

"I've seen your car, Emily. It's a real car… certainly capable of going faster than
a moped. Did no one ever teach you how to drive it or something?"

I cracked
up laughing. "Oh my God, that's hilarious," I said. "You thought I just didn't know how to
drive it?
I know how to drive my car. It's an automatic transmission, for goodness sake, there's not really a way to mess up."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It won't get out of second gear, and there's no way for me to do it manually."

"S
o, get it fixed," he said, like the spoiled rich kid he was.

"Wow Ethan, that's a great idea," I said. "I didn't think of that. I'll just
have to take it to a shop and get it fixed."

"How much?" he asked,
picking up on my sarcasm.

"More than the car's worth, but it's no big deal. It's fine for city driving, and
that's all I really need it for."

"You needed to get your ass down to San Diego
weeks ago, but you were too proud to tell me the truth. That's something I would have wanted to fix for you. Shit Emily, that's something I
still
want to fix for you. It can't be safe. Why isn't pencil dick having it done? Does he know about it?"

I thought about lying for a minute, but I
ended up nodding in agreement. Jeremy
did
know about my car. Whatever. I wasn't about to analyze what that meant. Not with Ethan right there to reinforce my doubts.
Be strong, Emily. Jeremy's what you've always wanted.
"It's all good. I'm all good. I probably shouldn't have said anything; I guess I just wanted you to know I wasn't blowing you off. Some nights I wanted very badly to be able to drive down there."

"Why'd you make us waste that time then, Emily?
All that for a broken car?" He was totally serious.

"I didn't see it like that, I guess. Why tell you about something you can't change."

"That's clearly something I can change Emily. You know I have money. Quit acting the fool about a thousand or whatever something like that would cost."

"That's exactly
why I didn't tell you," I said, pointing a finger at him to emphasize my point. "I knew you’d want to pay for it, and I obviously wouldn't let you."

"Obviously," Ethan said sarcastically. "I'm sorry Emily, but that's just dumb. You need to get your car fixed. You could get hurt driving som
ething like that. How do you go anywhere without getting on freeways?"

"I manage. And it's a lot safer than your crotch rocket, I'll tell you that."

"Crotch rocket? How original."

"Shut up."

"That dude's an asshole for letting you drive around in that."

"You're the asshole for saying that," I said. It was a dumb thing to say, but I was mad and I wanted to call him names so he'd leave me alone and quit making me
so confused.

He gave me a
slightly injured smile. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't make you upset on your birthday. I want you to have a good day. Enjoy your lunch." He was taking the high road, which translated into getting the hell out of there and leaving me alone. He gave me a chaste kiss on my head. Again, he bent to pick up his bag, but this time he threw it over his shoulder and walked out. I wanted to call after him.
"Come back,"
or at least
"Call me,"
but the words didn't come out. It was better that way—a clean break.

****

I felt way too crabby to go to lunch and fake it like the birthday girl in front of my friends. Last night I was looking forward to seeing them at lunch, but the confrontational way Ethan and I had parted ways left me with a bellyache. I just wanted to stay in my pajamas and hang out with Sal.

Of course, I couldn't cancel the plans I had with the girls, so I had to suck it up and
make myself presentable. Ethan had left earlier than he really needed to, so I had a little time to mope around before I had to start putting my face on. I got a call from my dad's cell when I was in the moping phase.

My mom was the one on the other end of the phone when I picked it up. She started chatting it up
like we were best buds who did things like talk on the phone all the time. She was so excited to hear about Jeremy and I being together. She informed me that she and dad had talked more in the past few weeks since Jeremy came by the house than they had in years. She sounded a bit like the mom I remembered as a child, and I had to wonder if the change was all about Jeremy's resurgence.
What if I'd choose not to be with Jeremy anymore? Would that disappoint my parents?
It really didn't matter since I was choosing to be with him anyway. The deal with my parents was just an added bonus. I have to say, it was good talking to my mom, though. Somehow it made me feel better about breaking it off with Ethan.

Not two minutes after I hung up with my mother, Jeremy sent me a text.

Him: "Happy Birthday, Em. I wish you were here."

Me: "Thanks
, me too. I'm having lunch with Gretchen and some other friends. Love you."

Him: "I'm jealous.
Can't you just fly down here for a day or two?"

Me: "I wish. I have w
ork and Sal."

Him: "Work I understand, but y
ou can just leave the dog in its kennel and ask your friend to let it out? I'll kick in a hundred bucks on a plane ticket."

Did he just call Sal
"it"
? He's allergic, so I could understand the disinterest. It just sounded weird because I was wholeheartedly interested in Sal.

Me: "I'll shop flights for another day, but I know there's not going to be anything cheap this
last minute."

Him: "I'll pay for the whole ticket, no matter how expensive
or last minute, as long as you're coming over in the mood."

That gave me the odd feeling of being paid for services rendered.

Me: "You mean you want to have sex?"

Jeremy was old fashioned when it came to me. He wanted me to be a lady. I knew I was pushing his buttons by typing such a bold text.
I was shocked by his next text.

Him: "Put it on my credit card."

Chapter 22

Ethan

"What the hell, dude? I thought for sure—"
Josh was ragging me about showing up for golf instead of spending the day with Emily, but I cut him off.

"It's all good. We had fun, but I promised I'd be here today, and here I am."

Josh might have been able to see through my explanation, but he chose not to say anything to challenge it. "I'm glad you're here. At least I know I won't come in last," he said.

"Please. You'll be lucky to stay within
ten strokes." I said.

That led to a whole round of smack talking by everyone in the group. If our
golf games were as polished as our mouths, we'd all be pros. We had tons of fun nonetheless, and what's better, Josh got along beautifully with Joel's friend who was about to start a major highway construction project. I picked up from their conversation that the guy would essentially be able to keep Josh on staff with the amount of projects his company would be doing in the future. It would be a great job, but it would mean Josh moving to L.A. Their conversation was full of vague promises and hypothetical scenarios, but you couldn't miss the bottom line. The guy would be more than willing to hire Josh full time if he'd relocate.

****

Josh and I were on the road headed for home and had just gotten around to talking about his potential job. Actually, it was the first thing we talked about, it's just that before then, we'd been scarfing down sandwiches. Neither of us wanted to eat like pigs at the tournament, so we were doing it on the road instead.

"Have you given it any thought?" I asked.

"I've considered moving ever since Kayla left," Josh said. "I never run into her, but the threat's always there, and I'd just really like to be in a city with no danger of seeing them out together."

"I
wish
we'd run into them," I said. "It's been a long time since I've been in a fight, and that meeting would most definitely end in a fight."

Josh shook his head and laughed as he pictured the sight.
Our apartment had high ceilings with huge, exposed, wooden beams. We had a heavy bag hanging from one of them, and both of us enjoyed boxing and kickboxing. One of Josh's engineering buddies from college was a part-time coach at some big Mixed Martial Arts gym, and he came over two hours a week and put us through striking exercises. Sure, two hours a week really wasn't a lot, but we both knew how to hit hard, and were both big guys. Unless Kayla's new man had about ten of his closest friends with him, it would be a ridiculous match up.

"I'd really love the opportunity to get in a bar fight with that guy," Josh said.

"You and I would have to fight to see who gets to fight him," I said. "I know you have better reason, but I haven't had a reason to fight in a long time, and I'm itching to try out some of my new Muay Thai skills."

Josh laughed and said, "Why don't you just go fight that quarterback. That's who you really have it out for, isn't it?" I let out a laugh since he was
kidding, but the idea of a fight with Mister MVP made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I would be so happy if life ever presented the opportunity to punch him in the face.

What's so funny?" Josh asked.

"Just thinking about how I'd like to fight them both," I said.

Josh's next
question took me by surprise. "Why is she with him? Did she say?" When I didn't answer him right away, he pressed, "Is it just because she was in love with him when they were kids?"

Why was Josh so curious all of a sudden?
I didn't know how to answer his question, and even if I did, I'm not sure how that little piece of information could possibly help me.

"I don't know
why
she's with him. I guess she just—"

"Because, when you two are together, s
he looks so happy," Josh said. Honestly, that was out of character for him to say since we're both guys and neither of us notice, much less comment on, feelings.

"That's just Emily," I said. "She looks happy all the time, that's just her face." I was smiling just imagining her smile.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "She doesn't just look
randomly
happy. I'm saying she's obviously into you. She looks like she's happy
because
of you… if that makes any sense."

I wanted that to be true. I thought it might be true when I was a
round her, but she kept staying with Jeremy. If what Josh was saying were true, she would've broken up with him.

Whatever. I had to get over it.

"She's with him. That's all I know. She's a nice girl, but neither of us were in it for anything long term anyway." That sounded convincing enough. I was actually pretty proud of myself. 

"Bull shit," Josh said. "You're so full of it.
I've never seen you like this over a girl and you're trying to act like it's all nothing."

"It
is
all nothing," I said. "What am I supposed to do?
Make her
break up with him so she can be with me?"

I looked at Josh from across the console, and he just stared back at me as if to say
what else, idiot?

"That's precisely what you do. You go to her and tell her
you're
her man… that you're not taking no for an answer."

I took a second to think about what he
was saying. I was on the verge of getting all pumped up like it would play out like a scene from a movie, but I had to listen to the voice of reason for a moment. I thought about probable outcomes for a big love profession like that, and truth was, I had no idea how she'd respond. Moreover, did I even
want
to do that? What if Emily said,
"Yes, Ethan! I will leave Needle and be your girlfriend!"
Did I want a girlfriend? What would I be getting myself in to if I went to her and told her I loved her? Do I love her? I thought maybe I did.
Is love when you want to be with someone and you want no one else to ever be with that someone ever again?
I didn't know what I felt, but it was something.

I'd been silent for a moment, so I let Josh in
on my thoughts. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'd do if she said yes."

"I know
that's not your type of thing. I just thought I'd tell you, as a friend, that a good connection is rare."

"When'd
you
get so freaking romantic?" I asked. We laughed like it was no big deal, but I took what he was saying to heart. I knew I had something rare with Emily. I knew it because of how much fun I had when I was around her. She wasn't like other girls. She was my girl.
Whoa. I think it may have just hit me that Emily Roth is my girl.
Josh was right. I was suddenly anxious to come up with a plan to make her know I was the right one.

I didn't say anything else about it to Josh. Conversation gradually shifted to other topics
, and before I knew it we were in San Diego. In spite of where Emily and I stood right then, I knew things between us were far from over.

I wasn't supposed to have the next Sunday off, but I went to my coach to ask if he wouldn't mind. He agreed because I was making progress with some of the changes we'd made in my
stroke, and we were meeting all of our goals. "I wish you wouldn't go traveling across the country every time you have a day off, though," he'd said. I assured him that Los Angeles was hardly across the country, and that I'd be one hundred percent for Monday morning. He was fine with that and even told me to have fun. It was bound to be a good day.

Now for the real dilemma:
What in the world could I do to make Emily know I was the one? Since I wasn't going up to L.A. to fail, I knew I had to do and say the perfect thing to make her understand. My best chance with Emily would have to involve dance. Dance was obviously close to her heart, and I was willing to take any leg up I could get. Los Angeles had more than a few hot spots for dance. I thought I'd take her to a place where we could do a little ballroom and swing. Then, if she was into it (like I knew she would be) I'd take her to the club for some late night action. It would work. I could feel it in my bones. I'd be counting down the days until I could see her again.

A week
seemed like too long. Next Saturday night might as well have been an eternity away. She still had no idea how I really felt about her, and I knew it was jumping the gun on the whole
taking care of her
thing, but by Monday afternoon I couldn't take it any longer. She was working at the dance studio on Tuesday, so I made arrangements for her car to be picked up and replaced with a rental car while she was there.

I wanted to buy her a new car, but I was going to have to settle for
fixing the old one since she was way too proud to accept a new car. Her old one had to be fixed. There was just no if's and's or but's about it. No matter what ended up going down between Emily and me this weekend, I was having her car fixed. I got the name of a good mechanic from Joel, and made all the necessary arrangements. I sent her a text Tuesday once the wheels were already set in motion.

Me: "
Hey. Your friend helped us get your car keys. They've been replaced with the keys for a really cheap rental car for a couple of days. Your car will be returned to you once it's fit to drive on the freeway."

It was two hours later when I heard back from her.

Emily: "I don’t know what else to say besides thank you, Ethan. I'm speechless."

Me: "It's nothing. D
on't mention it. Just want you to have something safe to drive."

Emily: "Thank you. Seriously.
I'm feeling like I owe you something, though."

Me: "How about letting me pick you up this Saturday night?"

Emily: "I thought you had to swim Sunday?"

At least she didn't answer with, "I already told you bye for good," which was exactly what I thought she'd say.

Me: "I got the day off."

Emily: "What if I have to work?"

Me: "The Lakers are out of town. I already looked at the schedule."

Emily: "Yeah, but we have to do appearances sometimes."

Me: "Do you have to make an appearance somewhere
this Saturday?"

Emily: "No."

Me: "You're getting tickled for that."

Emily: "Promise?"

Me: "Oh, you have no idea what I'm about to unleash on you for that little comment."

Emily: "
I can hardly wait."

Me: "
Oh you're getting it now, baby girl."

Emily: "
Bring it."

Well, one thing's for sure…
Regardless of her mindset with that shot-out boyfriend of hers, Emily was okay with the idea of having sex with me. She must have realized she enjoyed it enough to get past the idea of cheating on the other guy. I was glad she enjoyed it at least that much… I didn't care
what
made her agree to let me take her out this weekend. Hell, I didn't care if it was because she thought she owed me something for taking care of her car. An open door was all I needed to convince her, and I'd take an opportunity any way it came.