“My point is, you’re over here bouncing around all cheery and humming along to the music. Lately you’re in here all stressed and shit.” He stops to look up at me. “Is there something you want to tell me? Has someone finally turned that frown upside down?”
I playfully kick him and he wobbles a little before correcting himself and continues stocking the fridge.
“Nope,” I say, giving him a straight face and shrugging my shoulders. “Is there something you should be telling me?”
He stands up and puts his hand on his hips. “You girls are the weirdest creatures, you know that?” I only smile at him. “But you want to know something else?” he adds. “I’m a guy and that makes me smarter than any creature out there, so I know exactly what you’re hiding.” My smiles drops and he laughs as he walks to other end of the bar.
He’s just messing with me. He doesn’t know anything —does he? I bet he already talked to Ethan, even though there isn’t anything to talk about. Boys are so much worse than girls at gossiping because they don’t know when they are doing it. But if they are talking, that means Ethan’s been thinking about me. And if he has, maybe all I need to do is talk to him. Fix whatever mess this is. If he were someone I could just get over, I’d have done that by now.
I decide that it’s best I go about the rest of my shift throwing myself into work. If I’m busy, I won’t be able to hear Logan at the other end of the bar making stupid and funny comments about what he thinks he knows, and I sure won’t have time to think about Ethan. My plan goes perfectly, but of course, that ends real fast when Ethan walks through the bar door with a girl on his arm. Not just any girl either. He’s with Abby.
Ethan
I had a plan and I thought it was brilliant, but looking at Kelsey’s face right now, I know I screwed up. I screwed up bad. Abby probably isn’t the best person to subject to this, but she knows my intentions and says she has no problem helping me out. But with the way her hand keeps grabbing my ass, she’s creating a plan of her own.
“Abby, stop. You’re not helping,” I tell her as I remove her hand once again. No man in his right mind would say no to a girl when she grabs his ass, so I know I look like a total dumbass right now.
We take a seat at the bar. I watch as Kelsey walks away from us to the other end of the bar where Logan is. He looks over her shoulder at me then nods his head. He hands her the beer bottle in his hand and approaches us.
“Hey, guys,” he greets us, but he doesn’t sound pleased. We make brief eye contact and then he lets out a deep breath and shakes his head.
“I have to use the ladies’ room,” Abby says, leaving us.
We both watch as she disappears behind the door.
“Dude, what the fuck are you doing bringing her here? I thought you and Kelsey were…I don’t know, getting along now or—fuck, you were trying anyway.” He keeps shaking his head. “You just messed everything up. I don’t know how to help you and I definitely don’t want to. Not now. You’re on your own.”
Logan doesn’t have to tell me twice.
“I was desperate. Kelsey won’t openly admit she likes me so I thought—”
“That you should make her jealous,” he finishes for me. “You don’t know her at all, do you? Your remember Tyler, right?”
I nod.
“Did you know he cheated on her? With Abby?”
Fuck.
I’m an asshole.
What kind of a person would cheat on Kelsey? Kelsey deserves the best, and I’ll hurt anyone who doesn’t give that to her, including myself.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you knew. And if you did know, this was a complete jackass move.”
He hands me a beer and sets some bright cocktail thing in front of Abby’s seat, a cranberry vodka maybe—who cares? I fucked up.
“Have your drink and get out of here, man. That’s the best thing you can do right now. Better yet, just go now,” he advises and I just nod my head.
The moment Abby returns from the bathroom, we leave. I don’t look back to see if Kelsey is watching because I hope to god she isn’t.
How am I going to fix this?
Chapter Seventeen
Kelsey
The remainder of the evening goes by in a blur because I can’t stop thinking about how Abby has ruined something else for me. Logan knew exactly why I asked him to switch sides with me. There was no way I was going to wait on Ethan while he was sitting with her. Instead, I just watched them from my end of the bar. I know he was trying to get me to react or at least say something. I wanted to. I wanted to tell Abby she is wasting her time, because he’s mine. But all I saw was history repeating itself. He cheated when he first kissed you, Kelsey. He will do it again.
I force back the tears as I clear the last table of its empty drinks. Why can’t I find a guy who is happy with just one woman? Rain is pouring down outside, and for the last hour, the sound of drops beating against the window is the only thing that has kept me relaxed. I stop, still holding a few dirty glasses, and watch as everything outside looks cold and depressing, much like my life at this very moment.
I have no one to blame but myself. I can’t be upset with anyone but me. Ethan doesn’t know about my past relationship. I never told him. I shouldn’t be upset with him. We hardly know each other, and one kiss doesn’t mean anything.
“Hey, is it cool if I head out?” Logan asks. He pulls on his jacket and pauses at the top of the steps while I head behind the bar.
I set the dishes in the sink and nod my head.
“Of course.” I smile at him. He studies me for a minute.
“Is everything alright?”
No.
“Yeah, everything’s great. I’m just getting tired,” I say, and when he doesn’t respond I know he’s deciding whether or not to believe me.
“Alright… well, if you need anything, just call, okay?”
“Thanks,” I say and follow behind him as he leaves so I can lock the door.
Before I reach it, the jukebox begins to play “Endless Love” by The Bird and The Bee. Does everything have to depress me right now? I used to love this song, but now the words are bound to tear me apart. It’s a song that mocks me of something I’ll never have. I head for the jukebox with the goal of changing the song to some hate music – because anything would be better than this — when I feel a cold breeze from the front doors opening. I turn to tell whoever it is we’re closed, but freeze when I see Ethan standing in the doorway.
He isn’t wearing the same clothes as he was earlier, and a pang of dread flows through me as every awful idea runs through my mind. His wet hair drips into his face and his black t-shirt and jeans are sticking to his body. His chest is moving quickly as he breathes and his now dark and determined green eyes are focused on where I stand.
My eyes go wide as I take him in. The wet look makes him even sexier than before, but his eyes are the piece causing me to take a step back. The desire in them matches the exact way my heart feels. He came here for me, I know that much. I also know I’m not letting him leave until we’ve resolved this one way or another.
Ethan stalks toward me, and when he gets close enough, I take another step behind me, bumping into the pool table. My palms grip the table to steady myself as he presses his body against me and leans forward, placing his hands right next to mine.
“I don’t want to play games, Kelsey. I want you and only you. I’m sorry about tonight. Abby doesn’t mean anything to me. I have never felt for someone the way I feel about you and I didn’t know how to handle it. I still don’t, but I do know the only way I want to figure it out is with you. I want you in my life no matter what happens.”