Page 85 of Fight Or Flight

Ethan picked up the beer, took a drink. “Blegch . . .” He shuddered as he forced the vile beer down. “It’s undrinkable.”

Lacey went on ignoring him. “You know, Adam, I’m off in about twenty minutes, and I don’t have any plans for the rest of the night.”

Ethan had heard enough. He picked up the disgusting beer, tipped his head back, and drained it.

“What are you doing?” Adam said, looking around Lacey’s hip toward him.

After swallowing the last drop, once he was certain he wasn’t going to throw it up, he put the empty glass back down on the coaster. “You said one beer. I’m leaving. I won’t wait up for you.”

“I didn’t mean the physical beer.”

Ethan shrugged. “You should have been more specific.” He stood, grabbed his jacket, and turned.

“It was implied! It’s the spirit of the beer!” he called out over the sound of the pub, but Ethan kept walking.

He loved his friend, but he wasn’t ready for this yet. He had made it out the front door and three steps across the parking lot, when a voice stopped him.

“Ethan!”

He turned to find Lindsay coming out the door after him. “Uh, yeah. Hi.” He kept walking, but she followed.

“Wait. I was hoping we could talk. About what happened.”

“I can’t stay here. It’s all good. Let’s just forget about it.”

“No, Ethan. We can’t just forget it.”

He turned with a sigh. “Fine, what is it?”

She glanced around. There were packed tables on the patio area, and of course, they had drawn a few eyes. “Can we go somewhere private? Can we meet at the beach?”

“I don’t have my tru— I came with Adam.”

“Do you want a ride home?”

“Have you been drinking?”

Her mouth formed a sad smile. “No.”

“Okay. I’ll take a ride, then.”

He walked with her to her car and got into the passenger side, and she pulled through the parking lot. Just as she passed the front door, Adam stepped out of the bar and looked around.

Their eyes met through the glass as Lindsay pulled out of the parking lot. Adam stood frozen in place, then his jaw dropped. His head began shaking, and he said something. He was probably thinking the unthinkable, but Ethan couldn’t explain. Instead, he shrugged and gave a little wave as Lindsay hit the accelerator and carried on down the street, leaving Adam standing in the parking lot, dumbfounded.

twenty

Natalie left a voice mail for Speeler, but then Jess pointed out that it was two a.m. in Mapleton and that he wouldn’t be able to return her call for at least another six hours. So they met the group for drinks and dancing.

It was a fun night with an awesome group of people, but Natalie couldn’t peel her mind off of Ethan and Chelsea and Ben for long enough to enjoy it. She just kept wondering why they’d sign that.

She was still wondering at midnight, lying in her hotel bed staring at the ceiling. It was eight a.m. in Mapleton, and she was growing impatient. She set a five-minute timer on her phone and set it on the nightstand. Five minutes was plenty of time for Speeler to get settled in his office, get his messages from the receptionist, and call her back.

Two minutes later, her phone rang.

She dove for it, saw Speeler’s name on the screen, and answered.

“Finally!”

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