Page 21 of Sin Bins and Second Chances
He was supposed to be my forever. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, we were destined.I believed in fairytales and knew he was mine, at the time. Then, my dad got sick. I knew I needed to focus on family first. I had to step up and be there for my mom. My mom pretended like she was fine, but I could see it, the hurt.
The problem is that Ethan would’ve understood. It’s why I broke things off. It’s why I lied and pushed him away. He would’ve given up everything because that’s the type of person he is. I couldn’t let him give up on his dreams for me.
He was supposed to stay away. I never expected him to come back. As if the idea of him being traded to the same team as Andrew, let alone our local one, wasn’t even a possibility. I was an idiot. Now, all I can question is if I made the right choice. I thought I was being selfless. Putting him first. Now, I don’t know how to act around him. I’m pissed he’s here and even more upset that the time apart did nothing to hide theWhat Ifquestions that still enter my mind. He doesn’t know the truth, and that’s on me. It’s too late for it now. Too much time has passed.
What do we even talk about? Hockey? The other day—it was such a surprise. I was infuriated and confused. My cousin didn’t even tell me, hecould’ve warned me. It’s not as if the trade happened overnight. Those things take time. Ethan had clearly already had a practice with him.
I don’t blame the rest of the team. It’s not like they’re from here. They don’t know the history. How we went from friends to something that felt huge practically overnight. I don’t even know when it switched. It happened naturally. As if we were always meant to end up together.
But that was then.
The summer before my sophomore year, before his senior year, that was the summer everything changed. We were just friends, and he was giving me a ride back to the ranch after the Starlight Festival in town. My cousins and I met up with friends, but everyone paired off, leaving me alone. Ethan and I joked about it, how everyone had coupled up and how we were the only two left. We should see what it would be like. The teasing turned into flirting, and then the moment happened. It was like something out of a movie.
He’d come to the end of the road, stopped at the stop sign and waited for cars to pass when he looked over at me in the passenger seat. He leaned in. So, I couldn’t help but do the same. Whenhis fingers gently grasped my chin and lifted my lips to his, I knew it was over. That was a first kiss you remember. A kiss you tell your children and grandchildren about. It wasn’t just the start of a new chapter, it was the start of an epic romance built from friendship.
It’s why I couldn’t risk it. He would’ve given everything up and I couldn’t risk the thought that he might grow to resent me for it. It’s why I had to take the coward’s way out, even if he hated me. I never could’ve ended things in person with him, not when he was the love of my life.
Everything happened over the phone. A text saying we needed to talk so I could get it all out. I didn’t prepare a grand speech. I kept it simple. The lie that I’d met someone else while he was in college. I didn’t have to see the hurt on his face because it was a phone call. He didn’t argue, but I could tell he was confused. I held it together until the moment I ended the call. I didn’t even give him a chance to argue before I did that, and then I broke.
“Alright,” he breaks the silence.
My eyes refocus on the road as we take the exit. The Taco Shack was open late and had become aregular part of the routine for many of us after late nights of watching hockey or coming back from a night in the city.
He turns into the drive thru line and orders for both of us. I don’t bother correcting him. I’ve been ordering the same thing from this place for as long as I can remember.
“Glad to know some things haven’t changed.” He glances over at me and smiles before pulling out his wallet to pay.
“Oh, let me.” I reach down to grab my purse.
“I’ve got it.” He smirks and hands the guy at the window his card.
Ethan thanks the guy as he passes the bag to me and we pull away from the window. The bag of food rests in my lap and we continue on in silence the rest of the way to the ranch.
We could eat on the way back. That would keep us busy. The silence drags on. The music is too low. It feels awkward, it’s driving me crazy.
Chapter Eleven
ETHAN
As I drive onto the ranch, I take the first turn and make my way under a canopy of trees leading to Daisy’s home. Although it’s late, I can still remember what it looks like during the day.
It was always the prettiest entrance of all the houses on the property, in my opinion. It always felt like a forgotten park surrounded by the best climbing trees and peppered with a few plum, apple, and pecan trees.
We pull up to the house and I don’t hesitate to jump out and run around to the other side, making sure I’m the one to open the door. I decided beforetonight I would pull every move in the book to make this girl fall for me again. There wasn’t another option.
I never believed in fate or destiny, but there was something otherworldly about being back here with her. We were both single, and I knew deep in my bones that fact was for a reason. She wouldn’t escape my grasp again. I couldn’t let her go.
I wouldn’t give her a choice either.
“Do you want to come in and eat together?” She nibbles on the edge of her lip.
“I don’t want to impose.” My hand squeezes the side of the door and I swallow.Come on.
Daisy shakes her head. “You wouldn’t be. I don’t want the food to get more cold by the time you get home.” Her gaze flickers to her home, then back to me.
“I’d love to.” I blurt out.
When she smiles back at me… fuck, what that does to my insides. She’d always had me wrapped around her finger and didn’t know it. I would’ve done anything for her; I still would. I help her out of the truck and carry the food, following closely behind her up the steps of the small wrap-around porch.
