Page 11 of Play to Win
He sounded sincere, standing in the rain after he’d kissed her brains out.
“And you never tried to stop it.” That had been a simple truth that she figured they’d both have to live with. “But don’t worry about it now. It’s done.”
And it was. She slipped her arm easily out of his light grip and walked back to the front of her car, where she opened the door to grab her purse and phone from the front seat. Without looking back to where she knew he still stood, she walked to where the tow truck had come to a stop, opened the passenger side door and climbed inside. While the tow truck driver hitched the car to the back, she watched through the moving windshield wipers as Ethan came around her car and walked to his truck. He got inside but didn’t pull off until the tow truck drove past him.
What was he thinking now? Was he still feeling the residual warmth from their kiss? Or was he remembering that day she’d stood there looking at him as her entire world had been shattered? That’s how she’d felt that day under the bleachers and she’d never tutored Ethan again after that. She hadn’t cared if he played football again or not, she wasn’t going to sit next to him at a table after he’d shown her how he really felt about her. But now, what was she supposed to do with all that she’d learned about that fateful day now?
Nothing.
Just like she’d told him, it was done. That moment and so many others had been defining moments for her. They’d molded her into the woman she was now, so she guessed she should be grateful to some extent. At any rate, she wasn’t going to be in Providence much longer. All she had to do was take care of Sunny’s house tomorrow and then she would be on her way. What happened twelve years ago didn’t matter. Ethan Henley no longer mattered.
Even if she desperately wanted to kiss him again.
* * *
“She’s an intimacy instructor,” Camy Greer said two days later while sitting at the bar eating an order of loaded French fries.
Her brother Lance, who sat one bar stool away from her, stopped practicing the tune he planned to play tonight and propped his guitar on one thigh. “Who’s an intimacy instructor?” he asked.
Ethan finished drying a tray of glasses. He put them away and moved to the other end of the bar to greet two customers who’d just come in. He was the bartender on duty at the moment, and most of the time at Game Changers as he was the one who had prior bartending experience from his college days. Lance was his back-up on busy nights and the two nights a week that Ethan came in early during the day. But Lance’s true love was his music, so he’d convinced Noah that they needed a stage for live music every once in a while. Noah warmed to the idea and began planning on how to get other musical acts to drop by. Their business was really shaping up and Ethan was glad for that. They’d all been through so much; they needed some good light shed on them.
Ethan decided he might need a little more than good light at the moment. He was irritable. He didn’t need his friends to tell him that. He’d been in a mood since Portia walked away from him again. That was the second time that woman had left him standing like an idiot staring after her. He was determined not to give her a third time.
He had a three strikes rule. Shit happened in life, but he didn’t have to sit back and let it happen to him over and over again. So there were three strikes in his book—one, he chalked up to fate or a mistake, two was like a slap to the back of his head to get his act together and three…Ethan was certain nobody wanted to know what would happen when he got to the third strike in any situation.
So he was through with Portia Merin. Yes, that kiss they’d shared was hot and only sealed his opinion that getting her in bed would be an explosive experience. And he still thought about her curvy body and masterful mouth from time to time throughout the day. But Ethan had seen something else in her eyes two nights ago on the side of that road. Fear and worry. Who or what was she afraid of or what was she worried would happen? He didn’t know and truthfully, he didn’t have the time or energy to try and find out. His focus now was Game Changers and building something together with the only real family he’d ever had. That was it. He was just fine with never seeing or hearing the name Portia Merin again.
“And she’s doing some work on the Sunnydale so she can sell it. I saw the paperwork at the office and Rod’s floating on cloud nine because his company won the bid on the job. He’s over there now taking measurements or whatever it is he does,” Camy was saying when Ethan made his way back to their end of the bar.
She was supposed to be helping out tonight, waiting tables with Glory Jefferson who was also a part-time college student.
“Wait? Plain Portia owns the Sunnydale house?” Lance asked. “I didn’t know that. I thought her parents were those stuck up politicians that finally left town a few years ago.”
“Her name is just Portia,” Ethan interjected. “Portia Merin. And why are you even talking about her?”
He knew his tone was edgy, but he ignored the quizzical looks being tossed his way by Camy and Lance. Hearing that she was still here in Providence had been a shock that he’d also planned to ignore, but he wasn’t going to let what had happened to her years ago get started again. Especially not with his friends.
With one brow raised and his fingers moving absently over the guitar, Lance sat back and looked at Ethan. “Yeah, you’re right, her name is Portia Merin. She was two years behind us in high school. Cute face, quiet, a little nerdy.”
“Hey,” Camy said. “Nerdy is the new sexy.”
Camy was on track to graduate at the top of her class at Hampton University. From there she planned to go to law school. Del and Lance were paying her tuition and all of the guys were extremely proud of her. She’d had a rough time after their mother died when she was just thirteen years old. Del and Lance were already living at the House by then because they were too rowdy for Elaine Greer to handle while she was battling breast cancer.
“Never in a million years would I have pictured Pla…I mean, Portia Merin as an intimacy instructor,” Lance continued.
Ethan almost said she gave a pretty damn good blow job demonstration and a hell of a great kiss, but he declined. He did move toward the bottles neatly lined across the back ledge of the bar and selected the ones needed to fill the new drink order.
“Anyway, I haven’t seen her yet. Have either of you?” Camy asked.
“Nah,” Lance replied.
Ethan acted as if he was no longer a part of the conversation.
“Haven’t seen who?” Glory asked when she joined the group.
Ethan scooped ice cubes from the freezer and dropped them into a shaker.
“Portia Merin,” Camy said while chewing.
