Page 39 of Cocky Counsel

Twenty

Eva

“I don’t know much about him, Ethan just said that he’s one of the best family law attorneys in Manhattan and he owes him a favor,” I said, trying to hold my phone in between my ear and shoulder while I folded the laundry that was scattered across my bed. I was good at getting my work attire hung right away so it didn’t wrinkle, but the clothes I wore to go running in were a whole different story.

“That’s really nice of him to do that,” Lucy replied, and I could hear the hesitation in her voice.

I sighed and set the pair of yoga pants that I was about to fold, on the bed. I reached up and held the phone, giving my neck a break from the uncomfortable position it had been in.

“What’s wrong? Why do you sound so unsure about this?” I asked.

“It’s nothing, I’m sure he’s a great attorney.”

“But…” I pressed.

“But there has to be a catch. Men aren’t nice to women for no reason, Eva, you know that as well as I do.”

I let my mind wander for a minute, thinking about Ethan and how I really did think he was a great guy until I found out about Cora. While it was childish of me to judge him for something that I didn’t know anything about, I couldn’t help but feel betrayed that he hadn’t bothered to tell me. Things had moved so quickly between us and there was constantly this gray area that made it hard to know where we stood. The only certain thing was that we were coworkers who had slept together… several times. Other than that, I wasn’t sure if we were even friends outside of work or if there was a possibility that our fucking would lead to something more.

“Ethan was very sympathetic with what you’re going through and honestly, I think he offered to help more because of his first impression of Jeremy.”

She was quiet on the other line for a few minutes, pausing to tell Jackson to finish his dinner before she came back.

“So, are you guys officially seeing each other now? Was he jealous of Jeremy and that’s what made him want to help?”

“We’re not seeing each other,” I sighed. “Things are just…”

“Complicated.”

“How did you know?”

“Things are always complicated with you,” she laughed.

“Gee, thanks,” I said sarcastically.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way, I’m sorry. I just meant that you don’t let your guard down easily, so it tends to make things more complicated than they are.”

“No, trust me—with Ethan, things are definitely complicated. He constantly flirts with me and then there’s the office sex that we can’t seem to stop having. But outside of work, I don’t hear anything from him. Add in the former employee who recently showed up at the office, pregnant no less, claiming that he tried to pay her off so she would leave him alone—things are super complicated.”

“Did you ask him about her and if the baby was his? Why would he pay her to leave him alone?”

“I asked him if she was telling the truth and he said that it wasn’t what it looked like, or some stupid shit like that.”

“And?”

“And I walked away. I’m tired of the whole it’s not what it looks like game. I’m almost forty and don’t have the time or patience for these games. I left those behind with—”

“Jeremy,” she finished for me.

“Exactly.”

“But Eva, don’t you think that you owe it to Ethan to allow him to explain what happened? If you guys aren’t in a relationship, then it might have been hard for him to just open up and talk to you about it. You forget that not many guys like to talk about past relationships, or whatever she might have been, and even fewer are willing to do it with a girl they’re not technically dating.”

“I’ve given him the opportunity to talk to me about it and he hasn’t bothered.” I tilted my chin up, even though she couldn’t see me.

“Have you though?” I could hear the judgmental tone in her voice.

I waited to answer her, trying to find a way to prove that I was right. The problem was that I hadn’t allowed him to talk to me after I walked out Monday night. Tuesday, he had been in meetings all day, and when his afternoon appointment with Graham got rescheduled, I closed my door and pretended that I was on a phone call to avoid him. I had been acting childish all along and couldn’t keep blaming him for not talking to me about what happened.

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