Page 19 of Sliding Into Love
Groaning, Ethan banged his head on the steering wheel of his BMW. Derek had dropped him off at his car, but Ethan sat frozen for several minutes, trying to get Ivy out of his head.
“Ethan! Hey, Ethan!”
Was that…? It was. Isaac Reyes, Ethan recognized the voice.
Ethan didn’t look at him and didn’t know what to do with the warring emotions flooding through him. Should he flip Isaac off and drive away? Ignore him until he went away? Isaac decided for him.
“I wanted to say hi. It’s been a while,” Isaac’s voice was muffled through the car window, and Ethan turned, seeing his old friend up close and personal for the first time in almost a decade.
The same lingering sense of the past, or maybe fate, that haunted him since he had seen his uncle at the first game came up behind him and laid icy fingers on the back of his neck.
Ethan rolled down his window.
“Hi, Isaac.”
His former friend leaned down, resting his forearms in the open window.
“It’s good to see you. You got some good hits in! How’s it going?”
“Pretty good, I guess,” Ethan was uncomfortable making small talk with anyone, but especially anyone who’d known him before. “How are you? How is Zara?”
Isaac ducked his head and stuck his hands in the pockets of his worn leather jacket.
“I’m great! And Zara got serious with her journalism and moved to New York to work for a news agency. It’s cool, though. Been a while.” Isaac didn’t seem bothered, but guilt washed over him for bringing it up. “You seeing anyone?”
Ivy crossed his mind, but before he let himself think too long about her, he shook his head.
From across the parking lot, the Tornadoes bus honked, its lights flashing.
Isaac scowled. “I better go, but we should hang out soon.”
“Maybe in the off-season,” Ethan said and tried to smile. It was stiff and unnatural, but Isaac didn’t seem to notice.
“Well… see ya!” Isaac began to turn away.
“Isaac,” Ethan said just loud enough to be heard. “How are they?”
“Good! They’re good!” Isaac shot over a shoulder and jogged toward the bus.
Ethan’s shoulders slumped as he pressed the button to roll the window up and ground the key in the ignition harder than necessary.
A beeping buzzstartled Ethan awake, and he slammed his hand down on his nightstand, searching for his phone. It continued beeping, the shrill alerts growing louder.
Memories of the previous night flooded his mind, and he let himself revel in how much he’d enjoyed himself. There had been no pressure, no ire, just playing the silly game, just hanging out, and… Ivy.
His blood heated at just the thought of her.
Unbidden, Marshall’s voice echoed in his head.I made you. I gave you everything you wanted. If you fuck this up, Iwilltake it away. Don’t fuck this up for me—for us—over somegirl.
Sullenly, Ethan banged around the kitchen, his mug clattering on the stone countertop as he began the day in a foul mood.
What did you expect, dumbass?Marshall was right. Focus. On the game. Not…not her.
Ethan tried distracting himself by packing for the week-long trip, haphazardly tossing clothes, shoes, and toiletries into his suitcase. Then he raided the bathroom for the travel versions of all his favorite hair products. Those he carefully placed into the suitcase, ensuring everything he’d need would be there.
It took five minutes, leaving Ethan with time to kill before he had to be at the stadium.
Maybe Ethan was a glutton for punishment, but after thumbing open his phone, he clicked on Instagram for the first time in months to clear out notifications. He rarely checked the app, but the Hawks media manager suggested all players have a page for visibility. There was no point. Not for him anyway. He hadn’t had a normal interaction in a while.
