Free Innocent Lies by JW Phillips Page B

project of mine. I told Ethan about it earlier,
but never expected him to come.
     
    “Of course, I don’t have a
choice.”
     
    “ Why don’t you
have a choice?”
     
    “Because I heard this really cute
girl will be there. I kind of like spending time with her.” He
rounded the corner and started walking down the hall. He had on a
pair of navy blue dress pants and was slipping on a white
tee-shirt, but not before I caught a glimpse of his impressive
torso. I had seen plenty of naked males parading around at my
mom’s. However, not one of those men had a thing on Ethan. He was
broad, cut and damn, his stomach had ripples.
     
    “Like the view?” He motioned to the
oversized windows flanking the fireplace and smirked. He didn’t
fool me; he had caught me openly gawking at him. “Your cheeks are
glowing . . . Hey, it’s okay, I love my view too.” He made no bones
about it as he eyed me from the tip of my toes to my tousled hair
and back down again.
     
    Later that night
     
    Logan had turned his orange
baseball cap backwards and struck the cue ball, knocking in the
last four pool balls. I was shocked to see that he was such a pool
shark. I was surprised to see him at all. It was the first time I
had seen him beside class since the night at the Pizza House when
Ethan came back into my life. It was as if he had dropped off the
side of the planet. Maybe it was me, he was avoiding me at all
cost.
     
    “The next round is
on me.” Logan hollered over his shoulder as he collected his latest
winnings. Our eyes met. He was incensed. I felt bad, but not bad
enough to do anything about it. Ethan meant too much to me. I
wasn’t willing for him to find me talking to Logan.
     
    A hand gripped my arm, and then a
chest was taut against my back. I laid my head against his
shoulder. It was not a doubt in my mind it was Ethan. The smell I
had become addicted to flooded my nostrils. “Hey, gorgeous.” I
almost moaned as I molded myself against his body.
     
    He swept my hair to the side and
kissed me behind my ear. “Looking for someone.”
     
    I smiled and turned, wrapping my
arms around his neck. “You,” I whispered. “You smell
good.”
     
    “Thank you, but next time make sure
it’s me. If I was to see you with another guy like that.” He kissed
the tip of my nose. “It would be bad.” He pinched my behind and
pushed me closer to him. “You’re mine.”
     
    I laughed, loved having him claim
me in the middle of the local bar overflowing with drunken college
students.
     
    “Come on, Privy,
it’s break time.” He dragged me off with a pull of the hand. I
winked over my shoulder at Sarah and held up my finger signaling to
give me a moment. In truth, I hoped for a lot longer than a minute.
He sat me down at the booth in the farthest corner of the bar, held
up two fingers to the nearest waitress, and mouthed, ‘beer.’
     
    “I don’t
drink.”
     
    “One drink won’t
hurt you.” He scooted close to me and rested his forehead on
mine.
     
    “Bad influence.” I
curved my hand around his neck.
     
    “Very bad
influence, but you still love me.”
     
    I didn’t know if I loved him yet,
but it was darn close. I had never felt the way I did when I was
around him. It was stronger than anything I had read about in any
book. If that was the start of love, I wanted it. My hand scraped
across his neck.
     
    “Oh, babe,” he
whispered and his eyes closed. He grasped my hand and held it in
place. “I wish you could feel what you do to me.” His eyes popped
open. “I’ll make you feel the same. I’ll show you what we can
achieve together.” He laced his fingers through mine and traced the
palm with his thumb. The music blared in my head. I heard someone
in the distance ask where I went. I didn’t care. I was with Ethan,
the one person who could chase the demons away.
     
    The waitress had the worst timing
and pushed two bottles across the table, breaking the moment
between us. I peeked up at the bottle