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All of it makes me sick and I’m over trying to entertain him at this point. But at least he doesn’t know what I was really doing here. Focusing on bringing down another magazine is a good distraction so he doesn’t catch on. It wasn’t for whiskey, but I’dbe lying if I said the double isn’t helping right now. If I wasn’t slowly getting buzzed, I’d be going forhisthroat.
Chapter 19
Izzy
“Your dad needs to be stopped.” I hear Ethan’s voice followed immediately by the front door closing.
I’m in the kitchen making mac and cheese for Jax and I nearly come out of my skin.
“Ethan!” Jax leaps up from the couch, Spongebob still playing on the TV, and runs over to him. “Mommy, Ethan is here!”
I appear from the kitchen, arms crossed and my hip popped in clear disapproval. “I see that. Apparently Ethan doesn’t realize that he can’t just come and go as he pleases.”
I know he has the door code. I could have changed it after he signed the papers on the place but I never bothered to. Now I’m rethinking it. It’s bad enough that I am on edge from the recent events. But the fact that seeing him in my living room, my kid (his kid…)wrapped around him in a koala hug, is doing nothing for my nerves either. If I am going to get used to my life long forbidden crush just appearing in my house on a regular, unannounced basis, I’m going to need to prepare for it. At the very least, I should have a bra on under my Men at Work t-shirt so he can’t see that the sight of him makes my nipples hard.
Speaking of the sight of him, he’s in jeans and a Rockies baseball jersey. He’s also unphased by my expression.
“He’s going after the League,” he goes on, walking into the kitchen and searching the fridge for a beer.
“Hasn’t he already done that?” I ask, returning to the pasta.
“Yeah but it fell flat last time.” He uses the New Belgium Brewing bottle opener slash magnet on the fridge to pop the cap of his beer and takes a swig.
“Not enough facts?”
“Not enough lies,” he snorts.
“So what do you suggest we do?” I ask, moving the pot to the sink to strain the noodles.
Meanwhile, Ethan is leaning back against the counter casually, feet crossed at the ankles, beer in hand, like he owns the place. Like he belongs here…
“About the League? Nothing. Nothing we can do. But we can get this article rolling and put a stop to it. That we can do.”
Ethan’s tone is on fire. He is really riled up about it. I am still nervous. I am also wondering why he came here to tell me this instead of calling or texting. As I finish throwing the mac and cheese together complete with sliced hot dogs, I set the bowl on the table for Jax and tell him to come eat.
“Kraft with hot dogs?” Ethan asks.
“Yeah,” I grimace. “He loves it.”
“It’s the best,” Jax says, sitting down and digging in. “Mommy doesn’t like it but I love it. More than McDonald’s even!”
“Which is good because it’s cheaper,” I smile, setting a juice pouch down for him.
“I’m not surprised,” Ethan says. “Your mommy used to eat that too.”
I freeze.
“You knew mommy when she was a kid?” Jaxon asks and Ethan’s face tells me he realizes this is complicated.
“I’ve known her…a while,” he says. Luckily Jaxon is five and not fifteen and the answer suffices.
“I don’t like mac and cheese anymore,” I add. “But I love hot dogs.”
“That’s good,” Ethan says, tossing his empty bottle in the trash. “Because we are going to a baseball game.”
“We are?!” Jax exclaims.
“We are?” I echo.