24. CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 24
ETHAN
T he windows rattle as my fist bangs three times against the door.
“Knox!” I yell. “Are you in there? Open up!” I bang another three times and hear a dog start to bark.
I hear footfalls that sound like they’re coming down the stairs, the doorknob turns, and the door starts to open inward. I recognize Knox from the time he spent at my house with his crew renovating the kitchen.
“EJ?” he questions, brows pulled together, head tilted to the side. “What’s—”
Before he can finish, my fist connects with the side of his face, and he stumbles backward into the little entryway that opens up into a living room.
“The fuck?!” He grips his face.
“Get up.” I grab him by the hoodie, slamming him against the wall.
“What the hell is your problem?” Knox pushes my face away with the palm of his hand.
“I never had any problem with you, Knox. Your addiction. Your indiscretion . I was always on Team Knox and Lizzie. But Ari? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My fist lands in his gut and Knox doubles over, clutching his stomach and falling to his knees. “Wait! Wait a second. Ari? As in the girl from the crash?”
“Yes! Who the hell else? Unless you’ve been driving around running over people all over this city.”
“Just hang on a goddamn second. How the hell do you know Ari?”
“Oh boy.” Both of us whip our heads around when we hear a female voice from the open doorway. “It seems as though EJ—or perhaps we should call him Ethan—is dear friends with Ari,” Lizzie says as she takes in the scene. “EJ—er, Ethan—do you mind letting up on my husband for just a moment so we can sort this out?”
She brushes past me and helps Knox get up, and they take a seat on the stairs that lead to the second floor. “Why didn’t you answer your cell phone?” Lizzie pushes on the cut I left above Knox’s eye, and he winces. “Oh, yeah, he got you good.” She presses into it again.
“Stop pushing on it!” Knox looks between the two of us. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Ethan grew up with Ari, but only just reconnected with her after, what, several years?” Lizzie looks at me, and I nod. “He only discovered yesterday that she had been in an accident, and about twenty minutes ago he realized you were the one that hit her.”
“How come charges were never pressed?” I try to temper my rage and slow my breathing. “Is that why I couldn’t find anything about it online? Because you kept it out of the papers?”
Lizzie sighs. “Yes, Ethan. I’m not proud of it, but between my position at the paper and my contacts with the police, I was able to sweep it under the rug. I’m sorry. It’s unfair, but that’s the truth.”
“That’s just great.” I scoff and begin to pace. “Still doesn’t explain why he was never charged.” I nod my head at Knox.
Knox and Lizzie share a look, then glance back at me. “EJ, Knox wasn’t drunk. He passed all the sobriety tests. He wasn’t at fault.”
“Bullshit! Then how in the hell do you hit someone crossing the street when you’re stone-cold sober?” I roar, throwing my hands up in the air.
“They jump in front of you!” Knox yells back, and Lizzie closes her eyes.
We are all silent for a moment.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Knox looks back to Lizzie, who starts to speak. “Ari jumped in front of Knox’s truck. She said she was in a bad way and, it seems, in a moment of weakness she just … stepped out into the roadway right in front of Knox.”
Pulling my bottom lip between my thumb and forefinger as I think, my other hand comes to rest on my hip. “No. No, she wouldn’t do that. Ari is stronger than that. She may have had some shit in her life, but she would never do that.” Lizzie tries to speak but I cut her off. “She could have been running. That’s what she does. Or, at least, she did. She could always run like a motherfucker. She was probably running and then this asshole wasn’t paying attention and hit her.”
Knox presses his fingertips to the cut on his brow and then looks at them, rubbing at some blood with his thumb. “EJ—”
“Ethan.”
“Ethan,” Knox starts again, “I’m sorry, man, but Ari made it clear she stepped out in front of my truck. She even sought us out to tell us.” Before I can interrupt he puts his hands up. “And for that courage I am so grateful. She lifted a weight off me that she in no way was obligated to. But those were her words.” He looks over to Lizzie, who is nodding.
“It’s true, Ethan. We had lunch today, and again she said she felt terrible for the trouble she caused Knox. And, for the record, neither of us”—she waves a hand between her and her husband—“thinks Knox is totally innocent here. He was definitely distracted with his own shit that night, which didn’t help his reaction time. But it sounds like she was trying to get hit.”
Stepping back until I hit the wall, I slide my ass to the floor and put my face in my hands.
“Ethan,” I hear Lizzie’s soft voice. “You said Ari had some stuff going on? Do you think she was having a hard time?”
“Yeah,” I say through my hands, then pull my head up and rest it against the wall. “You could say that.” It’s quiet for a moment before I speak back up. “I’m sorry, man.”
Knox waves his hand at me, then stands and takes a few steps, arm outstretched. I take his hand and let him pull me up. “I get it,” he says, working his jaw from side to side. “You’ve got a hell of a swing, kid. I’ll give you that.”
“It’s all those fucking muscles.” Lizzie gestures toward me. “I mean, look at him.”
“Hey, I got muscles too, babe.” Knox flexes for her, receiving an eye roll.
“Yes, Knox. I love your muscles. But Ethan’s got this whole Hulk thing going on.”
“OK. We get it.” Knox starts to walk out of the room. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go put some frozen peas on my face.”
“Use the frozen brussels sprouts!” Lizzie shouts after him. “Lord knows we’re never going to eat them.”
I turn to Lizzie. “I really am sorry. I know about Knox’s history and I just assumed. I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head and bats away my words. “Don’t worry about it. I think he welcomes the pain. You know, he really took this whole thing hard.”
“I remember.”
Lizzie sticks her hands in her back pockets. “We both have to get back to work. I’m just gonna say goodbye to Knox.”
“Yeah,” I say as I back away. “I’ll see you at the office.”