18. Ethan
Chapter 18
Ethan
“ V ladmobile.” The gothic letters taunted me from the hood of the car.
I had finally found a bit of time to secretly work on Lily’s car, doing my best to get it running and presentable. Obviously, the stupid name and the flame decal had to go. I wanted to scrub out any indication that Vlad had ever had his hands on anything that belonged to Lily.
It felt good to work on it—like I was close to Lils.
I hadn’t seen much of her since we relaxed the rules. I’d been training almost every day. The evening sessions would be coming to an end soon, but until we reached that point, the schedule was punishing. The emergency medical training had been a lot more emotionally draining than I had been prepared for, too. I was enjoying it all, but I yearned to be with Lily at the same time. It was a scary feeling.
I’d been proud of myself for taking Lily on that date. For asking her to go steady with me. It hadn’t been an easy thing to do, and I had to be careful that it didn’t sound like I wanted to marry the girl. It wasn’t easy to tell someone you want to sleep with them exclusively without getting emotionally involved. I hoped I’d pitched it right. I’d noticed Lily looking at me for a lot longer than five seconds during mealtimes with Ava, which had to be a good sign.
I grabbed a socket wrench and loosened the bolts on the brake calipers, then pulled each one free from the rotors. I winced as I got a proper look. The rotors had been shredded by the ill-fitted calipers, but it looked as though I could repair them.
The garage was quiet except for the clanking of my tools against the car. Ava was at school. Lily was—I assumed—at her store.
I turned my attention to the brake plates. I sprayed them generously with brake cleaner, the acrid smell filling my nostrils. I scrubbed away the grime and corrosion with a wire brush, revealing the shiny metal beneath.
I wiped my greasy hands on a rag, my thoughts still churning.
That’s when I saw it. A creature, outside my garage, looking in.
At first, I thought it was a dog. It was roughly the same size and lay low to the ground. The giveaway, though, was the fur. It was the color of rust, with a streak of white down its belly.
I’d always thought that foxes were meant to be scared of people. This one wasn’t. It loped up to the garage, without a care in the world. It had bright, intelligent eyes and a clean muzzle. Soft, perky ears, and black whiskers studding its cheeks.
My first instinct was that it was rabid. But it just didn’t seem that way. It was calm. Relaxed. Friendly .
For a crazy moment, I thought about holding out my hand and letting it rub up against me. My heart pounded in my chest as I considered it.
What if it was rabid? Or had some other illness? I couldn’t take that risk. I couldn’t take any risk that could leave Ava without a dad.
Fear gripped me like a python, and I grabbed a socket wrench and waved it at the fox. “Hey! Get out of here!”
It reacted instantly, turning and running at a speed that shocked me.
I barely had time to process what had just happened, when the sound of a revving motorbike engine roared from somewhere nearby. Then, seconds later, a hog pulled up in front of my garage. A hog that happened to have a flame decal on it.
Fuck. Vlad.
He cut the engine and swung his scrawny leg over the bike, sauntering toward me with a smirk on his face.
“Ethan,” he drawled, his dark brown eyes flicking between me and the Vladmobile. “Just the man—and car—I wanted to see.”
He looked ridiculous. His long, bleach-blond hair cascaded down his shoulders like a wild mane, catching the sunlight and almost glowing. His skinny frame was clad in leather. The shiny pants were a size too small, emphasizing his awkward gait, and his jacket was festooned with an absurd amount of zippers and studs. With each movement, the chains on his jacket created a cacophony that could have alerted everyone within a mile.
“Nice bike,” I deadpanned. “Have you checked the brake calipers are compatible with the rotors?”
Vlad stared at me. “I have literally no idea what you’re talking about, dude.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“Look, I’m not here to chat about capers with you.”
“Calipers.”
“I’m just here to pick up my car and get out of your hair.”
I straightened up, wiping my hands on a rag. “I wasn’t aware that this was yours.”
Vlad scoffed, shaking his head. “It literally has ‘Vladmobile’ written on it. I’m Vlad. This is my mobile.”
Anger flared in my chest, hot and bright. I tossed the rag aside and walked over to the workbench, grabbing a paintbrush and a can of black enamel. Without a word, I stalked back to the car and started painting over Vlad’s name.
“What the hell are you doing?” Vlad demanded, his voice rising.
I didn’t even look at him, just kept painting. “Funny, I don’t see your name on here anymore.” I pointed to the newly painted decal. “This car belongs to Lily, and I’ll be damned if I let you have it.”
Vlad let out a bitter laugh. “Did she tell you it was hers? She's a liar. It’s my name on the paperwork, not hers. I’m listed as the car’s official owner.”
“She paid for it. So, far as I’m concerned, it belongs to her.”
“Doubt the police will see it that way.”
“I dunno,” I said, shrugging. “Officer Adams is a smart guy. You know him?”
“No.”
“Well, I do. If a dispute arose, he’d look into all the paperwork for the car, including bank transfers. He’d see that not only did Lily buy this car for you, but she bought you a shit-ton of other stuff, too. And then, for some insane, inexplicable reason, you cheated on her.”
“What’s your deal, man? You trying to be her knight in shining armor?”
I finished painting and turned to face him, my jaw clenched. “Lily doesn’t need a knight in shining armor. She’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But she does deserve someone who respects her and treats her right. Someone who doesn’t cheat on her or exploit her for financial gain.”
Vlad’s eyes narrowed, and I could see anger simmering beneath the surface. “Have you got a thing for her?” He let out a sardonic laugh. “Fuck me! You’re old enough to be her dad!”
I raised my eyebrows. “You don’t think Lily would be interested in someone like me?”
“Are you for real? A mechanic? An old mechanic? With a kid?”
“I probably have no chance, right?”
“She wouldn’t touch your wrinkly old dick in a million years.” He spat on the ground. “She’ll come crawling back to me in the end, anyway.”
“You think?”
“For sure. I’m the full package.”
“Is that why you cheated on her?”
“No.”
“So, why did you?” I could feel the rage growing in me. It was reaching dangerous levels. I had to keep reminding myself that hitting this jerk wouldn’t be a good idea, no matter how tempting it was right now.
Vlad sighed, swishing his greasy hair around his shoulders. “All her fucking book boyfriends, man. She never stopped going on about them. She doesn’t want to be with one man. She wants to be with every man. Do you know how many guys she went out with before me? Someone like that doesn’t just stop wanting variety. They always want it. So, I opened up the relationship. To keep things fresh.”
“Seems like that really made her happy.” I clenched and unclenched my fist.
His eyes widened. “How’s she paying for the repair work, anyway? Thought she was broke. Is she paying you a different way? Wait, is she fucking you, granddad?”
“You better get out of here right now, Vlad. You’re on thin ice.”
His jaw dropped. “You are, aren’t you? Were you fucking her before I dumped her?”
“Wait—before you dumped her?”
Vlad’s face twisted into a smirk. “Oh, shit. You love her, don’t you? And you’re scared. You really think a girl like Lily is gonna be satisfied with your boring old-man dick? She doesn’t want whatever bullshit real life you have to offer her, man. She wants a fantasy. She wants to live in a storybook.”
“Get. Out.” I took a step forward.
Vlad raised his hands. “I’m leaving. Starting to stink of desperation around here anyway.” He swung his leg over his bike, revving the engine. “But don’t come crying to me when she leaves you for the latest model.”
With that, he sped off, leaving me standing there in a cloud of exhaust and doubt.
***
Later that evening, I finally had the chance to see Lily.
Ava had just come from a jujitsu class, so after Lily picked her up from the community center, we met at the Lighthouse Diner to grab a bite before heading home. Since Susie was away, one of the more senior students was taking the martial arts lessons in her absence. Ava seemed to enjoy the slightly more physical nature of the lessons.
“And then I flipped Tommy right over my shoulder!” she exclaimed, eyes shining with pride.
Lily reached across the table to high-five Ava. “That. Is. Awesome!”
“Tommy’s way older than me.”
“Oh yeah?”
“His birthday is, like, two months before mine.”
I managed a smile, but it felt stiff on my face. My mind was still on my encounter with Vlad. “Just remember, Ava, you should only use those moves in self-defense.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “I know, Dad. You’ve only told me a million times.”
Lily gave me a supportive smile.
After we’d finished our burgers and shakes, Ava headed off to the arcade corner to play some games before we left. I seized the opportunity to talk to Lily alone.
“Hey, can we talk for a sec?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual.
Lily’s brow furrowed behind her glasses, but she nodded. “Sure, what’s up?”
“You’ll never guess who came by the auto shop today.”
“Some kind of man/car hybrid?”
“How did you know?”
She laughed. “I just had a feeling.”
“No, sadly, it wasn’t a Transformer. It was Vlad.”
Lily’s face paled. “Seriously? What did he want? Did he know about us?”
“No. Well, not to begin with.”
“You told him?” Was that a hint of a smile on her lips?
“It just came out. He tried to trick me into giving him your car.”
“Ah. Course. That makes sense.”
“Said it was registered in his name—”
“That’s true.”
“Oh. Well, you paid for the car, right?”
“Right. And a ton of other stuff he made me buy him.” She sighed. “I mean, technically, in a way, the car is his because I gave it to him. But also, he sort of coerced me into buying it, telling me he’d pay me back for it as soon as his band hit the big time, and since that’s clearly never going to happen, I—”
“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “I’m on your side. Anyway, I scared him off.”
“After you told him about us?”
“Like I said, it just came out.”
“How?” She sucked her milkshake up through her straw with the most innocent expression imaginable. “How did it come up?”
“He was talking shit about you. I wasn’t having it.”
Her face crumpled slightly. “What was he saying?”
I gritted my teeth. “Just shitty, angry, hurt-feelingsy stuff.”
“You can tell me.”
“I think he was jealous of your book boyfriends.”
She let out an amused snort. “Well, I guess you and him have that in common.”
“I was only joking around. I think he was serious. He was trying to say that he was worried you were going to cheat on him, so he made you have an open relationship. Talk about delusional.” I shook my head. “I think he sees you as some kind of relationship addict, always going from one guy to the next in pursuit of perfection.”
Lily laughed. “That kind of is me.”
“Really?”
She thought for a moment. “Yes and no. I mean, I only did that because all the guys I dated were so shitty. I convinced myself for five minutes they were Mr. Right and each and every time, they revealed themselves to be Mr. Wrong. I guess I’m not a good judge of character.”
I was a little surprised by her answer. Had she convinced herself that I was Mr. Right, when in fact, as Vlad had made so abundantly clear to me, I was Mr. Wrong? After all, I was no fantasy man. Just a boring, middle-aged dad with a kid and a garage to run.
“Feels a bit weird that he knows about us before Ava does,” Lily said, looking over at Ava, who was currently making Pac-Man eat his way through a maze of dots with the intense concentration only an 8-year-old battling digital ghosts could muster.
“Yeah. It sucks,” I said. “About that, I’ve been thinking—”
“There’s actually something I need to tell you.”
“Oh?”
Lily took a deep breath as if steeling herself. “I’m going to have a video interview. With that literary agency in New York. Remember the one I told you about?”
My blood ran cold. Was she actually going to leave?
“I remember.”
“It would be working with my friend Mary-Beth, which would be great. And the salary is . . . better than good.”
I couldn’t believe it. She was being so casual about it, too.
“So, you’re moving to New York?” I managed, my voice sounding strained even to my own ears.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, no! Although I totally get why you thought that. No, not at all.” Lily shook her head vehemently. “It would mostly be remote work. I’d only need to pop into the city occasionally to check in. Like, one or two days a month, maybe. There might be more to begin with until I was up and running, but it would die down.”
Slowly, I nodded. “Okay. If . . . if this is what you want, then I support you. One hundred percent.”
“Thank you. It doesn’t change anything between us.”
“I hope it doesn’t.” I looked around at Ava, then when I saw she was still engrossed in the arcade game, I reached out my hand. “Just taking my chance to have a non-sexual touch.”
Lily glanced over at Ida, who was busy wiping a table with her back to us. “Of course,” she said slowly, “we both know that our arrangement isn’t forever, so at some point I might move away.”
My jaw tightened. “Right. Well, if you wanted to move to New York, I’d obviously be fine with it,” I found myself saying, trying to sound nonchalant even as my heart clenched at the thought. “Things with us are just starting out. You wouldn’t want to sacrifice a whole career on the million-to-one chance that things work out for us.”
Lily’s brow furrowed. “Million to one?”
“I mean, it’s pretty unlikely, right? I’m no Chad McStudden.” The joke fell flat, even to my own ears. I took my hand away, not wanting to get caught, especially at such a shitty moment.
She laughed, but it was hollow. I knew that I’d touched a nerve. “Anyway,” she said, “we’re not trying to make things . . . work out. Are we?”
“No. Just a slip of the tongue.” I sighed. “I’m not doing so well, am I?”
“At what?”
“This whole dating thing. I’m out of practice.”
“It’s okay.”
“Let me make it up to you.”
Her eyes flashed. “How?”
I leaned in and whispered, “Well, tonight, I’m gonna make you come so hard you forget about the concept of New York entirely. Then, I’m going to talk to you, even though it’s going to be late. And this weekend, at the bachelorette party, I’m gonna find somewhere secret on that boat, and I’m gonna fuck your brains out.”
She looked at me for a few moments. At first, her eyes were cloudy with sadness, but then I saw something flicker and ignite in them. “Okay. I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I’m just going to hold you.”