by Meghyn King
Scarlett glanced at Rob, happy to see his eyes wide with such love as his gaze stalked Shy’s every step until she reached his side. He shook hands with their dad, before helping Shy up the steps.
The ceremony itself passed a lot quicker than Scarlett expected. She couldn’t keep her eyes off Ethan, stealing glances of him during the entire service. It made her feel better that he was also staring at her just as much.
Photos were taken, with Scarlett cozied up to Ethan for a few of them, and then they were ushered into cars and driven to a venue a few blocks away, where the reception was being held. It was a quaint bar, with a delicious buffet on offer. She wasn’t ashamed to fill her plate with all the fatty, Southern-style deliciousness. She was definitely not worrying about eating healthy at a wedding.
She saw Ethan already sitting at one of the tables and made her way over to him, plopping into the seat beside him.
He cocked his head at her. “Your reserved seat is on the other side,” he said, pointing at a seat on the opposite side of the table.
Scarlett shrugged. “I’m sure—” She glanced down at the fancy place card on the table. “—Teeny won’t mind swapping with me.”
She’d already seen Teeny making out with one of Rob’s cousins at the front of the reception room. Scarlett couldn’t work out how anyone could like someone as loud as Teeny, but she supposed some men liked the loud ones in bed.
“I didn’t think you’d want to sit beside me.”
“Why not?” Scarlett shifted her chair closer to him and grabbed her fork, filling it with some chicken and pasta. “Try this.” She shoved it toward his mouth, and if he hadn’t opened his lips so quickly, it would have been splattered over his face. “Delicious?”
He moaned around the food, nodding. “Yum.”
She grinned, eating a forkful of her own. He was right. It was rich, and full of flavor. The Cajun taste of the chicken burst on her tongue. “Gorgeous.”
“Not as gorgeous as you look tonight.” Ethan grabbed her chin and dragged her into a kiss. “Mm. Not as delicious as you, either.”
Scarlett chuckled. “Are you always this charming or are you trying to get me into your bed?”
“Too late for that,” he murmured with another kiss.
Someone plopped in the seat on the other side of Ethan. “What y’all doing?” Crystal narrowed her gaze on them, a knowing grin on her lips. “When Nicole told me y’all were on a date at the festival, I didn’t believe her. Y’all made me look like a fool.”
Ethan rolled his eyes, curling his arm around Scarlett’s shoulder. “It’s no one’s business but ours.”
Crystal waved her spoon at him. “What happens in Ponchatoula, stays in Ponchatoula, which means everyone knows about what happens here. Are y’all dating now?”
Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Crystal, go away.”
She huffed. “Y’all are no fun.” Snatching her plate, Crystal rose again and stalked off.
“This town,” Ethan muttered, sliding a hand over his face.
“You could always move to New York City.” She said it before she could stop herself. She pressed her lips together as soon as it was out of her mouth and cursed under her breath. How could she be so stupid? Saying something like that broke half of her rules at the very least.
He frowned at her, but his lips were curved up at the corners. “New York City is much too big for me. I’m a small-town boy.”
She shrugged. “I understand.”
“You could always stay here. Ponchatoula would welcome you back with open arms. I reckon I would too.” His smile was so hopeful that it hurt her to say what she knew needed saying.
“Ethan, I can’t. Ponchatoula is in my past now. And this”—she gestured between them—“is nothing but fucking.”
The smile on his face dropped. He licked his lips. “I don’t believe you, Scarlett. If you truly believed that, you wouldn’t have mentioned me moving to New York—and we wouldn’t have fucked more than once.”
She glanced around the room, hoping no one heard him. It wasn’t a secret that they were having sex, but she also didn’t want the whole town to know about their business. They could gossip all they wanted, but when it came to the truth, that belonged to her until she was ready to share it.
“So now you’re ashamed?” he snapped, shoving his chair backward as he stood.
Scarlett stood with him, grabbing his shoulders. “Don’t make a scene,” she hissed.
“I’m not.” He kept his voice low, but it was woven with rage and unhappiness. “You have to make up your mind, because I’m tired of playing these games with you. I let you believe we were just fucking, but it’s more than that, Scarlett. We did more than fuck. We cuddled, we watched movies together, we went to the fucking festival together. That’s more than fucking.”
It hurt her to admit it—it was the truth, after all—but denial burned heavy inside of her. She didn’t feel anything for Ethan—she couldn’t. Not for Ethan Antonelli.
“It’s not me who’s believing in things that don’t exist, Ethan,” she snapped quietly.
The venue had a live band pumping, with loud music filling the room, so no one paid any attention to them, too busy eating or dancing to notice what on the surface looked like a lovers’ quarrel.
“And Sofia. What was that? She came to the station today to put in a report. He’s being arrested tomorrow. Are you going to abandon her?”
“Abandon her?” She laughed at the absurdity. “She bullied me, Ethan. She made my life hell. Did you think I was going to be best friends with her because you and I are fucking?”
Ethan snorted, waving his hand at her. “You know what? Forget it. Just forget it. I was an idiot.” As he spun on his heel to walk away, she grabbed his arm. She couldn’t let him walk away from her, her heart wouldn’t allow it. The fear of this ending, of never seeing him again, made her surge forward and kiss him.
She cupped his cheeks, dragging him nearer. Instead of shoving her away like she thought he would, he pressed closer, drawing her into his arms. She didn’t even care for the whoops or catcalls she heard somewhere in the background, she just knew that she needed him against her.
He rested his forehead on hers. “Want to go outside?”
She nodded, and he slipped his hand into her own, guiding her toward a door to the left. Shy gave her a thumbs-up as they strode past, but Scarlett didn’t have the energy to do more than smile. It was all happening so fast, she didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling. Her head spun with confusing thoughts, the main being how stupid she was for breaking the wall down that she’d built so carefully over the years.
They swept past a staff member smoking outside, and when Ethan found a quiet place, away from the noise of the reception, he stopped.
The spring humidity was smothering, the heat bearing down on her like a wet blanket, but she managed to breathe through it. She wrapped her arms around herself, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
Ethan shook his head, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. His soulful gaze stared hard at her. “We can’t keep playing this cat-and-mouse game. I need you to tell me what you want.”
Scarlett knew what her reply should have immediately been. She should have told him that they were just fucking, and that she was leaving in two days, but the words got caught in her throat. They felt like a massive football lodged there and she couldn’t force them out, no matter how hard she tried.
He waited, his own throat working, but when she didn’t say anything, Ethan spoke again. “Can you at least tell me how you feel?”
She let out a frustrated breath. It’d be so easy. All she had to tell him was that she didn’t feel anything for him. Yet, she couldn’t. Her arms tightened around her body. “Ethan, I have to go back to New York. I have a life there.”
“You have to, or you want to?” He stepped closer, eyes hopeful. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Scar. I have a house. You could move in with me.”
“Whoa. Don’t you think that’s a little too fast?”
He shook his head. “I’m trying to give you suggestions here.”
She sighed, her frustration pouring out with it. “Ethan, this is all happening too fast.”
“We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
“Not like this. We were never close. I only knew the version of you who laughed at the jokes aimed at me.” She wasn’t planning on bringing it up again, because she wanted to let it go, let the past be the past, but this conversation only reminded her that their past relationship defined them. It was who they were.
“But you knew another version of me, right? The one who loaned you a pen in library, or the kid who gave you a cookie at recess.”
Scarlett frowned. He had a good point there, and she’d forgotten about those simple yet meaningful gestures. They were so brief in their history, that they felt like a figment of her imagination. She hadn’t known if they were just something that she wished had happened, or whether they actually occurred. Now she knew.
“You’re asking me to give up my life, and I’m sorry, but I won’t do that.”
A grimace crossed his face and he pursed his lips. “This is your last chance, Scarlett. Whatever you choose now, is the final choice. If you want to leave, I’m walking away right now, for the safety of my own heart. But if you want something more, I can give you the world.”
“I never wanted the world.” She said it so quietly, that she thought she could actually hear her heart shattering into a million pieces.
Ethan smiled sadly at her.
The door behind them opened and they both glanced at it. Nicole slid through, her gaze soft on them.
“I hope I’m not interrupting you,” she murmured, her fingers entwined in front of her.
“It’s fine. We’re done,” he replied, glancing at Scarlett from the corner of his eye, the second meaning hitting Scarlett like a punch in the stomach.
“I….” Nicole’s hesitation made Scarlett frown.
“Is everything okay, Nic?”
She shook her head. “Ethan, I heard Sofia made a report against Jeremy?”
Ethan stiffened, his jaw tight. He nodded. “She did.”
“I….” Nicole glanced at Scarlett. Her voice shook as she continued, “I’d like to—I’d like to press charges against Jeremy too.”
Ethan rounded on her, the tightness in his jaw softening as he stepped closer. It looked like he was going to reach for her, but he changed his mind, letting his hand drop. “Did he hurt you, Nicole?”
Nicole nodded, her hands shaking as badly as her voice. “Yes, sir, he did. My daddy always taught me to never let a man lay a hand on me, but I never—I never expected it to happen.”
The brightness of Nicole’s lavender bridesmaid dress looked gorgeous against her pale skin, which didn’t appear marred from what she could see, but Scarlett knew enough to know the marks were not always visible to the public eye. So when she lifted her dress, and Scarlett saw the deep black and purple bruises on her thighs, Scarlett couldn’t hold back a gasp. They were shaped almost like the knuckles on a fist, like he’d punched her thigh hard, over and over.
“How did this happen?” Scarlett asked, though she knew she already had an idea. She stepped forward, curling an arm around her shoulder for support, wishing like hell they’d tried harder to get her away from Jeremy the night of the festival.
“He wanted…. He wanted to have sex. I’m a church-going girl, Scarlett. I’d never have sex outside of marriage.” Her turquoise eyes watered. “He didn’t like that very much.”
She wanted to find Jeremy and kill him herself, and apparently Ethan felt the same way. He looked like a warzone personified. The look in his eyes said that he craved Jeremy’s blood on his hands, and Scarlett didn’t blame him.
“Can you come to the station now, Nicole? We can take photos of those bruises while they’re fresh, and we’ll start a report.”
Nicole nodded. She grabbed Scarlett’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “I’m—I’m sorry. I never expected him to be like this.”
“Don’t,” Scarlett said harshly. “Don’t ever apologize.”
Ethan pressed his lips together and held out his hand. “Let’s head there now.”
“But what about the party? Shy won’t mind?”
“Shy will understand,” Scarlett whispered.
Nicole seemed to accept this. She stepped toward Ethan, and he guided her in the direction of the car park. He glanced over his shoulder before they were out of her sight. The look he sent Scarlett was a clear goodbye—she could tell by the way he smiled sadly for a brief moment before turning and disappearing around the corner of the building.
At that point, she should have stopped him. Apologized. Something. But she didn’t. She let him walk off and watched him go. She told herself it was just so he could help Nicole, but it was also because she didn’t know if she was brave enough to trust him with her heart, even though he already owned it.
She returned to the party then, feeling like her world had been tipped on its axis, and even her dad’s bad jokes couldn’t make her laugh. Her mom tried to talk to her as well, but she merely smiled through whatever she was nagging her about and spent the rest of the night wallowing in her misery. She wouldn’t acknowledge that she kept glancing at the door, hoping Ethan would return. He didn’t, and she knew it was over before it really began.
“Do you really have to leave, Scar?” Her momma dragged her into a bear hug, her hold fierce and tight.
“Momma, we talked about this,” Scarlett laughed, returning the hug just as tightly.
“I could lock you in the basement, so you couldn’t leave.”
“That’d be kidnapping.”
“Not if you’re my daughter.”
“That still counts as kidnapping, Momma.” She kissed her mom on the cheek.
Her dad came in for a hug next, and he held her for as long as her mom did. “You know you’re welcome home anytime,” he murmured in her ear.
She smiled. She knew that, and she already contemplated the thought of visiting more often. After this visit, Ponchatoula didn’t feel as terrifying as it had before.
After her dad was done, it was Shiloh’s turn, but she didn’t go in for a hug immediately. She gripped Scarlett’s hands, squeezing. “Promise me you’ll visit?”
“I promise.” Those two words held truth and conviction, and they came out easier than she expected, which, hell, she hadn’t expected.
Shy smiled. “What about Ethan?”
“Shy.”
The warning in her voice made Shy’s smile widen.
“Rob, tell her what you told me.”
Rob paled. Clearly he didn’t want to get involved, but one look from his wife had him crumbling. “He’s pretty torn up about you leaving. At the bachelor party, he was hammered. He kept harping on about you, and how beautiful you were, and how he couldn’t let you go back to New York. I saw him yesterday for a few minutes—he looked like his dog had died. He doesn’t have a dog, Scarlett.”
Scarlett’s stomach clenched, heart thumping against her ribs so hard, it felt like it’d explode from her chest. What was she supposed to say to that? She knew what. She was supposed to shrug, and then get in her car and leave. It was simple… yet it wasn’t.
Instead, she nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Thanks for letting you know?” Shiloh crossed her arms. “We’re not talking about the weather. We’re talking about Ethan’s feelings. Your feelings.”
“I’m aware of that, Shiloh.” She pursed her lips. “But I refuse to talk about this with you.”
“You’re gonna run back to New York and forget it ever happened?”
“Enough, Shiloh. This is none of your business.”
Shiloh huffed. “Are you honestly going to ignore your feelings?”
Scarlett sent her a glare, and it was enough to shut her up. She said her final goodbyes to her family, hugging
them all one last time. Even Rob got a long hug from her.
“Take care of my sister, Rob. Make sure she wears plenty of sunscreen in Hawaii.”
“Yes, ma’am, I will.” He tugged Shiloh against him. “She’ll never want for anything.”
“That’s what I like to hear. She acts a bit like a princess, so she’ll only ask for the best.”
Shy narrowed her eyes, causing Scarlett to laugh.
“Get going, you!” Shy teased.
When Scarlett got into the car, she waved at her family one final time. A sadness she didn’t expect to feel crashed down on her as she studied their beautiful faces—her mom crying, blowing kisses to her from where she stood beside Scarlett’s dad. Rob and Shiloh standing arm in arm and waving back, Shiloh’s eyes shining bright with her own tears. It was the first time in her life that Scarlett didn’t want to leave Ponchatoula, and it caught her by complete surprise. Everything changed so quickly that it made her head spin. It always hurt to leave her family, but this stung a lot more than the last time she left.
As she drove toward the town line, her heart leaped into her throat. She kept glancing in the rearview mirror, hoping for the first time in her life that a cop’s blue and red lights would be flashing behind her. It didn’t happen, and as soon as she reached the line that separated Ponchatoula from its neighboring town, she knew it wasn’t going to.
Scarlett got as far as three miles out before she swerved the Mustang off the road, her foot heavy on the brakes. She clenched her eyes closed, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel. What was she doing? She had to keep driving through to New Orleans, but she didn’t think she could bring herself to go any farther. Her heart wouldn’t let her, not when she had Ethan’s handsome face flashing up behind her closed eyes. How had it come to this?
She cursed herself, then Ethan, and spun the car around, heading back into town and toward the police station.
She stormed into the building and was greeted by a surprised-looking Abby.
“Hi, Scarlett. What are you doing here? Ethan said you were leaving today.”
