Second String (In Too Deep #3)

by McMillin, Casey

  "Why?" Ethan asked. He seemed genuinely concerned.

  "Well, one of the main reasons I wanted to move to L.A… aside from wanting to work for the Lakers, was to try to put myself through college. I feel like my parents might even be willing to help financially once I get to a place where I can approach them with a plan."

  "What do you want to study?" he asked. He knew I was a dancer, but he had no idea that dance was my life.

  "Dance," I said. "Right now, I'm teaching little kids a bunch of routines that someone else made up. I'm fine with that level of responsibility, but the job they're talking about giving me at Gretchen's place is more than I'm worthy of, I'm afraid."

  "Aw, come on. Don't say that," he said. "You'll do great. They wouldn't have asked you if you weren't capable of it."

  "That's just the thing. They have no idea what I'm capable of. They just asked me because I'm a dancer, and maybe they thought it'd be awkward if they didn't ask me. How am I supposed to know what to teach these kids if I haven't gone to college?"

  "How long have you been dancing?" he asked.

  "Twelve years," I answered, after a slight hesitation.

  "Doesn't that count for something?"

  I sighed. "I guess it does. I'm just going to feel like a big poser if I try to head up a dance program. I'm nineteen with no immediate college plans. I just don't see how anyone would take me seriously."

  "I think people aren't usually as harsh as we expect them to be," he said. "In fact, most of the time, people perceive us as whatever we project. You won't have any problems getting people to take you seriously, but if you really want to go to school, you should make it happen. Fill out the application. Who says you can't take classes part time on top of your, what is it, three other jobs?" He may have been joking about my job situation, but I could tell he was serious about me pursuing the idea of going to college.

  "I should just be honest with Gretchen about everything. She was a theater major, so I'm sure she'd have some advice. The news of the art center is still so new to her, though. I think I'll give it a little time to sink in before I go sharing all my doubts and goals."

  "I think you're closer to having it all figured out than you think," Ethan said. "You're lucky to know what your passion is. Some people go their whole lives without figuring that out. Now all you have to do is sort out the details."

  "You make it sound so easy," I said.

  "Why make it complicated?" he asked. He looked at me with that easy smile and my heart sped up a little at the sight of it.

  "Thanks for letting me get that off my chest," I said. I glanced at the center console to avoid staring at him for too long. "I think you're right about me being lucky to know what my passion is."

  "I'm the one who's unlucky when it comes to your passion," he said.

  "Why's that?" I asked.

  "I'm getting the short end of the stick here. I think I'm the only one of my friends who hasn't seen you in action. You know, shaking that money maker."

  "Well you'll have to get tickets to a game," I said, acting a little coy.

  "I was hoping for something a little more private, if you know what I mean," he said.

  I laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you were… but it'll take more than a few trips up the coast to get something like that."

  "How many trips exactly?" He was looking at me with a teasing grin, so I knew the question was only half-serious.

  "For a private dance?" I contemplated for a few seconds. "Five trips." I didn't even think about it really. I just said the first number that popped into my head. I knew he'd scarcely be able to come see me since he was training so hard.

  "You know I'm gonna hold you to that, right?"

  "Sure," I said. It came out more sarcastic sounding than I intended. But really, I didn't expect him to come up at all. I knew he'd probably only driven up here today because of the shock and novelty of learning I was here with his friends. Most likely, he just wanted to see if it was really me.

  "I really should be getting on the road," he said. "I'm already going to be paying for the way I ate today. I definitely can't add tired to the list."

  "I hear you. I have to work tomorrow too," I said.

  "Are you planning on spending the night here?" he asked.

  "No. In fact, I'm right behind you. I just need to go in and get Sal and my things together."

  "Are you glad you spent Christmas up here?" he asked. "Seems like Sal had fun."

  I let out a laugh. "Sal's had more people food in the past two days than he's had in his whole life." Gretchen's little nephews keep sneaking it to him when I'm not looking."

  "I hate to tell you, but I think everyone's sneaking him food when you're not looking. I saw at least three grown ups feeding him too."

  "That explains why he's comatose in there," I said, rolling my eyes. "I hope I can get him to walk to the car when I'm ready to leave in a few minutes."

  "You want some help? I didn't know you were planning on leaving right away or I would have just waited for you. I can still wait if you want to stay together on the interstate as far as L.A."

  "No, I'm fine. Thanks anyway," I said. "It'll take me a little while to get my stuff together and tell everyone goodbye."

  Ethan thought about pressing the issue for a second, but decided to do the logical thing and get on the road. I was glad, because my car was starting to act funny, and I'd be embarrassed to have it crap out in front of him. He turned the key, and the ignition revved to life. He looked at me and flashed that irresistible smile. What a freaking hottie.

  "Collin was saying that his parents might do something in San Diego for New Year's. Do you think you might be able to come down?"

  I had been so preoccupied by his face, that I hadn't exactly heard the words he was saying. Thankfully, my mind held on to the sounds it had heard, and I was able to replay the statement in my head. Can you come for New Year's was what I thought he said.

  "New Year's?" I said, testing the waters to make sure I'd heard right.

  "Yeah, you think you could make it to the party at the Blake's house?"

  "In San Diego? No. I mean, I don't think so. I heard them talking about it, but no. I don’t think I'll be able to do that. I have off the three days before, but we have a home game on New Year's Day."

  "Really? I think you should be able to make it back to L.A. for your game that night. It's only a couple of hours."

  "Actually, I haven't even given it any thought. I'd hate to leave Sal, but I guess he'd be okay for one evening," I said. I paused for another second before saying, "I'll think about it. I'll give you a text to let you know if I think I can make it."

  "Would a trip to San Diego count toward the five visits?"

  "No way!" I said instinctively. I was so accustomed to keeping my distance with guys that giving them a hard time was standard operating procedure for me. It wasn't until after I'd said it that I realized I may want to speed up the process for this private dance. Ethan stirred feelings in me that before now, were only reserved for Jeremy. Part of me was scared that I'd end up falling for yet another player, but the other part of me was relieved I was finally feeling attracted to someone other than Jeremy.

  But before I could eat my words and say, "I guess it counts toward the five visits," Ethan leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Well, it'd still be cool if you'd come," he said. "You should try."

  Was that my goodbye? A kiss on the cheek that was over before it even started? We made out for hours in Vegas. You don't go from hours of making out to a peck on the cheek. Ughhh, I knew I'd gone too far with the good girl routine. He was too scared to even kiss me now.

  "You okay Em?"

  I focused on his face, zeroing in on the lips I so desperately wanted on mine. "Fine," I said. Two can play at this game. I was calm and collected when I said, "I'll text to let you know if I think I can make it next week." Ignoring the nagging urge to lean in and kiss him, I reached for the handle and pulled it, letting the door pop open just a crac
k. "I'm glad you came," I said. I leaned over and put an equally chaste kiss on his cheek before climbing out of the car.

  "I'm glad I came too," he said, leaning over to look at me through the open door. "See you soon, I hope," he added.

  "Yeah, me too," I said. "Oh, and tell your family merry Christmas."

  "I'm headed for the apartment, but I'll tell Josh."

  "I can't believe I forgot about Josh," I said. "We should have sent some food for him."

  "No, no, this is plenty. And I'll tell him you say hi."

  "Please do. And tell him I tried my best to send a plate for him."

  "I'll share, I promise," he said. I closed the passenger's side door, and walked around the front of the car. He rolled down his window as he began to slowly creep out of the parking spot in reverse. "I hope Sal's not too shot-out to make it home."

  I laughed at the way he used the phrase. Sal was pretty shot-out right now. Ethan was smiling at me out the window, and again, I had to stifle the urge to run up to his car window and kiss him goodbye. I just waved and blew him a kiss.

  ****

  "That was fun," Rachel said as I walked back into the house. It was more of a question than a statement, and I knew she (and everyone else) wanted the scoop on how things had gone.

  "Yeah, I'm glad he came," I said, still going for discrete. "We'll probably try to hang out again sometime if we can. Both of us are just so busy, and with the distance and everything it's hard to—"

  "Oh, totally," Rachel said, letting me off the hook from any further details. "I'm glad you two had fun catching up, though."

  "You guys are talking like she didn't just sit on his lap for the past six hours," Collin said. Rachel punched his thigh. "What?" Collin asked, looking injured. Then he looked at me. "I thought you two hit it off." He gave me a wink, and I knew he was thinking about how I'd told him I could never fall for Ethan since my heart already belonged to Jeremy. I got nervous thinking about the possibility of him sharing my secret. He must have picked up on my shift, because he gave me a sincere expression that said I shouldn't worry and everything's okay. I smiled at him and he smiled back. This whole exchange happened without Rachel noticing, which I was really grateful for.

  "Hey Collin, do I need an invitation to the New Year's thing I heard you talking about at your parent's house?"

  "It's just something my mom's throwing together because she feels guilty about skipping Christmas, but it should be fun. You should definitely come. Ethan will be there, I'm sure."

  "I have a game the next day, but I'm giving it some thought. Thanks for the invite."

  "I have to be back in the pool on New Year's Day, so you can just ride with us if you want," Collin said. "We'll have to head home pretty early."

  "I might just take you up on that." I said.

  Chapter 6

  Ethan

  I was in the water at 9AM the morning after Christmas. My coach and I were the only two at the gym for a solid two hours before a few other stragglers came in. Since Collin moved, I was the only one at the Aquatic Center on the national team. A few other guys had potential, but weren't ready yet.

  My coach was heartbroken when Collin moved to L.A. Like everyone else in the swim world, Coach Nagel knew Collin was the one to beat at this year's Olympic Trials. He knew not to take Collin's move personally, but it was a real bummer for him professionally. He probably gave Collin a little too much guilt about the whole thing, but Coach Nagel was a good guy. He and I made just the type of underdog team that could surprise everyone.

  I was at the pool for about six hours, which was a typical training day for me. A lot of the other guys swim in multiple events, but Coach and I decided to stick to freestyle because it was my strongest stroke. Coach didn't come right out and say it, but basically if I was going to have a shot at making it through the trials, I'd have to focus my energy on the one thing I did best—freestyle sprinting.

  We drilled so much that every time I closed my eyes I had one isolated movement or another replaying in my mind. Being a professional swimmer was a full time job, and even though I loved it, I was looking forward to a time when I didn't have to be so consumed with just one thing. There were about a hundred other things I wanted to try before I died, and winning an Olympic medal was pretty much all consuming. I knew success didn't come cheap, so I worked my ass off even on days when I didn't feel like it.

  I didn't much feel like being there today, but that had more to do with the dancer who'd left me with just a kiss on the cheek last night. I had to wonder how long this hard to get thing was going to last. I figured I'd get a little booty call on the side if Emily made me wait it out for too long. There's no way I'd let myself feel guilty for that. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, after all. And it wasn't like I had any sort of agreement with her. She'd said it herself. Casual.

  "What's up dude?" It was my roommate's voice. I was in the locker room at the pool, but it wasn't at all odd to see Josh there since he swam for exercise. Josh had a good run as a college swimmer at Cal, but was more of a career/family man, although the family part wasn't quite working out right now. He was married for a year to a girl named Kayla who'd left him a few months ago for an old boyfriend. The career was still firmly in place, though. Besides being the practical one of the group, Josh was extremely smart. He graduated from Cal with honors and was now a successful geological engineer. He consulted with people who were about to build things, and basically told them what to expect from the bit of earth they were working with.

  "I'm done, man. I did single arms for the last two hours."

  Josh sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Why's that? Are you changing your stroke or what?"

  "A little. Just doing some fine-tuning. Some days it feels like I'm starting from scratch," I said.

  "It'll pay off though man. You're looking good."

  "Thanks. I feel pretty good about the way things are going," I said. "Hey, this is totally unrelated, but Collin's parents are having a big New Year's party this year."

  "Is Collin coming?"

  "Well, yeah, I assume he is. He was talking like he'd be there."

  "When'd you talk to Collin?"

  "You haven't been to the apartment?" I asked.

  "No, why?" he asked, confused.

  "There's a plate of food from Gretchen's house along with a note telling you I'd gotten it when I spent Christmas in Ventura with Collin and them."

  "Why'd you drive all the way up there?" Josh asked.

  "Because Emily was there."

  Josh just gave me a blank look like he was almost pissed at how confusing this whole story was.

  "Who's Emily?"

  "The girl from Vegas. The showgirl."

  It was evident by Josh's expression that he may have remembered who Emily was, but still couldn't make sense of the whole Christmas in Ventura thing. He didn't have to ask. I just explained, "She's working as a Laker Girl and they ran into her at a game. They invited her to Christmas at Gretchen's and she was there eating breakfast with them when I called to wish Collin a merry Christmas."

  "So what? You just dropped everything and drove up there?" he asked.

  "Yeah. I actually got there pretty early. I spent the better part of the day with her."

  "She's the one who stayed the night in your hotel room, but only let you get to second base, right?"

  "Yeah," I said letting out a little laugh.

  "Did you get more than that yesterday—"

  "No," I said, cutting him off. "In fact, I barely made it to first."

  "What? I can't believe it, E. That's not your style. You must really like this girl," he said.

  "Not my style? What's that supposed to mean?"

  "You know what it means. I'm just saying, you've never been one to work too hard for a girl who's not giving you any."

  "That's because I've never run into a girl who won't give it to me," I said, being ridiculous and full of myself as always.

  "That's actually kind of true. I
seriously can't think of another girl who's told you no."

  "Oh shut up, it's not like I sleep with every girl I meet."

  "You sleep with most of them. Anyway, it doesn't really matter… I just think it's cute that you drove three hours up the coast for one little kiss."

  "I think it's cute that you just said the fucking word cute," I said.

  Josh laughed and held his hands up in surrender as if to say he wouldn't mention Emily or my inability to round the bases any more.

  He and I talked for a few more minutes before I took off. He said he'd probably go to the New Year's party since he didn't have any other plans. I told him I'd be seeing him back at the apartment later. On my way out, I stopped to tell a few others goodbye before leaving the pool in search of food.

  I ended up going to a place I frequented called Annie's Diner. It was a quirky restaurant that was owned by a woman from England. They served, among other things, a traditional English breakfast that I stopped in for at least three times a week.

  Annie and the other waitresses did weird things like bust out in to a line dance out of nowhere, and make loud announcements about random customers. Most of the time I escaped the shenanigans since I sat at the bar. I was just in it for the food. They served huge portions, and it always tasted good. Sometimes I came to Annie's with a friend, but it wasn't unusual for me to come alone. I always had someone to talk to if I wanted the company. By the time the waitresses took turns stopping by to say hi, I would be done with my meal.

  I was finishing up my last few bites when I got a text message from a girl I knew from high school named Marissa. She was a party girl I'd been out with a few times. Her parents had more money than mine, and Marissa knew how to spend it. She was a full-fledged professional at spending daddy's money.

  Marissa: "We're taking the yacht out for New Year's. You in?"

  Me: "Might have plans. Can I tell you later?"

  Marissa: "Be quick about it. I'm only asking like 20 people. It's gonna be crazy. Mike's bringing that stuff from last time."