The Flashbacks

Chapter Three: Better Days Ahead of Us

When we finished eating dinner, Alex got up to grab the ice cream, mini angel food cakes, and strawberries for dessert.

"Did you guys know you're out of ice cream?" He asked after taking a look in the freezer. Ethan let out a soft frustrated noise and looked defeated.

"I knew I was forgetting something from the store. My mistake." Ethan sighed and I smiled. It was nice to hear a man admit that he made a mistake.

"I can go get it. You invited me to dinner, it's the least I could do." I offered and there was a hint of a smile on Ethan's face.

"I can take you, especially since Ely drove you here." Ethan offered, sipping his sweet tea. I noticed that Alex was drinking casually from a beer bottle, but Ethan hadn't touched one. Alex was drinking the same beer the whole time so he wasn't drunk. That was different too.

"I don't mind going by myself." Ethan seemed really kind and completely different from Tyler, but I still felt nervous.

"I insist. I'm the one who forgot the ice cream and you're still new to this area." Ethan gave me a half smile and it caused me to smile too.

"Okay." I nodded my head. "Is it okay if the kids stay here with you? I'm sure Jax would love to stay and play with Luna." I confirmed that it was okay with Elyse.

"Yeah, of course. You have my number if you feel the need to check on them." Elyse smiled at me and started collecting the dinner dishes. Alex was already at the sink, washing. Wow, these men were different.

"Come on, my truck is in the garage." Ethan nodded for me to follow him. I went out to the garage and I froze in the doorway when I saw his truck. It was gorgeous. "You coming?" Ethan asked, standing by the passenger door.

"Can I drive?" The question came out of my mouth before I could stop it. Ethan let out a short laugh and nodded his head. He met me by the driver's side door. He opened the door for me and held out the keys to me.

"Do you need help getting in?" He asked softly. I knew he was trying not to touch me, but the truck was pretty high up.

"Um." I was unsure. Ethan smiled and turned, grabbing a small stool from the shelf behind him.

"Elyse uses this to get in and out of the truck. I can toss it in the backseat so that we can use it at the store as well." He explained and I smiled. I used the stool to get up into the truck. I put the key in the ignition and I swear I practically exploded down below when it purred to life. Nothing more than a sexy truck to turn a girl on, holy cow. Ethan climbed into the passenger side; he didn't need to use the stool at all. He used the remote clipped to the visor to open the garage door. "Okay, when you pull out of the garage, you're going to go left up the street." He instructed me and I nodded my head. I put the truck in reverse and backed out of the garage carefully. "Turn right when you get to the end of the street." Ethan looked so comfortable in the passenger seat. "Keep going straight for four lights."

"Do you like being a cop?" I asked him, just trying to make conversation. I wondered if he knew Leo or if they worked at different stations.

"I like being able to help people. My dad was an alcoholic and he abused my mom. He never put his hands on me or Elyse, fortunately. I almost blew a gasket when I found out Elyse's fiancé was abusing her. I just wanted to help people like my mom." He explained. "Hey, you want to put on some music?" He offered it to me and I smiled slightly, nodding my head. I put on the local country station and I could see Ethan bobbing his head slightly in the passenger seat. "There's the store." He pointed to the right after the next light. I pulled into the parking lot. I tried to turn it into one of the parking spaces next to the cart return. We both hopped out of the truck and that's when I saw it. I had scraped the truck on the cart return and there was a huge scratch. I gasped and covered my mouth with both of my hands. Ethan was going to beat the crap out of me when he saw this. "Stephanie? Are you okay?" He rushed around to my side of the truck. He must have heard me gasp. He saw the truck and I felt my stomach clench with nerves.