Dear Ethan: A Second Chance Romance

Chapter 16: 2019

Six Years Later 

*Ethan*

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist before wiping the steam away from the mirror. 

My phone buzzed on the bedside table. I walked over to pick it up. Two missed calls from Blake. I already had a feeling why he was calling me but I dialed him back anyway while I stood by the sink and pulled out my razor from the side cabinet.

His voice was raspy on the other end. From what I saw online he spent most of the night partying. 

"My man, your voice is shot," I said as he chuckled on the other end.

"There's no way I'm going to make it today. I feel like I've been smashed multiple times with Thor's hammer." His voice was gravelly.

My lips curved up into a smile as I cleaned out the razor blade. "I had a feeling." Blake didn't party all the time but when he did he went all out.

"I guess you forgot about the pickup," I said, patting my face with a towel before heading to the walk-in closet to get dressed.

We were holding a retirement party for Coach Jones later today with the team and all the trainers. Everyone had an assigned task and Blake's was cake duty.

"Pick up? Oh wait, shit that was today?" I heard him groan as I chuckled, selecting the outfit I had picked out yesterday from the rack.

"Fuck, I completely forgot. Hey listen, I'm going to need a favor." 

And there it was. I knew it was coming before he said it out loud.

"You were in charge of getting the cake and you need me to pick it up," I said dryly, putting on the shirt over my head before opening up the drawer with all my special occasion ties.

"Majors, you read my mind. I owe you brother, I'll text you the address."

I glanced at my watch. It was still early. I had gotten up earlier than usual just in case Blake called to bail.

I had just enough time to spare to pick it up before heading over to the stadium. My phone pinged with a message from Blake. 

Once I was in the car I quickly punched in the address and checked my mirrors before pulling out of the driveway.

-

*Jodie*

There wasn't time for a staff meeting today. Because today was a chaos day. 

There were slow days and there were chaos days. Never in between. 

And business lately has been doing really well. Almost too well. With a line out the door before we even opened well. 

Which meant today was definitely a chaos day.

"Register is down," shouted Sam. Forget it. There was one other day. A shit day.

"You're kidding me," I came out of the back to fiddle with the register, smacking it hard repeatedly.

"I'm pretty sure beating up the register isn't going to do anything," said Sam raising her eyebrow at me.

"Dammit," I growled. It was going to be an absolute shit show once we opened the doors. I could already see the line growing outside, faces pressing against the fogged glass.

Andie stopped rearranging the tags in the cupcake display to look at me. "Should we tell them that it's a cash-only day?" We hired Andie a month ago as a part-timer. She was still in high school but had a passion for baking so she was our apprentice in training.