Dark Places

Chapter Ten

Just as his lips are about to touch mine a car honks. I jump, startled.

And just like that the moment is gone.

He pulls away and looks at the red sports car pulling into his driveway; it’s not necessarily a driveway but more like a path worn out by a car. He grunts in frustration, obviously he recognizes the driver stepping out.

She’s quite pretty, I’m sad to say. With her long wavy blond hair and sparkly blue eyes. She’s tan and tall; maybe an inch shorter than Ethan. And by the look on his face they have a history.

Ethan stands up, pulling me with him. He grabs my hand when he stands and doesn’t let go. I try to hide myself from this girl who now stands before us, a fake smile on her perfect face. I try my best to hide behind Ethan, but holding his hand makes it difficult. I already don’t like her.

The girl stares at Ethan for a minute. “Hey stranger.” She practically purrs.

When he doesn’t respond her eyes skip to mine. She looks at me with distaste, like I’m a dirty rat or something. Then her eyes fall to our hands and anger flashes in her eyes for a split second before she glances back at Ethan with a controlled expression.

“I see you have company.” God I don’t even like her voice.

“What do you want, Rachel?” He asks, irritation clear in his voice. I’m glad he doesn’t seem to like her.

“I just swung by to see what you were up to,” Her eyes flash to me for a split second, then back to Ethan. She raises her too perfect eyebrows. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

He sighs, “Rachel, this is Elaina. Elaina, this is Rachel. Now that that’s done, you should leave.” His voice is calm, but there’s definitely a little bit of anger.

She ignores the last part he said and instead turns to me again. “And are you his cousin?” Something tells me she already knows I’m not; she seems to want to know if I’m his girlfriend.

I lightly clear my throat. “No.”

“She’s staying with me for a while.” Ethan says with no shame or embarrassment.

Her fake smile falls and her expression turns to anger. Clearly she doesn’t like that. She crosses her arms and says, “Doesn’t she have a mommy and daddy to keep her safe?” She asks innocently, but I know she knows I wouldn’t be staying here if I had a home; I’m sure she can tell I’m too young to be out on my own.

I know girls like her; they appeared at my old school. Before I had to drop out, girls like her would taunt me; try to get a rise out of me. So, I know I shouldn’t let her get to me, but she does. That’s only because I’m weak, I let anyone and everyone walk all over me, beat me up, tear me down. That’s one thing Raymond was right about.

My stomach clenches and my eyes start to burn. Ethan squeezes my hand before letting go and, instead, wrapping his arm around my waist in an attempt to comfort me and to probably piss Rachel off further. Sure enough she notices the interaction and she looks like she’s about to pounce me.

Ethan clenches his jaw. “You need to leave, now.” He says angrily.

She humphs and glares at me. “You shouldn’t go for trash like her, I’m sure she comes with way too much baggage; you really shouldn’t waste your time.” She says haughtily.

I try not to let her words get to me; I mean, I’m supposed to be used to this by now. But I can’t help but think she’s right; I come with a broken past, he deserves someone better, and he’s bound to figure it out sooner or later. Raymond made sure to tell me over and over how nobody would want someone like me. He ruined me, and he made sure that I knew it. Even without him here, he still has a grip on me.

Ethan pulls me closer. “You will not come here and talk about her like that. I’m not wasting my time with her, but you, however, are wasting your time here. You better leave.” He says with so much power and anger in his voice that even Rachel looks shocked by his words.

“Fine,” She turns and starts walking toward her car. “Suit yourself.” She gets in her car and drives away, her wheels squealing, dust flying behind her.

Ethan visibly relaxes a little. He looks down at me, all anger gone from his face that was there moments ago. He pulls me close, kissing the top of my head. “Don’t let her bother you, Emily. She beats down everyone who doesn’t come from a rich family.”

I don’t say anything, I just relish in the feel of his arms around me.

He pulls back a little to look at me after I don’t say anything, his eyes wide. “Don’t tell me you believe her.” Again, I stay silent, suddenly interested in the fabric of his shirt.

He forces me to look him in the eyes. “You are not trash, you may have a horrible past, but that doesn’t matter to me. I only care that you’re safe and that you’re here with me. I want to get to know you better, Emily, and I most certainly don’t see that as a waste of time.” Once again, I can tell his words are true when looking into his eyes. I believe him and I trust him.

I nod and lay my head against his chest. He sighs and rubs my back absentmindedly. “Who was she?”

“My ex. I don’t know what I ever saw in her. She hasn’t wanted to accept that things are over between us even though it’s been six months since we broke up.”

It doesn’t surprise me that he’d have an ex-girlfriend. What surprises me is that he’d date someone like her. He just seems too sweet and kind to be going out with a girl like that.

“Should I expect more of your ex’s to ‘swing by’?” I say, only half teasing.

“Let’s hope not; I might not be able to hold back what I have to say next time.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You held back?” What he said to her didn’t seem like he was holding back.

“Yeah, I had a lot more to say.” He says vaguely. Before I can ask him to elaborate, he pulls away but grabs my hand as he turns toward the house. “Let’s get you something to eat. Would you like to go out?”

We reach the front door and he pulls it open for me. I would normally say no because I don’t want to risk it, but I know I’m safe here and it’s time I show it.

I give him a small smile. “I’d like that.” We walk into the living room and I glance at the bags of clothes on the couch.

“Those are all yours, go get dressed and we’ll head out.”

I grabs the bags and head to the room I’m staying in. I quietly close the door and set the bags on the bed. I open one bag and smile at the clothes he picked out. Some are colorful, and in the other bag I can see some of them have sparkles. I dig through shorts and tank tops and shirts and finally manage to find jeans and a simple white T-shirt. I put them on and realize they fit just right.

Wait a second, I’m going out to dinner with a handsome guy and I’m going to wear this? I can’t believe I almost walked out of here wearing this.

Instead I search around some more and find a simple turquoise dress. When I put it on I notice it fits my form perfectly, stopping just above my knees. How did he know just what to get? Maybe I’ll ask later. I run a brush through my hair quickly; I don’t think I should do something special with my hair when it’s just a simple dinner, so I let my hair roll softly down my shoulders and stop mid-back.

When I walk into the living room I see Ethan has changed as well. He’s sitting with his head on his hand, seeming to be lost in his thoughts. I take notice of how his shirt is tight enough to see his muscles, he looks gorgeous sitting there. I honestly don’t see anything wrong with him; he seems perfect.

While I’m standing there he takes notice of me and stands up. He stares at me, like he’s shocked at what I’m wearing or something. But I get my answer when he says, “You look beautiful.”