I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 46

Ethan had barely touched his food. For how expensive it was—and he insisted on having it—Cassie had hoped he might put a dent in the broiled salmon with fire roasted potatoes. She couldn't be mad, though, as he had a good reason why.

He and Joel have been talking each other's ears off for the better part of an hour. Joel was asking Ethan where he had learned to hit the ball like he did because that's not something he taught him. That talk went on to throwing—the coach is thinking of putting him in as a starting pitcher in Hawaii—which somehow led to video games.

Apparently, Joel got himself a gaming system so he could better relate to Ethan when it came down to it. Cassie was thrilled to see this. She never wanted Ethan to dislike Joel, no matter how much she disliked him herself. Although, she has been finding her way to forgiving him and that's all thanks to Ben.

He truly has turned her life upside-down in the best way possible.

"What do you think, Cass?" Joel's voice said, making her jump from her thoughts. "What do I think about what?" She asked. Ethan folded his hands together as he said, "Can I please go play corn hole with Arnie and Jamie? Please?"

Cassie looked outside the restaurant window and saw a lot of the travel ball kids in the yard-type area of the place. They had corn hole, ping pong, a giant version of Jenga, and so much more.

"Of course you can, just be where I can see you," she told him. He promised, then eagerly climbed over Joel to get out of the booth, leaving his mom and dad alone for the first time in a while.

Cassie picked up her glass of wine and sipped at it as she kept an eye on Ethan. She wasn't worried about him, she just didn't want to make eye contact with Joel. She did not want to have a I've gotten better now let's get back together talk, which she knew was coming.

"So," he started, making her roll her eyes, "we need to talk. It's important." Cassie was internally begging for it to be about anything else besides them. "It's about my receptionist—well, ex receptionist, Cindy. You know, the one I..."

Cassie gave him a side-eye, warning him that he was treading in dangerous territory. He got the hint. "Anyways," he said after clearing his throat, "I wasn't sure if we'd get time alone this trip to talk about it, but now is a good a time as any. We're getting married."

That got her to choke on her wine. Joel quickly handed her a napkin as he asked, "Are you alright? Sorry, I knew it would be a shock, I just wanted you to be the first to know. Seriously, you okay?"

Cassie got herself together, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah fine. Married, Joel? Are you serious?" He sat back in the booth and sighed. "I've put a lot of thought into it. She's carrying my kid. I'm not going to leave her alone with it, I can't. She's in Tacoma with her parents, so I drove up there to see her. Her dad wouldn't give us a fucking second alone. The man can't stand me. When I told her I wanted to be there, the old man practically shoved me down on one knee. Anyways, the wedding is in a couple weeks. It's going to be quick with a small reception for her family."

"What about your family?" She asked. He didn't give her an answer. "Jesus, Joel, they don't know? Do they even know we're divorced?" Once again, he was silent. She threw her hands up and scoffed in disbelief!

"I'm sorry!" He said. "You know how my parents are, they're crazy traditional catholics that don't believe in divorce! They told me to stop dating you when your parents got divorced, remember that? I had to promise them that wouldn't be us in order to get their blessing. Hell, I had to do that if we wanted them to pay for part of our wedding!"

Cassie kept shaking her head because this was so unbelievable!

"What about when they come down to visit?" She asked. "What are we supposed to do? What is Ethan supposed to do, pretend none of this ever happened? He's already damaged from this entire thing! I will not pretend to be married to you to please your parents. What does Cindy say about all this?"

His silence was becoming deafening. "Oh my god, please don't tell me you told her they're dead or something stupid like that!" Sighing, he told her, "She was my receptionist, Cass. She knows they're not dead, they called the office four to five times a week. I haven't told her yet. She asks about it, but I don't know what to say."

"How about the truth for once?" She scoffed. "Jesus, Joel...just tell the truth." With that, she got up from the table and slapped down a few hundred dollars for the bill. "Do not bring this up to Ethan until you've got everything figured out."

She walked outside where Ethan was cheering from getting a few points at corn hole. Cassie stood next to Arnie's parents and chatted like there wasn't anything wrong. To be honest, Joel can make whatever life altering decision he wants...just as long as it doesn't effect Ethan.

This definitely would and in so many negative ways.

Joel left without saying any type of goodbye to either of them. Ethan was concerned, but Cassie assured him that Joel just wasn't feeling well and that they'd see him tomorrow.

When they got back to the hotel, Cassie let Ethan rent a movie on paper view, then went to call Ben. She went downstairs to the lobby so Ethan wouldn't hear what she had to say.

"You're fucking joking. You're not going to play along with it, are you?" She gave an are you serious face before telling him, "Yes, Benedict, I'm going to pretend to be married to my cheating ex-husband and make my son play along with it."

Obviously hearing the frustrated sarcasm in her voice, Ben said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...I know you wouldn't do that. Look, let's just forget how utterly stupid I am and talk about something else. How are you? How's Ethan?"

They didn't talk about Joel for the rest of the night, which gave Cassie some peace of mind, and left with a promise to see each other soon. Hawaii could not come quick enough for the both of them. It's only been two days, but they miss each other immensely.

Before Hawaii, unfortunately, there were stops they had to make in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Orleans, and then Florida. It was going to be a long...long...Summer.