Claire
“Claire, don’t get too excited,” Ethan called out from the kitchen as I was putting clothes on after our shower.
“What’s that?”
He poked his head in the bedroom. “We have hot dogs!” He extended his hands, full of a package of hot dogs, through the doorway.
“Well, you can’t get any better than that!” I beamed at him.
“You’ll have to settle for only ketchup and mustard, though.”
“I think I can handle that.”
“I’ll go get the fire started. Can you see if there are any skewers to grill these on, or if we need to find a twig or something?”
I waved him away. “Start the fire. I’ll be on skewer duty.”
I rummaged through the kitchen. I found a metal coffee can. Dumping the coffee grounds into a Ziploc bag, I rinsed the can out and took it outside along with a pair of tongs.
“Ethan, grab some beers out of the cooler,” I instructed.
“Are you feeling ready to drink?”
I laughed. “Actually, I might have one, but I need it for our beer dogs.”
“Beer dogs?”
“Yep.”
He handed me a few beers. I opened them up and filled the can a bit over the halfway mark. Then I plopped the hot dogs in. “Go stick that on the fire.”
“I knew you liked hot dogs, but I didn’t know you were such a connoisseur,” Ethan teased.
“Ha, ha! We camped a lot as a kid.”
“Is that where your nighttime skinny-dipping skills came from?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Actually, I’m not sure if I do.”
I laughed.
Ethan opened a beer.
I grabbed it and took a sip. It didn’t repulse me. “Okay, I think I’m going to drink this.”
He grabbed another one out of the cooler.
We went and sat down on the picnic table. Ethan sat on the bench. I jumped up on the table behind him and put my legs on both sides of his shoulders. I started massaging his shoulders. He leaned back and put his head on my stomach. “That feels so good, Claire.”
I kissed the top of his head. “Tell me about your Volts career. By the way, when I asked Ben to take your case, right away he said, ‘Ethan Knight, the former Volts player?’”
Ethan laughed. “Really? That’s interesting. Didn’t take Ben as a die-hard Volts fan, which you would have to be to remember my career.”
I slapped his shoulder. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“I had a four-year contract. I got signed after graduation in the second round of the draft pick. My playing time was okay. Collin, D, Tom, and I...we all became tight. Tom was a superstar from day one. He went in the first draft round at nineteen. D did too, but he busted his leg really bad, and that ended his career. Collin was a good player, and he got re-signed for a second contract.” Ethan smiled as he talked about his friends.
“Do you miss it?”
“Sure. But it wasn’t meant to be. It was hard when I didn’t get re-signed. I felt pretty lost. My dad is the one who steered me toward property.”
I ran my hand through his hair. “You close with your dad?”
“I was. He doesn’t know who I am anymore. I go visit him once a month upstate, but he hasn’t known who I am in over four years.” Ethan’s voice was soft and sad.
I put my arms around him in a bear hug. “I’m sorry. That must be tough for you.”
Ethan stayed quiet for a bit. Then he admitted, “I’ve actually sat and told him all about the investigation and the shitstorm I’m in. It’s pathetic really, but if he wasn’t sick, I feel like he would know exactly what I should do. He only sits and looks at me, wondering who I am.”
“That’s not pathetic.”
“Isn’t it?” Ethan took a long swig of beer.
It hit me how alone this investigation must have made Ethan feel. He really didn’t have any family. My heart hurt when I thought of him shouldering all of this on his own. “No, it’s not.”
He didn’t say anything.
The beer started bubbling out of the coffee can. I got up, took the tongs and tray, then picked the hot dogs out of the can. I handed the tray to Ethan. “Can you grab the buns?”
I picked up the coffee can with the tongs and carefully set it on the ground next to the pit, then set the tongs in the tray.
Ethan handed me a hot dog. “It’s as loaded as we’re going to get tonight.”
“Yeah, but we boiled them in beer. Wait until you taste it!” I took a bite and made some mmm sounds.
Ethan laughed, then took a bite of his own. He made some of his own mmm sounds and finished chewing. “You’re right, these are good!”
We ate in silence. When we were done, I turned to Ethan. “I need you to do something for me.”
“What do you need, Claire?” He scanned my eyes.
“Promise me, when we get home, you will call and talk to me. I mean, really talk to me.”
Ethan sighed. “Claire, I want to talk to you. Every minute of every day I want to talk to you. But don’t you think that’s going to make it harder for us to stay apart once we’re back? Nothing has changed as far as my intentions to not have this affect you.”
“No. I think it makes it much harder when you don’t talk to me. You know what I thought about when I sat in the car and waited for Tom’s plane to arrive?”
Ethan shook his head. “No, tell me.”
“Does he still want me? Is he done with me? Is he going to get in the car or walk back to the plane?”
Ethan closed his eyes as if in pain. He opened them and pulled me into him. “Shit, Claire, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize… Don’t you know this was only to protect you? I don’t want these rules. This never did or will have anything to do with me wanting you.”
“I don’t need you to hide from me, Ethan. We have burner phones for a reason. Please, don’t cut me off again. I need you, and you need me. Promise me.”
He slowly nodded. “Okay.”
I kissed him. “Good. Maybe I’ll reward you with some naughty phone calls when we get home.”
He gave me a sly look. “Oh yeah?”
“I think I’ll have to show you what you’ve been missing out on,” I teased.
“Okay, now I’m kicking myself big time.”
I pulled him into me. “No matter how much you try to tell yourself you aren’t good for me, I’m not going to believe you. So stop trying and just let me love you.”
It was pitch black now. The fire was flickering, and the full moon was out. Ethan gazed at me and tried to find his words. He finally pulled his face right next to mine. “Claire, you can have any guy you want without all these problems. Why me?”
“Everyone has problems, Ethan.”
“Not everyone has problems where they’re going to end up in jail.”
“Ethan, you have to stop saying that. Seriously. I’ve seen a lot of things happen in cases. This hasn’t even begun in some ways.”
Ethan tilted his head. “What do you mean, hasn’t begun?”
“Right now the FBI is grappling. They have zero proof you did anything. It’s all speculation. If they had anything, you would be indicted. Even if that happened, that’s when the real battle begins.”
Ethan put his hands on his face.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take, Claire.”
I realized this was affecting him way more than he showed. I stood up and put my body in front of Ethan and put my arms around him. “You’re doing everything you can right now. Eventually this will be over, I promise.” I leaned into him, kissed him, and felt some of his tension leave his body as his arms pulled me close.
I put my hand over his heart. “I want to be with you because of this... Well, and this.” I put my hand over his dick and grinned.
He started laughing.
“Oh, and your fuck-me eyes.”
“My fuck-me eyes?”
I tilted my head. “Are you not aware of your fuck-me eyes?”
He laughed hard. “So it's obvious that I’m drooling whenever I’m around you?”
“I wouldn’t call it drooling… It makes me pretty hot.”
“Oh yeah?” Ethan gave me his fuck-me eyes.
I pointed at him. “That, right there!”
“I’m pretty sure every guy on Earth ogles you, Claire.”
“Yeah, but your ogling drives me batty.” I drew his lips to mine.
He pulled me into him, his hands cupped my ass, and he kissed me with so much passion, heat began to roll through my body.
I moaned. “It’s too cold on this mountain to skinny-dip. Let’s put out this fire. Take me inside and get me naked.”
Ethan’s dick pulsed against me. He grinned and stood up. “Yes, ma’am.” He grabbed the shovel and threw sand on the fire. Then he grabbed me and carried me into the house.