Pretty Little Lies (Lie #2) by J. W. Phillips

the files together.
     
    “An appointment or a woman?”
     
    I shoved my briefcase under my arm and started walking to the exit. I wasn’t going to respond to that comment. It was none of her damn business, and it annoyed the hell out of me that she would have the nerve to ask.
     
    “A woman. Is it the one you’ve been pining over the last few months?”
     
    I stopped dead in my tracks and leveled my gaze on her. Just because she was one of my mother’s closest friends, and had basically been an aunt to me, didn’t give her the right to comment on my life.
     
    “An appointment,” I said with an agitated smirk. “And another thing, who I’m fucking, seeing, or even liking is none of your damn business.” The perturbed tone in my voice didn’t even cause her to flinch.
     
    “Ethan Asher, I only asked because I care. You’re like my own son. So yes, whom you’re fucking is my business because I love you. I’ve seen you work hard in your professional life and achieve some pretty impressive things. But you’ve also partied just as hard in your private life. You’ve had your share of every model-perfect body that had come your away. Been stoned more days than you have been straight. So yes, I care and have every right to ask you a simple question.” She handed me my cellphone that I had left on the desk. “Now, go get the girl.”
     
    I didn’t like the way she described me. Was I really that screwed up? If that was how someone who has been in my life forever viewed me, how in the hell did Dylan see me? She knew I fucked girls at the club. That I had lied to her in the past. That I wasn’t there when she needed me. Was I wasting my time even trying with her? Surely, she knew I loved her. Or was all she had of us bad memories?
     
    “I’m sorry, Marge. I’m just scared, and I don’t do scared. Yes, it’s the girl I have been . . . what was the word you used . . . oh, yeah, pining for the last few months. She is fucking perfect. She makes me happy just by being. I feel complete when I’m near her.”
     
    “Then what’s the problem? I know Ethan can get the girl.” Margaret Ellen asked.
     
    “She’s the girl that Jamie raped. What if she can’t live with who I am? How my family hurt her?” Saying it aloud helped cement it in my mind; it was my job to heal her.
     
    “Crap,” Margaret Ellen said. “Does she know?”
     
    “It’s a long story, but not really now.”
     
    Margaret Ellen was quiet for several seconds. “Go. Prove to her you’re not Jamie. Show her the man I know you’re capable of being.”
     
    “Thanks, Marge. I needed to hear that.” I turned and broke out into a jog. At my car, I flipped on my cellphone and saw that Dylan had sent three texts that day.
     
    Hey, sweet man,
    Breakfast was perfect.
    Call and let me know when
    You are coming back over.
     
    Just got home from physical therapy
    And a session with Dr. Sawyer.
    I guess you are busy,
    Hope to see you later.
     
    Hey, I guess you can’t
    Get away. Maybe tomorrow.
    Anyway, I am going out to eat
    With Deacon and Allison.
    Talk to you later.
     
    Shit, the texts were sent at nine AM, one PM, and fifteen minutes ago. I raced to her place, trying to call her the entire time. She had spent the day thinking I didn’t care enough to call. When in reality, I could hardly keep my mind on work because all I could think about was her.
     
    I pulled into her apartment complex and instantly spotted Dylan standing outside by an older model black Buick. She turned around, and her stare met mine. The look on her face hurt. She was shocked I had taken the time to show up. I gripped the edge of my open car door. I was close to losing it. She was not a girl I could command. She was the girl I was lucky enough to love. And I would do everything in my power to show her that love.
     
    “E,” Dylan said and started to walk toward me. “I didn’t think you were coming,” she said and watched me intently.
     
    “I told you I