Page 109 of Run
I lean over and place my hand on top of Fonz’s. “Oh, well, Fonz here has been making heart eyes of his own.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he says but quickly frowns. “What happened to your hand?”
“Oh, nothing.” Pulling back, I drop it to my side.
“What is it?” Ethan questions as he reaches for me.
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Fonz looks at me over Sophie, who is hiding her face in her drink as Ethan lifts my hand.
“What the hell? Is that a burn?” His eyes shoot up to mine and then back to my hand.
“It’s really not a big deal—”
“How did this happen?”
“Cooking.” The rehearsed half-truth falls easily from my lips, so I keep going. “I told you I did the stairs this week, right? Well, I wanted to cook for Lars and Meg, you know, since they’ve done so much for me. I was just completely not paying attention and burned myself on the stovetop.”
I have trouble looking Ethan in the eye after the fabricated story just rolled right off my tongue.
“Did you have it checked out?” Ethan looks between Sophie and me.
“I wasn’t there,” Sophie says in a clipped tone, letting me know she won’t be part of my lie.
“Nah. It really looks a lot worse than it is.” I try to pull my hand away, but Ethan won’t let go. Instead, he turns it this way and that, and even pulls up the side of the bandage to try and see underneath it.
“Ari, this could be a third-degree burn.”
“It’s not.” I try to pull away again, but Ethan maintains his gentle grip.
He dips his head and searches my face until my eyes finally meet his. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Well, yeah.” Irritated, I finally tear my hand out of his. “Of course it does. A little. It’s fine, really.”
Thankfully, Gino and Tommy approach so I use their arrival as a distraction. “Hey!” I wave across the table at them. “Nice to see you guys again.”
Ethan keeps his eyes trained on me for a moment before manners win over and he turns and greets the guys. I scoot closer to Sophie to make more room, and Ethan comes back around my other side as we all fall into conversation. Gino and Sophie acknowledge each other with nods before Gino and I make eye contact, and I give him a sad smile and a shrug. He shrugs back as a bunch of guys take up the table behind us, being rowdy and loud.
“Yo, Knox!” Tommy yells across the tables. “You looking for two more errand boys to work for you? Your dad’s working us to the bone.”
Knox throws his head back in laughter, his arm still draped across the back of Lizzie’s chair. “Oh, come on, Tommy. You can’t take a little pressure from the old man?”
“Fuckin’ A,” is all Tommy replies.
Ethan’s hand brushes my upper arm, sliding down past my elbow and forearm and to my good hand, where he intertwines his fingers with mine. I give a squeeze, which he returns. This is his love language. If Ethan thinks something is wrong between us, the only thing that will calm him is touching me, holding me, kissing me …
We keep our hands clasped as Sophie, Fonz and I debate with Gino and Tommy about whether John Dutton would make a good governor of Montana, while Lizzie fills Knox and Ethan in on some new case she’s investigating at work.
Among the chatter, I hear a little “oink” come from behind us, and my heart drops into my stomach. There’s another “oink,” followed by laughter. I know Sophie heard it, too, because she’sstanding right next to me, and even though we’re not touching, I can sense that she went still. But we ignore it. Maybe once they get it out of their system the assholes behind us will get bored and move on.
“Hey, Tommy!” I shout across the table as a distraction. “Where’s the lady friend you had at the party? She seemed nice.”
“Ah,” Tommy puts a hand over his heart dramatically, “she set me loose.”
I cringe. “Sorry.”
“Oh, please,” Gino says, picking up his beer. “He could barely remember her last name. Believe me, he’s fine.”
