Page 57 of Run
She shakes her head, then nods, then lets out a fake laugh. “No, Ethan, I’m not mad. I guess I’m sad.”
I narrow my eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“You were my first real friend, Ethan. You were my best friend, and you just …” She trails off. “Sorry, never mind. I’m just shocked at seeing you, too.” She pulls out her phone and checks the time. “But, I didn’t intend on staying long anyway. I was also just going to have a drink to be polite. So, I should get going.” She looks up. “It was nice seeing you, Ethan. I’ll see you around, yeah?”
She’s dismissing me, I know she is, but she’s not making a move to get up and leave. “Do you want me to go?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m giving you an out, Ethan. You clearly don’t want to be here with me. You can leave. It’s fine.”
“What the— No. If you don’t want to talk to me, you go.” I say louder than intended.
“What?” She crosses her arms over her chest and huffs.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on in your head, but if you’re done talking to me, you get the hell up and leave. I’m not done with my drink.” I pick up my glass and take a sip to make my point. “In fact, I may get another.”
“Ethan James, you are still as maddening as ever,” Ari says through gritted teeth. She takes a slow breath and stares at me. “I just thought, since you took off and ghosted me in the past,you would probably be better at making an exit than me.” My jaw drops and I see regret cross her face. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
“You were the one who went to foster care and never reached out,” I say softly, and she shakes her head. “Don’t shake your head at me! I left because you were never going to walk away from that house—”
“Stop!” she practically shouts. “I can’t … I’m sorry.” Her eyes find mine. “I’m sorry I said those things. I’m glad you left. I’m so glad you’re happy, and successful, and that’s all I ever wanted. Let’s just let the past lie, OK?”
Ari shuffles around awkwardly. With both hands, she wraps her fingers around one knee and hoists her leg off the stool, then shifts her weight until she’s standing on that leg, and braces one hand on the table while using the other to guide her other leg down. She slings her purse over her shoulder and reaches for something on the other side of the stool.
Ari pulls out one metal crutch with a round brace, in which she rests her forearm, and grabs hold of a short handle. She leans on that as she pulls another crutch over and situates her other arm in it.
“Ari, wh—”
She doesn’t look my way. “It was good seeing you, Ethan. Really good. Take care of yourself.”
My mouth is dry as she takes two unsteady steps and, instinctively, I stand up to help her, but the waiter comes rushing over and takes her by one elbow. “Thanks,” she mumbles as he helps her toward the exit, and I stand there, stunned.
CHAPTER 20
ARI
I’m barely out the door when he comes up behind me, passing the server who’s heading back inside. “Ari! Wait!”
I lean on the crutches, pull my phone out of my purse, and open the Uber app. “Yep, that’s my name.”
Ethan’s standing to my side, holding his helmet in one hand, facing me, but I refuse to look at him. The busy street is crowded with pubs and restaurants and bodegas, and people are walking by, crossing the street, mingling. “What happened? I mean, obviously your legs aren’t broken, right?”
“Nope,” I say, using the word itself as punctuation.
“Ari, talk to me. What the hell is going on? What happened to you?” He reaches out to touch my arm, but I pull away.
“I had an accident. A back injury. I’m recovering from it. I’ll be fine.”
Ethan looks me up and down. “You’re making it sound like no big deal, but it looks pretty freaking serious.” I remain silent, so he asks, “Was it Axel?”
I snap my head in his direction. “What? No! Shit, I should have thought you may think that. It was a car accident.” I decide to just tell him the truth—or part of it, at least. “I was hit by a truck.”
Ethan takes a step back as a gasp escapes his lips. “You were hit by a truck?” I nod. “In the street? Like, as a person?” I turn my head toward him and lift my eyebrows in question. “I mean, your body was hit? You were in the road and a truck, what? Ran you over?”
I smush my lips to the side and look up, like I’m thinking about it. “Yeah,” I say with a nod. “That’s pretty much how it went.”
He looks me up and down again, assessing the damage. “How the fuck did that even happen?” He’s pale. I feel a little bad for him. It’s a lot to take in.
“I was running and not paying attention and I just ran right out into the street and BAM—truck, meet Ari.” Ethan is left staring at me. Even paler now.
