The Complete Irreparable Boxed Set

It didn’t reassure her like she hoped it would, but her memories of the night at that pizza parlor/whore house refuted her paranoia.

She unlocked the door and opened it, her body tense as she quickly looked out on her front porch.

Predictably, there was no team of goons waiting for her, only Ethan in his car, parked at the edge of her driveway. He had even driven up and turned around so that the passenger door was closer to her and she wouldn’t have to walk all the way around the car.

Locking the door behind her, she sprinted down the steps and ran the length of the driveway, grabbing his door handle and throwing it open. Once she was inside, she slammed the door and said, “Go.”

Nodding once, he switched the car out of park and started driving down the road.

He was quiet for a couple of minutes and so was she. Finally he asked why she had asked to see his ID, but once she got into the car with him, her sudden fears about him had leveled out and she was too embarrassed to tell him what she had been thinking.

“Where are we going?” she asked, instead of answering him.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “Anywhere you want to go specifically?”

“Somewhere with lights. I don’t want to be out here in the dark.”

“Okay.” He nodded briefly, but didn’t say whether or not he knew where they should go. Willow didn’t ask.

Several minutes later when Ethan pulled down a residential road into a housing development, she lifted her eyebrows in alarm. “We aren’t going to your house, are we?”

A ghost of a smile flitted across his face. “No. There’s a park up here with a well-lit basketball court and a clear view of the cars coming and going. I’m going to park there.”

“Oh. Do you live near here?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t elaborate and she didn’t ask him to.

When they got there, she felt a little more comfortable. He had been right about the basketball court; it was brightly lit, and the parking lot was right in front, so there was a lot of light spilling over, illuminating the area enough that she could clearly see Ethan—he was dressed in a maroon T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. She wondered briefly if he had changed, or if he had still been dressed.

It was after 11 by then, so he probably just pulled his clothes on before he left.

What had he told his wife? Maybe she was already asleep. If they had young children, they probably got up early.

That line of thought reminded her that she was standing in an empty parking lot with a full-grown man who was married with three children, and she was dreading going back to school.

She might feel a little more awkward about it if he hadn’t also been inside of her, if she didn’t have vivid memories of the man groaning as she took his cock into her mouth.

Shifting a little uncomfortably at the thought, she averted her gaze, focusing on the cement instead.

“So, what’s going on?” he finally asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Willow looked up at him—caught him giving her a once-over, actually—and felt oddly defused. A half hour earlier, she wanted to rip his head off his shoulders, but something about his presence calmed her, made her feel not so alone.

“I… I was asleep, I had a bad dream and I wanted to lash out. I shouldn’t have sent that message.”

He didn’t immediately respond. The silence made her uncomfortable so she stole a glance in his direction. He was also looking at the pavement, his expression pensive. “I’m not sure what to say here, Willow. I want to help you, I want you to…vent your frustrations, but I’m not sure how to bring that about.”

“I know.” After a few seconds, she said, “It’s hardest at night. Too many shadows, I guess.”

Ethan nodded as if he understood. “You weren’t lucky,” he suddenly said. “Your mom would never say that if she knew.”

Her lips curved up ironically. “She might, actually. My mom… she doesn’t handle negativity very well. She lives in denial. She would probably just say I was at least lucky I lived or wasn’t passed around or that… you used a fucking condom. She would find the silver lining somewhere, and it would just piss me off even more. I’m kind of glad she doesn’t know. I’m not sure I could handle that.”

“What about your other mom—Ashlynn?”

Flicking her eyes in his direction, she said, “Ashlynn would castrate you. She was abused as a kid, so… she doesn’t make excuses or look for a bright side.”