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Ethan
When I show up for my extra shift the next morning, Scooter and the boys are sitting around the boss’s computer. They stare at me with wide eyes as I pull off my t-shirt and don my polo. “What?”
“It’s not him.” Daryl shakes his head. “You owe me three hundred.”
“Itis. He has the same crooked hairline.” Scooter isn’t in a position to be criticizing anyone’s hairline. I lean over the desk until I can see the monitor, and nearly lose my balance. They’re looking at aUSA Todayarticle featuring a massive photo of Victor and I on the red carpet. “Who’s that?”
“What do you mean,who’s that? It’s you,” Scooter protests.
I cross my arms and stare at him deadpan, targeting the uncertain tone in his voice.
“Think through what you just said.”
“But you went to his house last week, right?”
I jab my finger at the article. “Did Bill Gates ask you out when you were transplanting his zinnias?”
“Pay up,” Daryl snaps. “What a fucking stupid bet.”
Ray sticks his head in the door. “Off your asses, guys. Ethan, wait for that shipment of fertilizer and help them stack it.”
As the boys file out, I collapse in the desk chair and dry-swallow a couple of ibuprofen, praying it will erase the effects of last night. I scoot the chair closer to the desk and study the photo. It’s surreal, like seeing my face glued onto a stranger. Victor looks amazing, bright and clean and confident and perfect, completely eclipsing me. They should have printed a shot of him hammered on the floor in that shitty club.
My heart sinks when I skim the article.
The return of the prodigal prince of swimming has broken the internet, but his handsome, mysterious boyfriend, Tanner Faulks, has blown it to smithereens. Everyone wants to know who managed to turn around one of the biggest falls from grace in sports history and teach him the power of love! The two made quite the sight on the red carpet, and Tanner’s passionate endorsement of the app comeVa has kicked off over a million downloads since last night. If I could find a guy half as hot as either of these two, I’d say it’s worth the subscription fee. We can’t wait to see more of them as they kick off an ad campaign for the app.
My first stupid instinct is to make an account and post comments insisting that no one is going to see more of his boyfriend ever again. Fortunately, the fertilizer delivery arrives and I focus on helping them stack the unwieldy bags. Going back to honest work—arms covered in dirt and an aching back—calms my racing thoughts.
When I walk back into the front office, Werner Lang is sitting in my chair like a Bond villain, reaching around Scooter’s bikini girl bobblehead collection to scroll through the news article. I’m about to spin around and sneak back out, but the sound of the door alerts him.
“He was less than a block away,” I stammer. I’ve already sent a loan repayment from the funds; if he wants his money back, there’s nothing I can do. “I thought—”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to, nor do I want to.”
I shut up instantly, wondering why Victor didn’t tell his father that I abandoned him.
He taps the computer screen, distorting the picture. “Did you read this?
“Yes.”
“This is what it means to be powerful, Ethan. You opened your mouth and a million people downloaded the app. If they each pay five dollars a month to use it, you’re now bringing in five million dollars a month.”
My knees go weak, and I sit against the back of a desk.
His eyes narrow with a nasty gleam I recognize from his son. “And you accepted a single payment of twenty thousand dollars.”
I swallow. “You’ve all made it very clear that you exploited me. I get it; I’m stupid. I didn’t go to college.”
He offers a dry smile, changing the subject abruptly. “They say he’s beyond saving, that he can’t love. What do you think?”
“I…” I massage the back of my neck, trying to ease my headache. “I have no idea. I never thought about it.” But that’s a lie, because something in the back of my mind has been turning it over ever since the article mentioned the wordlove.
Even after seeing the worst of Victor Lang, I can’t bring myself to say he’s a lost cause. I don’t believe in lost causes. I still believe good always wins and love can prevail, which is fucking stupid when you think about everything that’s happened to me.
“Your speech to the press gave you away.” He smirks a little. “You thinkyoucould save him. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Gray says he’s never seen him latch onto someone the way he has with you.”
I never in a million years thought I could save him, is what I should say. Instead, I just stand there, listening to the bubbling of the dirty aquarium at the back of the office. The guys could walk back in at any moment. “Can I help you?” I prompt.
