No Place Like Us || e.d.

- 30 -

Ethan's POV

"Heard you got a girl now, Dolan." a player named Anthony said.

"Yeah so what?"

"And you got kids too." he smirked.

"Okay and?"

"Damn you really out there huh?"

"Leave him alone." Grayson rolled his eyes.

Anthony chuckled and continued to put his gear on.

"Is it the girl you said you had a 'complicated' relationship with?"

I ignored him.

"When you gonna tell her you fucked someone else while she was gone?"

"She made the move on me. I didn't do anything. I didn't cheat. We didn't date. We sure as hell didn't have sex."

We walked out of the locker room.

"But she still kissed you. Y'all had a make out session and everything."

"It didn't even mean anyth–"

"Ethan..." Grayson nudged me.

I turned around and saw Nikki standing there.

"Nikki, I–"

She ran out.

"Nicole." I got up and ran after her.

"Rip." Anthony said.

"Nicole." I grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing here?"

"Someone said you got hurt and I got worried." she glared at me, "Was everything you said a lie? Did you move on but now that I'm back you finally got what you wanted? You said nothing happened while I was gone. That you felt like doing anything was going to make you feel as if you were cheating."

Tears were forming in her eyes.

"It didn't mean anything."

"Ethan you lied straight to my face."

"You have no right to say anything because you kept our kids a secret too."

"I ended up telling you didn't I?"

I stayed quiet.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

I didn't know what to say.

"I'll uhh... the kids and I will be staying at my mom's tonight."

"Nikki."

"Or maybe for a few days. I don't know yet."

"We weren't even together at the time."

"Nor were we officially broken up."

"We didn't establish whether or not we were."

"I'll see you in a few days." she started walking away.

"Nicole." I called.

I walked back to the boys.

I pushed Anthony to the ground.

"You knew she was there didn't you? You and your buddies were the ones that called her weren't you?" I was straight up livid at this point.

"The truth was going to come out eventually." he smirked. "So I thought, why not have it come out sooner rather than later?"

"Because it's none of your fucking business you asshole."

My blood was boiling. I balled my fists and punched him in the face.

"Dolan. Perez. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I got up and straightened my jersey.

"You two need to take a break."

"I was just leaving." I grabbed my gear and went back to the locker room.

"He's my ride so I guess I'm leaving too." Grayson followed me.

"I fucked up Grayson. There's no way I'm getting her back now. Every time something good happens to me, something bad ends up contradicting it."

"She loves you too much to let you go. She took care of two little human beings on your behalf because she didn't want your future to get postponed the same way hers did."

Nikki's POV

He lied to me. I told him about the kids. But he wasn't able to tell me about his scandal.

I got home and he was already there. How the fuck...?? But then again, I took the long way home for more time to actually process what just happened.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Nicole." he took a step toward me. I took one step back.

"I need to get some clothes for the kids."

"I'm not letting you leave."

"Ethan, move."

"There's nothing I can say or do to take my actions back but–"

"You lied to me. You kept this from me."

"I know and I'm sorry–"

"Are you though?"

"You didn't tell me about Austin." he crossed his arms.

"BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN US. WE DIDN'T HOOK UP OR ANYTHING." I calmed myself down, "will you just please move out of my way?"

"I'm not going to let you do that. I want you to stay. I want to work this out."

"I can't trust you anymore. How do I know that you've stopped seeing this girl? Was all of this a lie? Telling me that you love me?"

"That was the truth."

Someone opened the door.

"Betty?" my eyes widened as I turned around.

Betty's my older sister. For whatever reason, she hated me. She ran away from home a while back after my brother passed away. It's been 4 years since I last saw her.

"How did y–"

"Mom."

"No, I meant how did you get in?"

"The door was unlocked."

"You didn't think about knocking or anything? Like an actual normal person."

"Uh..."

"Never mind. I'm just gonna grab a few things and we can go back to mom's." I faked a smile.

I walked into the kids' room and Ethan followed.

"Since my sister's here, can we act normal? I don't want, nor need, her getting into our business."

"We're gonna have to talk about this."

"What's there to talk about? You made out with some girl and lied to my face."

"Nicole."

"What?"

"I meant what I said the other night. I want you and only you."

"Yeah well, it's hard to believe what comes out of your mouth now." I said as I grabbed the bag and walked to the living room.

"I'll see you later." I said as I walked out the door.

"Why do you have clothes for the kids?"

"We're having a sleepover at mom's for a few nights."

"Then we have time to catch up."

"Definitely."