Page 85 of The Love We Make

He was able to separate everything. Of course, he was never the issue. Guys were always able to separate sex and love, right? Ethan, especially. He always told me he never related the two. That he had never been in love even though he had a lot of sex.

I had kinda hoped that once I was with a few other men, Ethan’s appeal would wear off. But I didn’t want to be with any other men. I didn’t even want to think about it.

So I did what I needed to do and left Atlanta.

Not forever.

Just a few weeks. I needed to be far away when Ethan came barreling back into my life. We only had a few days left to our separation deal and he would probably return as if nothing had ever happened.

Meanwhile, I would probably cry and beg him to love me the right way.

So yeah, I had to run.

Seemed to be what I did these days.

I was about to board a plane with a few weeks’ worth of clothes and my laptop. I was lucky my boss was letting me work remotely for a while. But I did bend the truth a little about why I needed the time away.

I just hoped Karma didn’t catch up with me.

Before I was instructed to turn my phone off for the flight, I got a call from an unfamiliar number. The name on the ID said,maybe:Tim, and my first instinct was to hit ignore. I didn’t want to talk to Ethan’s agent. Why would I want to do that?

Then I thought about it again. Tim had never called me before, so why would he be doing it now?

I answered quickly before it went to voicemail and hesitantly said, “Hello?”

“Madison?” I heard Tim’s voice. I had met him quite a few times so his voice was easy to recognize.

“Yeah?”

“Ethan asked me to call you real quick, although I don’t really know why,” he mumbled. I started to cut him off. Whatever Ethan was trying to tell me through Tim, I didn’t want to hear right now. Not when I had steeled my resolve to leave town for a bit. I didn’t want Ethan reeling me back in on some technicality the way he did at 678—never looking at him.

“Look, I don’t know….”

“Wait, this isn’t about Ethan,” Tim cut me off. I doubted Tim knew what was going on but since he was asked to call me, he obviously suspected Ethan and I had a problem. “He just asked me to call but it’s not about him.”

I huffed and sighed loudly enough for Tim to know I was listening, and kinda annoyed.

“A young boy you met in New York, Benji Adams? Sound familiar?”

I sat up straight, I didn’t know Ben’s last name but I knew I met a Benji in New York. “Yeah?”

“He passed away, hit by a drunk driver in New York.” I gasped as tears instantly pooled in my eyes. “Apparently it was about an hour after he met you and Ethan.” I started shaking my head, tears streaming down my face, as Tim continued. “Anyway, his mom reached out to the media and the media found me. Unfortunately, the story ran before I got word and Ethan found out by watching the TV.”

“Oh my God,” I screeched, too upset to care about how loud I was on the plane. The people around me took note of my hysterics and the fact that I was on the phone and tuned in. I just zoned them out.

“Ethan asked me to tell you. That’s all. He flew to New York this afternoon. I don’t know his plan but he wanted to go up there. Must have been some kid to get Ethan to leave the team.”

“He was adorable,” I said to Tim. “Reminded me so much of a young Ethan. Wanted to play ball one day.”

“Well, I am really sorry, Madison. Not sure why Ethan wouldn’t want to tell you himself but that is all I have for ya.”

I was nodding. I understood. Tim was clueless. He didn’t know Benji, he didn’t know what Ethan and I were going through, he didn’t know I was on a plane.

“Welcome aboard flight 530, service from Atlanta to Oklahoma City,” the Captain was on the PA and I knew I had to get off the phone.

“Are you…..?” Tim started, but I cut him off.

“Bye, Tim,” I said quickly and hung up. I didn’t want him asking any more questions.