“I think so…” Ethan’s voice trailed off as he checked hisphone and winced. “Lunch is almost over. I don’t think I can get back too late, or my grandma will start to worry.”
“Yeah.” I thought about what little footage we’d managed to shoot so far and tried to work out a way that we could rush through the shots I had in mind. Unless we physically sprinted to the shark tunnel, what was left of the time we had allotted would more or less be eaten up by walking to the other side of the casino. I sighed, my shoulders dropping as I faced Ethan. He seemed to read the resignation on my face as I said, “I don’t know if we have time to do the aquarium.”
“Who knew Las Vegas was so impossible to navigate?” He exhaled, fluttering his lips as defeat crossed his face.
“The good news is, we did get some decent shots of you with all the hotels and screaming roller-coaster stuff in the background, so this adventure wasn’t a total waste.” Searching for something to cheer him up, I said, “And there is the Influencers Over Forty Mixer tonight, so if your grandma is going to that, we could try for the Bellagio fountain.”
As soon as I said it, the reasonable part of my brain kicked in. This was a partnership, not a friendship. I’d already snuck off twice to see him in one day. A third time was really pushing my luck.
Ethan took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head, mulling my offer over. “What we need is a car.”
“Or better timing.” I nudged him jokingly. When Ethan didn’t perk up, I added, “Does being hungry make you mopey?”
“Maybe. A little.” He chuckled begrudgingly. “Okay, yes.”
“I thought so. Let’s get food. Then we can figure out a better plan on the tram.”
“I’ll get the chips if you get the ice cream?” Ethan asked, some of his usual lightness returning.
“Works for me. What kind of ice cream do you want?”
“Anything cookie based.” Saying this, Ethan seemed to give up on sulking entirely.
“Got it.” Feeling strangely better now thathefelt better, I gave him a playful salute, then turned on my heel to go get ice cream.
“Wait, what kind of chips do you want?” Ethan called, halting me in my tracks.
“Jalapeño, please.” I batted my eyelashes at him as I saidplease.
“Spicy food is your solution to hanger.” A lopsided smile traced his lips as he shook his head in surprise. “I’ll remember that.”
CHAPTER TEN
“You have that money Igave you?” BamBam asked as the elevator shot downward.
“Yup.” I nodded, resisting the urge to touch the pocket of my frayed jean shorts.
“Good, you get yourself a little extra treat at dinner. You’ve worked so hard lately.” BamBam smiled at me, and I tried not to let the guilt of fraternizing with the enemy eat me alive. BamBam thought that Nittha and I were going to dinner at one of those restaurants where you can also play arcade games. Instead, I was violating all kinds of her trust. Worse, I’d be so busy doing it that there’d be no time to get myself something special. I’d probably just eat a sub sandwich before I went back to the room.
“Have fun.” I waved at BamBam as she walked into the casino where the “old heads party” was supposed to be. As soon as she rounded the corner, I made a beeline for the front of thehotel, praying she didn’t double back to get some forgotten item from our room.
Walking into the entryway, I spotted Ethan shifting his weight from one foot to the other and watching the lobby of the hotel. Like me, he’d changed clothes since our sweaty hike around The Strip this afternoon. Unlike me, and my plain white T-shirt, he’d actually put effort into getting dressed in a short-sleeved button-down and jeans that were neither wrinkled nor covered in holes.
As soon as he spotted me, he smiled. It was the kind of grin that could rival all the lights in the casino. Having it aimed at me was doing funny things to my ability to process anything else…
Which was unfortunate, because I realized too late that he was already saying words as he walked toward me.
“…so yeah, there is that,” Ethan said, exhaling heavily, that megawatt smile still in place.
“S-sorry,” I stammered, my brain trying desperately to get itself in gear. “I got distracted. What did you say?”
“Oh.” Ethan’s expression shifted momentarily to crestfallen but then relaxed back into comfortable all over again. “Just that I’m glad you’re here, and I got us a car.”
“That’s amazing. How?” My entire body perked up at the thought of not having to try to navigate a mile’s worth of lofted sidewalks.
Turning toward the door, he started talking rapidly: “I don’t usually do these kinds of vids, so I’m winging it, but basically there are a bunch of car or car-adjacent people here, including this woman, Heidi, who builds these off-the-wall cars. Sheoffered to let me borrow one for a couple hours in exchange for a collab.”
“Oh, that’s…” My mind raced as I thought about how Ethan would have had to spend his afternoon—helping Buzzy while trying to surreptitiously find a car for us. It was such a sweet gesture. I smiled at him. “You went to a lot of trouble for this. Thank you.”
